About

The PiDish 3D printer is a custom SLA-style printer in a top-down configuration. If that was an eyeful, the following explanation may help, or watch this video. The printer uses a projector to selectively harden a liquid resin. In a top-down configuration, the projector is pointed downward so the light targets the surface of a container of resin. Since the resin is mostly opaque, the projector only hardens a thin layer of resin at the surface. A lift plate initially starts just under the surface, allowing the first layers to adhere to the plate. As the lift plate descends each layer, old layers are pulled under the surface so the next layer can be formed and adhere to the previous layer.

This type of printer does not have 3 axis to control, but only 1 axis, with the projector pixels controlling the x and y parts of the object. I chose this version to reduce the risk of not being able to figure out the mechanical framework of the printer.

I designed the frame, connected the components, and programmed the software to control the printer. The printer acts as an access point, and will serve a webpage when a device is on it's network.

The current state of the printer

A fresh print just finished

The printer control page