Makerton Nova Base - 3D printer assembly marathon

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    Like many residents of Tatarstan, the guys from the ENNOVA project (developers of desktop 3D printers) decided to cheat. Without stopping work on a new 3D printer, they decided to get rid of materials for the first Nova Base model, and arranged a sale of unassembled printers. It sounds strange, but looking ahead, I’ll say that everyone was satisfied.


    Maker + Marathon = Makerthon


    I'll start with a little observation. Almost every one of us in life has happened to compare the cost of a product in a store and its cost, or rather the cost of components. Here I am standing in a small store, I choose some crap, a cool technical thing. I perforce assess the adequacy of the price and think how much the materials from which the goods are made are worth. The most “handy” buyers leave the goods lying on a shelf and do it with their own hands. Those who still carry it to the cashier decide that the rest of the cost is the cost of work, human labor. And in some ways they are right. In the production of things, the cost of human labor is the most costly. If you take the goods at the exit from the factory, then its price can be up to 70% of the staff salary. Therefore, they try to automate production as much as possible. Or they sell the goods unassembled, as in IKEA.

    The assembly of Ultimaker Original is in full swing (time - 6 am)
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    For the “armless” and not so, we tried a new format in Navigator-Campus - makerton(like a hackathon, only with the root maker, that is, "do something with your hands"). The idea is funny - we forget about everything in life for 48 hours and completely devote this time to the work of our hands and brain. The first two times we assembled the Ultimaker Original 3D printer . The result was pleasant - 40 people without sleep and rest created a machine from raw materials, about which they read every day on the Internet. Despite the hard work and not quite expected result, the guys were delighted with what they could actually do with their own hands.
    We still have a bunch of ideas for makerton in our heads. For example, collect quadrocopters , plastic machines for the same printers, CanSat's , paper robotsother. While we were thinking through them, the guys from ENNOV came running to us and offered to assemble their printer. They had a problem: the whole team is busy developing a new version, and there is a lot of material in stock for the current Ennova Base model. The proposal was simple and clear - you buy an unassembled printer for 35 tons and finish the assembly within the maker, under the strict guidance of the developers. In the end - take the working printer home. As a bonus - all laurels of early adopters - personal technical support from developers and unique skills. Well, a solution in the spirit of Lean Startup, you can’t imagine better.

    Ready Nova Base Printer - Assembly Model
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    The first Nova Base maker took place on April 11-12. The Ennova team was well prepared and all the printers were assembled in 17 hours - they started at 19:00 on Friday and finished at 12:00 on Saturday. As a result, 4 printers were taken away, someone assembled alone, someone - three of them. Why did they decide to start a printer? From a conversation with the participants, one will print to order, the other team will use it as a tool in their designs, and the other two teams will simply be “for themselves”. And the Ennova team still wants to spend a couple of days off in this mode.

    And this is an almost assembled printer of one of the participants.
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    Test printing immediately after assembly and calibration
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    In general, to create with hands is what is inherent in each of us. In the pilot launch of makerton, we had a student from grade 10, he alone assembled Ultimaker Original. Despite the fact that he had very little experience working with tools, he succeeded. The main thing is to have the right tool at hand and at least one person who will tell you how to use it.

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