Hello Engineers and 3D Printing Enthusiasts!

We are still in the PolyDlab, the MJF Professional 3D printing technical lab, where we analyse "extreme" projects sent in by our followers and customers, and then 3D print the Prototypes that competed, according to 5 simple evaluation criteria. 

We have come to the end of the Rapid Prototyping Contest launched in the first season of PolydLab, and in today's episode we show the last Piece realised, the Laptop Plate.

To learn more about the previous episodes, you can read the articles we summarise here:

MJF 3D Printing Portable PC Plate Prototype

Our follower S.R. is one of those people who believes that if an object breaks it is right to repair it. That's why when the shell of his faithful 25-year-old PC decided to disintegrate due to normal wear and tear, he first searched online for spare parts, which unfortunately were no longer available due to the age of the PC, and then decided to arm himself with a calibre and his programming skills to redesign it and 3D print it online.

His idea was to rapidly prototype the entire body in 3D; today we will only analyse the backplate.

PolyDlab - 1st Saison

 

Designing the Backplate was a complicated and time-consuming undertaking; the bottom of the pc in fact has countless fundamental details useful for the connection with the hardware and the consequent success of the project.

 

The Selection Criteria and Component Validation 

Stefano's STL file was analysed by evaluating 5 simple criteria:

  • Resolution quality of the STL file;
  • Degree of optimisation of the 3D Print;
  • Aesthetics and Details;
  • Printability;
  • Usefulness of the part.

 

PolyDlab, laptop plate

 

1. QUALITY OF THE STL FILE 

The quality of the file is impeccable, Stefano spent a lot of time meticulously measuring all the dimensions and, despite the added difficulty due to the size of the gauge beaks in relation to small and very close elements, he did a really good job. 
VOTE 5/5 

2. 3D PRINT OPTIMISATION

The project is a copy of an existing plate and therefore there was no possibility of optimisation.
VOTE 3/5 

3. AESTHETICS AND DETAILS

This is a plate for a laptop from 25 years ago and therefore the aesthetics can only be a little dated compared to today. However, the STL file presents many details which have been reproduced very well indeed.
VOTE 3/5

4. PRINTABILITY

The original design of the plate was modified by adding a reinforcing honeycomb to avoid strong planar deformation due to the geometry of the part. The part is still not perfectly flat, the MJF 3D printing guidelines recommend increasing the wall thickness or otherwise adding ribs in parts where the length to thickness ratio is very high.
VOTE 3/5

5. UTILITY

The plate is undoubtedly useful as the original part is long gone.
Stefano then decided to desist from designing all the other missing parts as the time for measuring and designing would have been very large. He therefore opted to mount the plate on a reinforcement panel and place everything inside a wooden case. 
VOTE 5/5

Conclusions

Let us briefly summarise the marks awarded to the project: file quality 5/5, 3D printing optimisation 3/5, aesthetics and details 3/5, printability 3/5 and finally usefulness 5/5.  The final grade, obtained by adding up all the scores and dividing them by the number of criteria, i.e. 5, is 3.8.

During the first season of PolyDlab there were 8 episodes with 8 winners:

  • #1 - Valerio Canulli with the 3D-printed Blade-less Fan: score 4.6
  • #2 - Marco Sarracino with his Electric Skateboard Components and Pieces: score 3.8
  • #3 - Gianmarco Amici with his Military Mobile Phone Holder Prototype: score 4
  • #4 - Antonio Pacelli with his Motorcycle Mobile Phone Adapter: score 3.4
  • #5 - Lucio Buricca with his 3D Printed Multifunctional Prosthesis: score 4.8
  • #6 - Leonardo Piro with his Electronic Injection Prototype for Fiat 500: score 4.8 + praise in one parameter
  • #7 - Giuseppe Gamba with his Lower Limb Prosthesis: score 4.4
  • #8 - S. R. with the Laptop Dish: score 3.8
     

PolyDlab - 1st season final ranking

 

The winner of PolyDlab Season 1st is Leonardo Piro and his Electronic Injection Prototype!

Congratulations Leonardo and congratulations to all participants of Season 1st!

We would also like to thank all those who sent in their files and were not selected; don't lose heart and send us new projects to labpolyd@gmail.com.

The second season has already started and if you want to know more, read the article "PolyDlab, your MJF 3d print piece for free!".

 

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