Pre academy / Prefab

For taking up Fab Academy it is extremely important that a local instructor be present so that he could support us with using the machine and equipments of the fablab and help us throughout the course. To bridge this gap KSUM in a special arrangement with Fab Foundation arranged for a precursor course before Fab Academy which would enable the people planning to take the Fab Academy to get familiar with the processes and equipments and be self sufficient throughout the Fab Academy.

The pre academy was taken by two excellent gurus Francisco Sanchez and Luciano Betoldi who came to Kerala and engaged us in the Pre academy/ Prefab program spanning 4 weeks of intensive training in the two labs.

22 of us enrolled into the program of which 11 passed. You can find all the information about the people who took the pre academy in http://thebeachlab.github.io/.

Documentation of my experiences during the pre academy can be found at http://puneethrj.github.io/

The prefab allowed the participants to be qualified enough to take up the role of manager of the fablab partly. I routinely helped and advised the fab lab clients in their projects and use of fablab equipments. The clients included architects, students and engineers.

BIotz 3D printers

After working at SVP Laser for 2 years I embarked on a much challenging journey at a startup in Trivandrum called Biotz intelligent solutions. I joined as the CTO in the company.
At the point I joined we were trying to create a 3D printer. The vision was to create a feature rich and visually appealing world class machine.

My responsibilities included innovation, research and development, design for manufacturing and assembly.

I made plans for the shell of the 3d Printer, extrution system that can extrude a mix of 4 different filaments at a time to create different colored output.

Due to lack of funds we were not able to go forth with many of our plans. Instead of a sheet metal curvy body we switched to box shaped jigsaw fitted 3d printer. Our business goals changed to meet the arising and the immediate demand. The Kerala government was interested in setting up huge number of fablabs and a local made 3d printer could turn the favor in our way. We looked out for a solution that can be immediately implemented and proves reliable, user-friendly and sturdy.

To answer the demand I took inspiration from the ultimaker press fit construction kind of a model and  after initial design we began prototyping the body of the printer.

My stay in the company was short and only about 6 months, after which I joined KSUM( Kerala startup mission) as a fellow. The government was taking special interest in setting up fablabs and I was offered fellowship in order to help them out in their vision. I worked in parallel with biotz until I could bring the mechanical design to a decent level before taking up Fab Academy full time.

SVP Laser- My first job

My First Job

I joined SVP Laser Technologies on may 2013 and worked for 2 years. The SVP Laser is an OEM for CNC(Computerized numerical control) and CMM(Coordinate measuring machine) and custom machines. There were a couple of interesting things that I did and learned from the firm.

My major responsibility was to develop the firmware of for CNC in-house which would go along with the multi-cnc software which was a GUI for the functions CNC could do. The Firmware was developed on FP0r PLCs from Pananasonic company. It was an unusual application for a PLC, but developing on PLC cut our development time significantly. The entire firmware fit into 10000 lines of code. Fpwinpro was the software in which the firmware was coded in. The language used for coding was ladder logic. It as really easy to program in the ladder logic. Fpwinpro v7 allowed us to program 20000 lines of code for free. this proved to economical for us and since we deal with custom machines the reduction in the development time was really helpful.

The MultiCNC did the parsing of gcode and sequential sending of the moves to the PLC. The MultiCNC was developed and maintained my another engineer. I used to test the software and provide my feedback and suggestions. I also helped in developing the logic in firmware and the software.

Anybody developing a cnc software or a firmware would be well aware of the challenges to achieve a coordinated, continuous and smooth motion of a cnc. We were dealing with open loop control of stepper motor most of the time. I developed strategies to achieve this effect with varying degree of success.

Other than the above I also took workshops on product development and digital fabrication, where I taught about 2D and 3D design and other tools and operation of 3d printers and CNC router.

I also trained the users on CNC and CMM operations and maintenance where they were installed and helped them with troubleshooting.

I was able retro fit old and defunct CNC with controllers provided by SVP laser to work with the Multicnc software and give new life to the machines. Often for educational institutes like the SLV polytechnic college that have old inc or acquired CNC second hand retro fitting proves to be an economical option. Usually the electronic components or the mechanical component will be intact in an old machine, through retro fitting we try to replace the old damaged electronic or add electronics and make the system operational with our equipments.

Throughout the job I was able to learn various aspect of CNC design and assembly, firmware programming using PLC and ladder logic, GUI programming using VB.Net, conducting workshops and training interns and recruits and managing them. I was able to get an overall picture of the operation and building of machines with human interface.

I worked with vendors and manufactures to get the parts for the CNC, travelled different parts of the country for machine installation and training or troubleshooting. I also looked out for potential business opportunities the company could invest in.

Working on R&D was interesting as I worked with and guided many bright students from IIT Madras.

Overall I had a good hands on experience in the business of CNC machines.

Summary:
PLC programming- Panasonic PLC, Fpwinpro, Ladder logic in Fpwinpro
HMI(Human machine interface) programming- Panasonic GT02 device, Gtwin software.
Product development- CNC design, CNC accessory design, PLC programming learning kit, grinding wheel dressing machine.
Programming- VB.Net.
Training and workshops- Product development using CNC and 3d printers, Internship training.
Installations and training- various college in Hassan, Chamrajnagar, Belgaum, Tumkur, Trichy, Chennai.
Retrofitting- lathes, CNC Milling machines.