Since my last blog post, I have made a lot of progress and I have reached a finalized design! I completed the 3D printing and post processing, sourced a succulent plant, and completed the final assembly.
The base module cover and the cup were made with black PLA that I was able to 3D print at my friend’s house, luckily, he was nice enough to let me use his printer since all the CU printers were busy. After 3D printing the base cover and the cup, I removed the supports and sanded off some of the rough edges. I then snapped off the unimportant parts of the actual base module so that it would fit into the cover. Unfortunately, my model was a bit off and the slots for the 4 tabs on the base module were just barely not lined up perfectly. In order to combat this with no time for a full reprint, I sanded off the inside edge of one of the slots for the tab that wouldn’t fit until it allowed the base module to slide into place. Also, since it fit in the cover so well, I didn’t need to use my fasteners to hold it in place.
When the cup finished printing, I followed a similar procedure and ran into similar problems. I removed the supports and sanded some rough edges, but found that the magnet I planned to slide into the cup was actually two magnets! Because of this, I had to try to center the smaller magnet on the larger magnet over and over until it fit into its position in the cup.
Next, I bought a small cactus and carefully took it out of its pot, making sure to separate the nice clean pebbles that line the top, and the rocky dirt mixture that holds the cactus in place. First, I laid down a thin layer of foam to help save some weight, next some of the rocky dirt. Then, while holding the cactus in place, I filled in the sides with the rocky dirt up to just below the rim of the cup. After that, I topped it off with the nice clean pebbles surrounding the base of the cactus and coming up just above the rim of the cup
I am very pleased with how this turned out and I am excited to demonstrate it at expo and see everyone’s great projects. In the meantime, I have attached a link to a short YouTube video showing the levitation station working with the cactus in the cup.
Link to YouTube short of the Levitation Station in action!
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Wow, your final design looks amazing! It’s great to see how much progress you’ve made since your last blog post, and I’m really impressed with the final outcome of your levitating succulent project.