Group Assignment

1. MECHANICAL DESIGN: Design a machine (mechanism+automation), including the end effector build the passive parts and operate it manually-document the group project and your individual contribution

2. MACHINE DESIGN:Automate your machine, document the group project and your individual contribution

Mechanical Design

During this task we decided that 2 for a team was too little, so we decide to create a replica of the Circular Knitting Machine, Instructables was our source and it seem to be easy.

Mistake ONE: Chile didn't have almost 80% of the materials needed for making the machine, sowe had to order them from the US, this took almos 1 month and a half letting us with final project and mechanical Design at the same time, eventhough we order electronic components a month before the actual task.

Machine Design

This was also a challange but we manage to make it. We had some parts that worked, some others missing and some that didn't work but that created in us a sense of trying to accomplish the task with what we had.

  • Step 1: download the .stl files from Gitub: Circular Knitic. The name of a file tells also the quantity and how many of them you will need. Print in high quality max. 0.1mm layer height! In the images above you can see can see how the process was done.
  • Step 2: Laser Cut Parts, you will need 5mm ja 6mm plexi. Files in Circular Knitic. Again file name will tell which plexi is needed.
  • Step 3: Cut Wood, Use 28x28mm wood if possible. The wood is needed for building a table or a frame for the circular knitting machine. Hence, the dimensions of a table are 60x40cm.
  • Step 4: Get Materials, in Chile they didn't sell some of the parts, so he have to order them form US (took almost 1 month to arrive and some parts didn't arrive, so lest see what we can come up with)
  • Step 5: Wood Structure, using wood, 90degree-angles, and screws mount the wood structure for Circular Knitic.
  • Step 6: Circular Knitic Base, fix base of Circular Knitic to the wood structure using washers and screws.
  • Step 7: Electronics, Mount electronics, motor and box to the base of Circular Knitic.
  • Step 8: Mounting Outers, Mount 3d printed parts called outers to the base and fix with the screws and nuts.
  • Step 9: Place Needles, 3d-printed parts called Inners serve for holding needles. Circular Knitic uses 60 needles and 12 inners. It makes 5 needles per an inner. Place needles to an inner and then fit it to the outer. Fix with m2 screws and nuts. Make sure that the needles are moving smoothly up and down. if not, make sure that you are placing the parts right and file them if needed. Leave one inner not placed.
  • Step 10: Program the speed control of your knitting Machine.
  • Step 11: Mountain, Make yarn feeder from the listed makerbeam parts and fit to the laser cut upper surface. Afterwards use 30mm m3 screws to fix the 3d-printed connectors to the surface. Next place the mountain to its place and fix with screws.Use the empty entrance to place the upper surface to the Circular Knitic. Make the needles to enter the mountain, connect upper surface and big gear, and place the last inner with the needles. Now make sure that the needles are moving and following the mountain shape.Place also 4 outer-connectors and try that everything moves well. This instruction sound very nice, but we had a problem, the needles we purchase where too small and didn't move along, but we made it work.
  • Step 12: Yarn Holders, Now place yarn holders on top of the inners. Look that the parts enter until the end and fix them with the screws and nuts.
  • Step 13: Yarn Feeder, Make the yarn feeder holder from the wood and attache to the main structure.

Download Files Here

Download Files here:
Circular Knitting Machine

Final Project

In the following Video you can find the full process of making the machine.

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