Tweaks to the test part

[BenW0]

Tweaks to consider on the test part:

• Change main block to be not flat, modifying height to match a vertical aspect ratio of the columns and fins (potentially different slants for columns and fins)
• Add separate boss/recess features to the bottom of the part
• Change y/z fillets to be on the side of the object in a square wave pattern on a boss, giving us both positive and negative characteristics
• Change x/y fillets to somehow include negative (interior) fillet diameter too
• Or possibly switch fillets to a single feature you take a picture of and use computer vision to interpret...

[BenW0]

• ALSO: Test negative fillets in each direction as well!

[BenW0]

We may want to become more stringent on enforcing the aspect ratios from the scad, so we get more consistent data and it's easier to map a normal evaluation model to an interpolator.

[BenW0]

TRIVIA: We can echo things out of our .scad file during execution! It's not documented, but after digging through the source code I discovered you can use

openscad -o foo.echo <...>

to output anything called with echo() in the .scad file to the file foo.echo!

Relevant source file: https://github.com/openscad/openscad/blob/master/src/openscad.cc, lines 361 and 378 (search for ".echo" and go from there)

[BenW0]

Really, we need to introduce four more kinds of positive planes to the test part as well:

• Capped vertical fins
• Uncapped horizontal fins
• Capped and uncapped horizontal fins with their minor dimension in the Z direction

What about interactions with the print bed when it comes to visualizing what will/won't work?

[BenW0]

My thoughts today for modifications to make:

• Change main block to be not flat, modifying height to match a vertical aspect ratio of the holes and slots, and splitting the slots and fins to be half capped (blind) and half free (through)
• Add separate boss/recess features to the bottom of the part
• Move fillets to an edge feature that we can take a picture of and capture that way
• Add capped pillars where the xy fillets are now
• Remove horizontal fins and make them a stack on the far side of the part, half capped and half free, and have their aspect ratios match the vertical fins.
• Add ribs (horizontal major direction, vertical minor direction) to the far side of the part as well, both capped and free
• Move horizontal bars down and add horizontal free-floating bars above them, which don't connect to the main part body
• Add blind horizontal holes somewhere...

[BenW0]

Some other features I'd like to add down the road:

• Minimum gap between moving parts or independent parts based on surface area and orientation
• Minimum gap between two positive features (different than minimum slot because it has only one side shared instead of two).

[BenW0]

More things to change:

• On SLS, the aspect ratio seems to change faster than the diameter, so constant aspect ratio holes and pillars don't have a clean transition, sometimes even going from bad to good and back to bad.
• I need to add a tweak to the xy fillets to increase the size of the base if the top radius has become a circle.

[BenW0]

• Consider changing the horizontal pillars and bars so instead of going up to a hard wall they just have individual support pieces back to the build plate at the far end. That way they have to endure the stress from depowdering/desupporting just like the vertical fins do.

[BenW0]

Add a marking that tells us which test part this is. Either numeric or a qr code. We need something...

[BenW0]

Also, change "button" to "boss" and make its aspect ratio 1:1 with diameter maybe?