This is a parametric flap generator for my 3d printed split-flap display. You can use it to easily generate your own flaps and print them with the multi-material printer of your choice.

The generator uses a .scad file as a template. The configuration is done in a yaml file. You can find more information in the "Config" section.

Prequisites

The script is requires:

OpenSCAD
Python3

Installation

Clone this repository

git clone

Install openSCAD on your system

sudo apt install openscad

./generator.py <path-to-config>

You can find an example config in ./configs/

Config

The config is stored in a yaml format and contains the following sections:

`globals`

Contains all global settings defining the dimensions of a single flap. You can change these values to fit your specific project:

`defaults`

This object contains all default values for a flap. These can be overwritten for each flap. If a specific property is not defined on a flap, this default setting is used.

font: Font used for text
font_size: Default font size
font_y_scale: Stretches font on y axis
svg_scale: Scale for svg
string: default text. Rcommended to use ' ', even for svg.
svg: absolute path to svg file. If empty, the text is generated. This can also be r path relative to the location of scad_file

`flaps`

Array of each flap. you can specify each of the above mentioned parameters per flap. Every parameter set here overwerites the default parameters.

For example:

flaps:
  - string: "A"
  - string: "B"
  - string: "C"
  - svg: "C:\\\\Users\\\\DG\\\\Downloads\\\\calendar-blank-icon.svg"
    svg_scale: 0.8

`output_path`

This is the string to the output directory. The .stl files are stored here.

`scad_path`

Absolute path to the OpenSCAD executable on your system. For linux you can get it by running which openscad

`scad_file`

Absolute path to the OpenSCAD file used to generate the mesh. Examples located in ./templates/

Printing results

All files are stored in the directory specified by output_path.

The *_a.stl file contains the flap itself. This should be printed in black.
The *_b.stl files contains the text or graphics. It should be printed in the foreground color.

If you use Orca Slicer or Bambu Studio, you can drag both files simultaneously into the slice. It will group them, which makes handling easier. You still have to manually select the fillaments for both parts (foregournd and background).

Generate 3mf from stl files

I am working on a way to combine the stl files into one 3mf file. This requires you to install the Orca slicer from https://orca-slicer.com/#download

You need to specify it in the config under combine.orca_slicer_exec.

The settings are made under the combinesection in the config file.

enable: enables combining the files
orca_slicer_exec: path to the orca slider executable (NOTE: this only works on linux and mac.)
fillament: map of fillament settings to use. You can keep those settings. They only force orca to treat them as two different fillaments. You can change them later manually.