About our projects
The uOttawa Richard L’Abbé Makerspace is a sandbox to design, play and create for fun or for a specific project.
Richard L’Abbé Makerspace includes a number of cool technology platforms, such as 3D printing, virtual reality, internet of things and wearables. In the Richard L’Abbé Makerspace we have many exciting projects using these platforms. Learn more about these exciting project being developed at uOttawa Richard L’Abbé Makerspace.
3D printing
3D printing is an additive manufacturing process that creates a three dimensional object from a digital model. It works similarly to regular ink and paper printer in that it systematically moves through space to create the desired print. In the past decade 3D Printing has become a key component in the field of rapid prototyping. 3D printers fall under the category of CNC (Computer Numerical Controlled) machine since they receive their tool path information from a computer.
There are a few different types of 3D printers that have been developed. In uOttawa Richard L’Abbé Makerspace we are working on different exciting projects using these different types of 3D printers and 3D printing technologies. Take a look at these exciting projects being developed at uOttawa Richard L’Abbé Makerspace.
3D Scanning for Custom Prosthetic Design
3D Scanning for Custom Prosthetic Design project involves building specialized scanners that map all of the features and contours necessary for creating a 3D blueprint of an amputee’s body, Through this project we can help produce the absolute best-fitting and best-designed prosthetic limb for the particular patient at hand.
This project is exploring the potential of motorized structured light 3D scanners as the solution to automating the prosthetic design process, to make it accessible and affordable to clinics in rural communities and in developing nations.
The Kestrel 3D Printed Prosthesis
The Kestrel is an open source 3D printed upper limb prosthesis that has been designed to be fully parametric. As such, it can be easily adjusted to fit a wide variety of people and can also be easily modified to meet many unique needs. The Kestrel provides all of this at a low cost of manufacture, and the assembly process required in its construction is simple and well documented. It is a great option for many low cost upper limb prosthesis needs.
Medical 3D Printing & Design Project
Medical 3D printing can be used in a variety of ways, such as re-creating patient anatomy, designing simulations, and prototyping clinical tools. As a result, a user must select carefully from a multitude of software options and materials when considering 3D printing.
The Medical 3D printing project at uOttawa Makerspace explores medical 3D printing with multiple modalities and materials, such as re-creating patient anatomy from radiological scans, designing simulation models, and prototyping learning tools for students and clinicians.
Internet of Things
Internet of Things (IoT), combines the network of physical objects “or” things such as electronics, software, sensors, etc. It also involves embedded devices such as Raspberry Pi, Arduino for low level hardware communication and covers a variety of protocols, domains and applications. The Internet of Things allows objects to be sensed and controlled remotely across existing network infrastructure, creating opportunities for more direct integration between the physical world and computer-based systems.
Makerthings Mobile Application
Makerthings lets you control things on your Raspberry Pi, it is specially designed for the Richard L’Abbé Makerspace at the University of Ottawa. This Project enables people to use mobile app to control things connected to Raspberry Pi over network, and both server development and mobile application development are involved.
Arduino Project
An Arduino is an open source easy to use electronic prototyping platform allowing to create interactive electronic objects based on easy to use hardware and software. Arduino senses the environment by receiving inputs from many sensors, and affects its surroundings by controlling lights, motors, and other actuators. The Arduino Integrated Development Environment is used to tell the Arduino board what to do.