There is a concept in software development known as "Rubber Duck Debugging" which is the act of vocalizing one's programming dilemma to an inanimate object, such as a rubber duck, and in doing so realize the cause of their problem. At DASSL, we wanted to have our own version of a duck to help solve coding dilemmas while also branding DASSL. From this desire the DASSL Duck was born!
The DASSL Duck is not actually rubber, but rather a 3D printed plastic model with the letters "DASSL" recessed and painted on the chest area. The duck model is a modified version of the 3D file titled "Rubber Duck" taken from Thingiverse, designed by user willie and licensed under Creative Commons - Public Domain Dedication which allows the public to copy, modify, distribute, and perform the work for any purpose without asking permission beforehand. This model follows the DASSL protocol of trying to build and use open-source software that benefits the public at no cost to them and was selected for this reason as the base of the current DASSL Duck.
The current iteration of the DASSL Duck was designed using the online 3D modeling software Tinkercad, a simple online model editor that allowed for fast modification and iteration of the model. The 3D model was then exported as a .obj file and sliced by Ultimaker Cura Software, a free and open-source 3D model slicing program. The resulting .gcode file was then printed using a Monoprice Maker Select 3D Printer v2 with HATCHBOX Yellow PLA and painted using Uni-posca Paint Marker Pens.
The settings that achieved the results in images/ are as follows:
Layer Height: 0.1 mm
Infill Density: 15%
Printing Temperature: 215 degrees C
Build Plate Temperature: 60 degrees C
Print Speed: 50 mm/s
Retraction: yes
Generate Support: yes
Support Overhang Angle: 60 mm/s
Build Plate Adhesion Type: Skirt
Support was used for the models in the pictures, however others have printed without support with no issues.
This repository contains the current version of the DASSL Duck in a .obj 3D file format which should be compatible for any slicing engine. For convenience there is also the gcode/ directory that contains pre-compiled gcode for use on most standard FDM printers. There are multiple different sizes of the model with DASSLduck.obj being the standard size. The repository also contains an images/ directory with pictures of the current version (v5) in the top-level, as well as images of previous versions in dedicated folders. There is no v4 folder as there is almost no visual difference between v4 and v5 DASSL Ducks.
These are the sizes of the models that will be printed using the generated gcode files in the gcode/ directory:
| File Name | Model Size (mm) |
|---|---|
| dasslDuck.gcode | 47.94 x 57.32 x 46.10 |
| dasslDuck_Large.gcode | 63.77 x 81.32 x 69.20 |
| dasslDuck_XLarge.gcode | 85.19 x 105.32 x 92.30 |
| dasslDuck_XXLarge.gcode | 106.59 x 126.60 x 115.40 |
| dasslDuck_XXXLarge.gcode | 128.01 x 150.60 x 138.60 |
