Printing Guide
July 21, 2026 ยท View on GitHub
This guide provides detailed instructions on how to print the parts for the Microban robot. It covers recommended settings, orientations, and tips to ensure successful prints. To see the full assembly of the parts, you can refer to the Onshape assembly.
Recommended Settings
The parts are available in the cad/stl/ directory of this repository, and they are designed to be printed using a standard desktop 3D printer with PLA filament, 0.12mm layer height, and 15% infill. The next table summarizes the number of parts to print for each component of the robot. Please note that some parts may require specific orientations for printing, please refer to the Part Orientation section for more details.
| Part | Quantity | Image | Description / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| foot.stl | 2 | Feet of the robot. | |
| tibia_left.stl | 1 | Left tibia of the robot. Asymmetric to ensure proper cable routing. | |
| tibia_right.stl | 1 | Right tibia of the robot. Asymmetric to ensure proper cable routing. | |
| femur_left.stl | 1 | Left femur of the robot. Asymmetric to ensure proper cable routing. | |
| femur_right.stl | 1 | Right femur of the robot. Asymmetric to ensure proper cable routing. | |
| hip.stl | 2 | Hips of the robot. | |
| ankle_dbl_block.stl | 2 | Double motor blocks for the ankle joint. | |
| hip_dbl_block_left.stl | 1 | Left double-motor block for the hip joint. Asymmetric to ensure proper cable routing. | |
| hip_dbl_block_right.stl | 1 | Right double-motor block for the hip joint. Asymmetric to ensure proper cable routing. | |
| spacer.stl | 4 | Cable clearance spacers for ankle and hip double-motor blocks. | |
| pelvis.stl | 1 | Pelvis of the robot. Lower part of the torso. | |
| chest.stl | 1 | Chest of the robot. Middle part of the torso. | |
| trunk_top.stl | 1 | Top part of the torso. | |
| head.stl | 1 | The head of the robot. Currently just cosmetic, but can be modified to include sensors or cameras. | |
| arm_bearing_support.stl | 2 | Supports for the shoulder shims. Printed separately from the chest to allow for better orientation and print quality. | |
| shoulder.stl | 2 | Shoulder joints of the robot. | |
| humerus.stl | 2 | Upper arms of the robot. | |
| radius.stl | 2 | Lower arms of the robot. | |
| idle_horn.stl | 4 | Idle horn for XL330 motors. This part can be bought from Robotis, but printing it does not affect the quality and is cheaper. | |
| idle_cap.stl | 6 | Idle cap to fit the idle horn. This part can be bought from Robotis, but printing it does not affect the quality and is cheaper. Two of the caps are designed to fit the forearm parts (radius). | |
| board_spacer.stl | 4 | Unthreaded spacer to place between the Raspberry Pi and the RPI Robot hat. |
Part Orientation
The parts that support the plain bearings (POM washers sandwiched between steel shims) should be printed in a specific orientation to ensure proper fit and surface finish. These orientations can increase the required support material, but they are necessary to ensure that the bearings fit correctly and that the parts function as intended. These parts are:
hip.stlpelvis.stlarm_bearing_support.stlshoulder.stl
The following parts also require specific orientations to ensure proper fit and alignment with the motors:
idle_horn.stlidle_cap.stlradius.stl
The following images show the recommended orientations for the parts listed above.
For all the other parts, the orientation is quite straightforward, and they can be printed without the need of support material for a lot of them.
Once you have all the parts, if you already purchased the necessary components listed in the BOM, you can proceed to assemble the robot by following the Assembly Guide.