Engineer by trade, Remy Vicarini became famous on social media Instagram for the stories he shared regarding his cat, Cathode and all the sport activities they practice together. A recent picture he shared quickly became viral. This time, Cathode wore a helmet.
A quick investigation revealed that he designed and custom made this helmet using 3D printing technology.
“When I adopted Cathode, I thought I have to give her more than just a homelife. Being an outdoor sports lover, I took her on a bike ride, and she liked that. Later we tried a motorbike trip, pretty the same, but faster. That time I noticed her discomfort because of the wind and realized that eye protection was needed,” says Remy Vicarini.
It took a really long time to adjust the first wooden helmet and it turned out to be too heavy.
Some other creative attempts included the use of plastic pieces, which Remy tried to adapt and shape into a helmet for Cathode. These were lacking functionality and their appearance was quite questionable. Finally, Remy came to the conclusion that the best solution was to draw the helmet in CAD and 3D print it exactly as he wanted.
“It may sound difficult, but you can design your project in almost any design program you have already used and import it into Z-SUITE software to create the file with instructions for a Zortrax M200 Plus 3D printer. To start with the design, you need the measurements. In my case, I had to wrap Cathode’s head with a sheet of tin foil to get the right sizes. When this time-consuming challenge was tackled, I managed to finish the design in Z-SUITEin a few hours,” convinces Remy.
The final shape of the future print is visible on the screen, where in the case of Zortrax software,
users can position it at whatever angle to check on shapes. When the design is finished, the program requires adding the support structures needed during the printing. Z-Suite software always advises users on how to save time or material on the support angles which is very intuitive and user-friendly.
The proven material for such a helmet is Z-ULTRAT as it is hard enough and provides a smooth
and shiny surface of prints. Some post-processing with sandpaper can help to make a helmet even smoother and provide a brighter shade of the covering color if you decide to paint the print afterward. The designs created by Remy have blown up the social media communities of cats and technology lovers. Not only do they look distinctive, but they also serve as eye protection for Cathode, making her sports adventures safe and much more pleasant.
Nowadays, if you have an idea of a product that cannot be found on the market, there are two ways out: you can either hire professionals to bring your idea to life, or you can design and produce it yourself.
So far, this second option seems to work well for Vicarini.
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