DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF MODULAR

DOBSONIAN MOUNT

A CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE PROJECT

REPORT

Submitted by

BALAJI S 2015118009

CHANDRU M 2015118012

LOGESH A 2015118021

MANOJ R 2015118024

In partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the degree of

BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING In

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING GUINDY

ANNA UNIVERSITY, CHENNAI-600025

NOVEMBER 2018
 BONA FIDE CERTIFICATE
Certified that this project report “DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF
LOW COST SUB-ZERO AIR MQL SYSTEM” is a bona fide work of

BALAJI S 2015118009
CHANDRU M 2015118012
LOGESH A 2015118021
MANOJ R 2015118024

who carried out the project work under my supervision, for the partial fulfilment
of the requirements for the award of the degree of Bachelor of Engineering in
Mechanical Engineering. Certified further that to the best of my knowledge and
belief, the work reported herein does not form part of any other project report or
dissertation on the basis of which a degree or an award was conferred on an earlier
occasion on these or any other candidates.

Dr. Maj. S. RAJENDRA BOOPATHY Dr. D. SAMUELRAJ

Professor & Head Assistant Professor & Guide

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering,

College of Engineering, Guindy, College of Engineering, Guindy,

Anna University, Chennai – 25. Anna University, Chennai – 25.

 ABSTRACT

Although there are many telescopic mounts available in today’s

market. It’s hard to find a telescopic mount that is suitable for various focal
length. Various focal length alters the diameter of the Optical Tube
Assembly (OTA). Due to this variation, it is compulsory to build different
mount depending on the size of OTA. So designing a modular telescopic
mount based on the Dobsonian mount can help amateur astronomers to
invest small and gain a lot of information about planetary bodies. Modular
mount solves the problem transportation and assembly. Transportation is
easy because whole mount is divide into small individual parts which Cana
be detached and attached depending on the needs. Amateur astronomy
photographers also feel difficult to do carpenter work to build mount from
woods and carry them to far place. Modular design solves these problems.
Making use of plastics in this mount also reduces vibration transmission
through body which is a big disadvantage in normal mounts. These
vibrations could ruin astronomer’s photography since the telsecope has
high zoom factor, minor vibrations can also lead to capturing of shaky
images and blurred images. These designs can be outsourced to individuals
so that they can 3D print these parts individually with the available 3D
printers nearby. so this reduces the need for service centres and customer
care. Concept of this design is to fully use the available modular technology
to aid the budding amateur astronomers.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We are highly indebted to our guide Dr. S. RAGAVANANDHAM,

Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of
Engineering, Guindy, Anna University, for his useful suggestion, moral
support, sustained interests and encouragement throughout the project.
We consider it a privilege to thanks Dr. Maj. S. RAJENDRA
BOOPATHY, Professor and Head, Department of Mechanical Engineering,
College of Engineering, Guindy, Anna University, for providing facilities for
the successful completion of the Project.
We owe our sincere thanks to our Project coordinator
Dr. V. KUMARESAN, Asst. Professor, Institute for Energy Studies,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Guindy,
Anna University, for providing us with all facilities for the project.
We are extremely grateful to our review committee members
Dr. Maj. S. RAJENDRA BOOPATHY, Professor & Head, Department of
Mechanical Engineering, Dr. K. VELAMURALI, Professor, Engineering
Design Division, Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Dr. S.
INIYAN, Professor, Institute for Energy Studies, Department of Mechanical
Engineering, College of Engineering Guindy, Anna University, for their
valuable suggestions for this Project.

BALAJI S CHANDRU M
2015118009 2015118012

LOGESH A MANOJ R
2015118021 2015118024

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER TITLE PAGE

NO. NO

ABSTRACT iii
LIST OF FIGURES vi
LIST OF SYMBOLS viii

1. INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 GENERAL 1

1.2 AIM OF THE PROJECT 2

2. LITERATURE REVIEW 3

3. DESIGNING AND FABRICATION 5

3.1 MODULAR DESIGN 5

3.2 JAPANESE CUTS 8

3.3 DESIGN CALCULATION 10

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4. MATERIAL SELECTION 11

5. 3D PRINTING 14

5.1 3D PRINTERS 14

5.2 FINAL 3D PRINTED PARTS 20

6. COSTING 22

7. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION 23

7.1ADVANTAGES 23

7.2 CONCLUSION 23

REFERENCE 24

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 LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE NO HEADING PAGE

NO
1.1 A Dobsonian telescope on 5
display
3.1 Factors influencing ota size 10
flowchart
3.2 Cube 11
3.3 Assembled mount 11

3.3 Renderes cad image 12

3.5 Dobsonian mount load 14

5.1 Accucraft 3d printer 19

5.2 Flashforge 20

5.3 Uprint 20

5.4 Stratasys 21

5.5 Cube 22

5.6 Bottom part 25

5.7 Cube part 25

5.8 Side stand 25

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 LIST OF SYMBOLS

SYMBOL AND MEANING

ABBREVIATION

Fy Sum of vertical forces

Fx Sum of horizontal forces

Ry Reaction forces

PLA Poly lactic acid

PA Poly amide

ABS Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene

HIPS High impact polystyrene

PETG Polyethylene terypthalate glycol

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 CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 GENERAL

Fig 1.1 A Dobsonian telescope on display at Stellafane in the early 1980s

A Dobsonian telescope is an altazimuth-mounted Newtonian

telescope design popularized by John Dobson starting 53 years ago in 1965
and credited with vastly increasing the size of telescopes available
to amateur astronomers. Dobson's telescopes featured a simplified
mechanical design that was easy to manufacture from readily available
components to create a large, portable, low-cost telescope. The design is
optimized for observing faint, deep-sky objects such
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as nebulae and galaxies. This type of observation requires a
large objective diameter (i.e. light-gathering power) of relatively short focal
length and portability for travel to relatively less light-polluted locations.

Dobsonians are intended to be what is commonly called a "light

bucket" operating at low magnification, and therefore the design omits
features found in other amateur telescopes such as equatorial tracking.
Dobsonians are popular with in the amateur telescope making community,
where the design was pioneered and continues to evolve.A number of
commercial telescope makers also sell telescopes based on this design. The
term Dobsonian is currently used for a whole range of large-aperture
Newtonian reflectors that use some of the basic Dobsonian design
characteristics, regardless of the materials from which they are constructed.

1.2 AIM OF THE PROJECT

There exist a need for modular and accessible telescopic mount for
amateur astronomers. Our modular design can help budding astronomers to
build and assemble the mount at any place without the worry of
transportation.

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 CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 LITERATURE SURVEY

YEAR & JOURNAL
December 2017

TITLE OF THE PAPER

Design of tipping structure for 110 m high-precision radio telescope

KEY POINTS
Considering the stringent surface accuracy and pointing accuracy
specifications of the 110 m radio telescope, the homologous deformation
characteristics of the reflector is first studied, and key design points of the
tipping structure are presented further. Then, a novel Reflector-Alidade
Connecting Structure (RACS) scheme for large telescope is proposed based
on these points. Finally, the new design scheme is applied to the numerical
example of 110 m telescope, and the results verify the feasibility and
effectiveness of the new scheme.

OUTCOMES
Aiming at the high precision of pointing and high surface accuracy of
a 110 m high-precision radio telescope, the deformation form that the high
precision telescope should have was deduced firstly. Then the influences of
supporting structure on the deformation of the telescope surface were
analyzed, and the design criterions of support structure for the 110 m
telescope were presented. Based on the criterions, a new support structure
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scheme with two pairs of parallel plate guide flexures and 16 equal softness
support points was proposed to ensure the high precision of the telescope.
For verification, the new scheme was applied to the 110 m telescope and
simulation analyses show that it is feasible and effective, which provides
theoretical guidance for the structural design of QTT.

FINDINGS:
There is only one literature review based on the telescope
mounts. It elaborated on the design of telescope mounts which can be used
as reference to build a modular Dobsonian telescopic mount.

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 CHAPTER 3
DESIGNING AND FABRICATION

3.1 MODULAR DESIGN

Modular design, or "modularity in design", is a design approach that
subdivides a system into smaller parts called modules or skids, that can be
independently created and then used in different systems. A modular system
can be characterized by functional partitioning into discrete scalable,
reusable modules; rigorous use of well-defined modular interfaces; and
making use of industry standards for interfaces.

Besides reduction in cost (due to less customization, and shorter learning

time), and flexibility in design, modularity offers other benefits such as
augmentation (adding new solution by merely plugging in a new module),
and exclusion. Examples of modular systems are cars, computers, process
systems, electric power distribution systems. Evolution also results in the
modular design of species in that homologous modules sharing
approximately the same form or function appear in different
organisms. . Modular design is an attempt to combine the advantages
of standardization with those.

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Fig 3.1 Factors influencing OTA sizes Flowchart

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OTA size of different telescope FUSION 360 is used to design these parts.
Designed parts are shown below

Fig 3.2.Cube CAD

Fig 3.3.Assembled mount

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 Fig 3.4.Rendered CAD image

3.2 JAPANESE CUTS

Multiple connectivity options

This compact yet powerful 3D printer can be connected via USB, SD Card,
Ethernet and Wi-Fi. This allows users to get secure access to the machine’s
control software along with multi-user support.
Remote print monitoring system
The Beauty in a Board
Japanese carpenters can tell you a lot about a piece of lumber just by looking
at it. They can see which is the root end and which the branch end, whether
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a log might twist as it ages, and where it is likely to split. This is not to
mention knowing what kind of wood it is by the look, feel, and smell, how
the wood was dried (and of course whether it is adequately dry to use), and
which of many joinery methods will be the strongest and most beautiful in
any given situation.
Most laypeople don’t even recognize this level of expertise, but we
can easily see one very common way Japanese carpenters display their skill:
the keshōmen (化粧面), or “decorative face” of a piece of wood.
A typical board of Japanese cedar (sugi).
The distinctive arch pattern you usually see on the face of a board is
the result of “plain sawing.” Plain sawing is the most efficient way to cut a
log, leaving the center core to be used for columns, but carpenters consider
it to be the least elegant way to present the wood.
Plain-sawn boards are cut flat from one side of a log until a set depth.
The log is then turned 90 degrees and the process is repeated, until only a
square column remains at the center. A board cut in this way generally has
the end grain—the pattern visible on the ends of the board—running
lengthwise along the narrow end face.
The pattern is quite attractive and plain-sawn lumber wastes very little
wood, but the “arches” that are visible on the lumber’s face also mean that it
is somewhat weaker than a piece where the grain is vertical. Sometimes those
arches will separate from the cut plane and curl up in thin, splintery wafers.
Additionally, an imperfectly sharp cutting blade may catch on the growth
rings and gash the wood. Plain-sawn lumber tends to shrink more as it dries,
and may also “cup,” its face becoming concave.
Because of this, Japanese carpenters are particular about which side of
a piece of lumber is the important face—the keshōmen to be displayed in the
finished work—and which is unimportant. When they use a plain-sawn
board, the face displaying the grain’s arches will necessarily be dominant—
but the unsightly butt ends should be covered. A good carpenter can tell
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whether the board is likely to cup, and will make sure weaker boards are not
used where they will be seen. When a plainsawn board is square or close to
square in its cross-section, the carpenter will try to make sure the “arches”
face is not dominant; the face with straight lines should when possible be the
keshōmen decorative face, the side the user will see and touch the most.

3.3 DESIGN CALCULATION

Fig 3.5 Dobsonian mount load

Since the sum of the vertical forces are equal to zero

Fy =0

Since the sum of horizontal forces are equal to zero

Fx =0

To find the reaction force in vertical direction,

Ry-15=0 (-ve sign, because the weight is acting on downward)

Therefore, Ry=15 k
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 CHAPTER 4

4.1 MATERIAL SELECTION

There are so many materials you can choose from when it comes to 3D
printing that it’s often tough to decide on the right one. Select the perfect
material based on a few important factors, like type, minimum thickness,
texture and the all-important cost. Whether you’re looking to 3D print a
prototype or a unique 3D gift,

Polyamide (PA)

3D Printed polyamide properties:

Commonly known as Nylon, this polyamide material is very strong. It is light

and the smaller the wall thickness is, the more flexible it gets, which means
you can also bend it. Applying the technology of Selective Laser Sintering,
Polyamide is appropriate to create complex and delicate geometries. This
material is relatively inexpensive and one of the toughest plastic materials.

It produces a rugous and slightly porous surface, but can then be

polished, varnished or smoothed . Our smoothing beautifier finish for white
polyamide makes 3D Printed polyamide parts very close to injection molding
parts. It is also available for white parts dyed in black.

This material is relatively inexpensive and one of the toughest plastic

materials. Our online 3D Printing service offers several colors of PA powder
available: white plastic, solid black, and solid gray and so on. It can also be
dyed or painted.

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3D Printed polyamide applications:

3D Printed polyamide can be used to manufacture goods on a large scale,as

you can see with the example of the NightQuest headphones by Audioquest,
partly 3D printed.

Which other material can 3D printed polyamide “simulate”?

Polyamide has quite the same composition as most of the polymer materials
which means PA can be an alternative solution to polymer materials such
as Arcylonitrile Butadine Styrene (ABS), Polyester (PET), Acetals
(POM) and many more.

ABS plastic (Arcylonitrile Butadine Styrene)

3D Printed ABS properties:

Part of the thermoplastic polymers family, this material is primarily used as

filaments in FDM or FFF 3D printers that use material extrusion for its
manufacturing process. Its advantages are its lightness and impact strength.
ABS plastic can resist to temperature up to 200°C (392°F). In certain cases,
ABS is biocompatible.

3D Printed ABS applications:

As FDM doesn’t create parts as strong as more industrial 3D printing

techniques like SLS, ABS is mostly used for prototypes, and aspect parts.

Which other material can 3D printed ABS be compared to?

If you want to create the 3D model using another material with similar
characteristics, polyamide can be used to imitate the ABS plastic. The
differences: SLS usually creates stronger, more detailed parts, and Polyamide
is more flexible than ABS. If your concern is to 3D printing an object that
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can resist higher temperatures, Cyanate Ester can be a solution, since it can
resist up to 219°c .

PLA (Polyactic Acid)

3D Printed PLA properties:

PLA is a fully biodegradable thermoplastic that uses cornstarch as its special

raw material. Using the technology of FDM, this vegetable based material is
slightly more fragile and less durable than other 3D printing materials.

3D Printed PLA applications:

As it has limited durability, Polyactic Acid is mostly used to create

decorative objects without mechanical constraints.

Which other material can 3D printed PLA be compared to?

One of 3D printed PLA’s main competitor is ABS plastics. This Acrylonitrile

Butadiene Styrene is a biocompatible material that can adapt and compatible
to use with other technologies to create a 3D Printing objects. PLA is more
biodegradable which its natural material is safer to use. However, it has a
lower melting point than any other FDM materials around 150ºC which
makes PLA is more sensitive to high temperature than ABS.

On comparing above material based on their properties, PLA was found

compatible for this project based on Dobsonian Mount.

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 CHAPTER 5

5.1 3D PRINTING

3D PRINTING 3D printing is any of various processes in which material is

joined or solidified under computer control to create a three-dimensional
object, with material being added together (such as liquid molecules or
powder grains being fused together). 3D printing is used in both rapid
prototyping and additive manufacturing. 3D printing is achieved using 3D
Printing machine. 3D printing machine available:

1.ACCUCRAFT( i 250+)
2.FLASHFORGE
3.UPRINT
4.STRATASYS
5.CUBE

1.ACCUCRAFT( i 250+)

Fig 5.1 Accucraft

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Specifications:
1. Volume: 250*250*250
2.Accuracy: ±80-150 microns and has delivered an
accuracy of ±50 microns in ideal test environments.
3.Material Used: ABS, PLA, Wood-infill, Metafill, PETG,
HIPS, Carbon Fiber, Polycarbonate
4.Filament dia: 1.75mm
5.Software: Repetier, Cura, Custom Software for DBZ,
Kislicer.

2.FLASHFORGE:

Fig 5.2 Flashforge

Specifications:
1.Volume: 225 x 145 x 150 mm.
2.Accuracy: 100 – 200 Microns
3.Material used:ABS, PETG, PLA, PVA.
4.Filament dia: 1.75 mm
5.Software: Flashprint
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3.UPRINT:

Fig 5.3 Uprint

Specifications:
1.Volume : 203 x 152 x 152cm
2.Accuracy: 0.254 inch( convert into microns)
3.Material used: ABS
4.Filament dia: 1.75mm
5.Software:GrabCAD

4.STRATASYS:

Fig 5.4 Stratasys

Specifications:
1. Volume: 255 x 252 x 200 mm
2.Accuracy: 16 microns
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 3.Material Used: Based on PolyJet technology
4.Software: CAD

5. CUBE:

Fig 5.5 Cube

Specifications:
1.Volume: 152.5 x 152.5 x 152.5 cm
2.Accuracy: 70 microns, fast mode: 200 microns.
3.Material used: Tough recyclable ABS plastic or
compostable PLA plastic
4.Filament dia: 1.75mm
5.software:Print utility, cubify shop

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Divide By Zero’s Accucraft i250+ is a professional single extruder 3D

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your first step into the amazing world of 3D printing. Housed in a high-

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endurance sheet metal body, the Accucraft i250+ is pre-assembled, calibrated
and tested for easy 3D printing right out of the box
Accucraft i250+’s low-noise operation, quick-load functionality, su-per-fast
slicer and industrial-grade build quality ensure fast and reliable print-cycles.
Advanced features like SD card, USB, Ethernet and Wi-Fi allow seamless
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Take the first step towards visualising your design ideas into a tangible reality
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delivered an accuracy of ±50 microns in ideal test environments.
Hassle-free semi - auto bed levelling
The Accucraft i250+ features a 4-point semi-automatic bed levelling that
takes less than a minute to get ready for the next print batch, empowering
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productivity and saves precious time in fast-paced production and
prototyping applications.
High endurance and rigid enclosed body design
The Accucraft i250+ is housed in a high endurance and robust sheet metal
body that stabilizes internal chamber temperature for controlled heat
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The Accucraft i250+ is easily compatible with a wide range of industry
standard 3D printing materials material such as ABS, PLA, Wood-infill,
Metafill, PETG, HIPS, Carbon Fiber, Polycarbonate and Flexible Filaments
among a list of others.
Multiple connectivity options
This compact yet powerful 3D printer can be connected via USB, SD Card,
Ethernet and Wi-Fi. This allows users to get secure access to the machine’s
control software along with multi-user support.
Remote print monitoring system
The Accucraft i250+ features a built-in camera with internet connectivity (via
Ethernet or Wi-Fi) to empower users to monitor print queues easily from a
remote location, giving them full visibility of the entire print process.
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The Beauty in a Board

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5.2 FINAL 3D PRINTED PARTS

Fig 5.6 Bottom

Fig 5.7 Top.

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 Fig 5.8 Side stand

These are final 3D printed parts made with PLA (Poly Lactide Acid). Since
this is a prototype. Each part is reduced to about 0.25% oft he original parts.
3D printer usually consumes a lot of time. So the best way to make prototype
is to reduce the density by reducing the infill amount to about 70%. Even
with these setttings the making these parts took about one whole week.

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 CHAPTER 6
6.1 COSTING

S.NO COMPONENTS INR

1 PLA (0.75mm DIA WIRE) 2500

2 MACHINE OPERATION COST 2000

TOTAL 4500

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 CHAPTER 7
RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

7.1 ADVANTAGES OF MODULAR DOBSONIAN MOUNT

The mount is usually made from wood or metal with bearings and
support for the two axis of movement. More so lately, some manufacturers
have put GoTo systems with motors on some Dobsonian mounts. Personally
I think it’s a bit over kill for a Dobsonian, as finding objects manually by
star hopping or other manual methods helps you learn the sky better and can
be fun.
Portability: Dobsonians, until you get a Dob that's larger than about 8 or 10
inches in diameter, are remarkably portable for the size of the mirror (the
light gathering power) they offer. Size and portability are relative and in
the-eye-of-the-beholder; Orion suggests you carefully consider the size of
any Dob before you buy (by comparison charts, such as the one below, or
look at the photos with something for scale or people next to them) An 8-
inch telescope is not a tiny department store telescope.

7.2 CONCLUSION
This modular mount can be used to assist bird watchers and amateur
astronomers to study and observe the behavior of planetary bodies.

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 REFERENCES

1. Stargazers Lounge DIY optical telescope and mount.

https://stargazerslounge.com/
2. The Dobsonian Telescope: A Practical Manual for Building Large
Aperture Telescopes | Author: David Creige.
3. Build your own telescope | Author : Richard berry (1985). Hints on
how to build your own telescope.

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