Now that my Pi is together and running it's time to use it with my 3D printer for for it's first project. I've long wondered if 3D printed dice could be used in real games, opening up the possibility of custom characters on dice without special tools (besides the 3D printer). Conventional wisdom says that 3D printed dice can't be used because they're not proven balanced and in fact can not be balanced because of the layered printing process and vertically oriented infills. However, I can't help but think that it doesn't make that big a difference and if it does it could be compensated for.
So the first step is the creation of an automated computer controlled dice tower similar to the one seen in this youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VTE6ErZ3EQ
But in the contemplation of this problem I began to wonder if a traditional dice tower with ramps can actually be that random. So I had to back up a step and design a dice tower with an interchangable rolling area so that different dice tower configurations can be tested. After finding a thread on board game geek I decided a pringles can would make an acceptable interchangable body. So here's what I came up with:
Planning done. Let the hourney begin.