The Sharkbot-Arduino Mega link

Fifteen-year-old Angad Daryani has developed a number of open source projects in recent years, including an e-reader for the blind, a solar-powered boat, an automated gardening system (Garduino) and Sharkbot, a 3D printer powered by the Atmel-based Arduino Mega (ATmega1280).

Daryani, who is also the co-founder of Makers Asylum in Mumbai, recently told DNA that he plans on making SharkBot the most affordable 3D printer in India.

“We have designed almost every part ourselves. We will have different models of SharkBot at different prices- but the goal is to sell 3D printers and expose everyone to 3D printing at a very low cost,” he explained.

 “The logistics and business of Sharkbot will be handled by my dad’s nationwide computer peripherals company – Kunhar Peripherals. We have offices all over the country and thus we are looking at creating a nationwide revolution.”

Daryani also noted that he specifically chose an Arduino Mega to power the SharkBot.

“One needs a lot of I/O pins for a 3D printer. [You] need pins to drive 4-5 stepper motors, 2 mosphets, a graphic lcd, a digital encoder and several other sensors and switches,” he said. “The board we have developed is an all in one, single sided PCB board for 2,000 INR. It’s [specifically designed to] control 3D printers.”

Last, but certainly not least, Daryani emphasized that he will not be only be focusing on the SharkBot, but rather, looking to create a Maker Movement revolution in India.

“Everything that I make, is open sourced so that everyone else can learn how it works or re-make it,” he concluded.

15-year-old Angad Daryani builds 3D printers

A 15-year-old home-schooled teenager is single-handedly changing the way India looks at 3D printing. Indeed, Angad Daryani runs his own company and sells a variety of DIY kits, ranging from portable speakers to Atmel-powered ReRap printers. 

“I had no satisfaction that I knew things, I couldn’t apply anything I had learned to real life,” Daryani recently told DNA India. “I quit the formal pattern of studying and am now being home-schooled.”

Daryani says he built his first humanoid robot at 8, along with a remote controlled hovercraft he made in sixth grade by watching YouTube videos. He has also designed an e-book reader for the visually impaired (the Virtual Brailler), which converts written text to braille as it scans across a text.

Daryani’s latest project is the modded RepRap SharkBot, which he describes as “the fastest and most robust desktop 3D printer that can print any material except metal.”

The young Maker said he was inspired to design his own 3D printer, slated to launch in January 2014, after noticing that DIY Makers and engineers were importing printers for desktop use. In the meantime, Daryani continues to offer standard DIY RepRap kits.

“We are wasting foreign currency by importing these things. I want to change that,” Daryani explained. “There’s a movement called Rep Rap which allows people to build [an Atmel-based] 3D printer using stuff they can find at a hardware store. I sell the RepRap Prusa i3.”

As we’ve previously discussed on Bits & Pieces, Atmel AVR XMEGA and megaAVR MCUs can be found in the majority of 3D printers on the market, including the popular MakerBot and RepRap. It should also be noted that the lucrative 3D printing space is set for “explosive growth” in 2014 and 2015. To be sure, Gartner analysts expect worldwide shipments of 3D printers to increase by 75 percent in 2014, followed by a near doubling of unit shipments in 2015.