Rain gauge

3-D Printed Rainfall Gauge

This section shows the journey for making our 3D print rain gauge!

We didn't start from scratch - we work on Suromark's version(https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3747090) and we did some changes to that:

First, we noticed that the tipping bucket can get stuck if operated overnight, so we changed the size of the tipping bucket ()part:

figure

Secondly, we noticed that not all of the water in the bucket can escape when tipping. We compared with the standard tipping bucket rain gauge design, and we add a sharp edge and make some changes to help divert water when tipping

figure

Thirdly, we found water can be soaked into the tipping bucket so we changed from 30% infill to 100% infill;

In the end, we found that during the overnight operation, a small amount of water from splashing or dripping can stay on the rain gauge base, which probably increases the friction between the base and bucket, therefore influencing the tipping volume. In that case, we change the base design - to make water can easily escape so the tipping volume is consistent.