Further 3D Projects Combining Additional Programs and Apps

 

We have a number of students who are working on the development of combining Pic Collage with its filters to Tinkercad designs which are then presented in different formats.

We are combining the boat, shown left with various students completing designs of the paddles or the oars.   Realistically for our classroom to complete all of the boats would take too long (these are roughly eight hours each at present) therefore we have opted to focus on printing the oars and paddles instead which are generally taking about thirty minutes.  The example shown left shows the original catamaran and paddle combination.   The objects have been placed directly on a printed out copy of a Pic Collage example.   This has used the 'festive' filter which has taken several seconds to apply the details that are shown, which has placed the boat in a winter location.

We have also looked at expanding our Pixton Comics, related to our Tinkercad Designs.

Again when we are working with a class of twenty seven students and using a #3DPriting shared with our class and the wider school we cannot use it all the time, and in particular we have mentioned in the past designs which look creative and the students are sometimes no practical to print.

This is a more detailed version of a previous task where we were using a single frame to illustrate a point, in the example shown left the students had to produce a minimum of four frames that included two different screen shots or design from Tinkercad with a filter or an altered image, the way that the boat will be powered (in this instance the paddle design) and finally a shot or screenshot of the Sphero Robot which is ultimately the way which the ship will be powered.

Junior Progressions: Earrings to Stationary Holder

 

Challenge: To show progression with a series of print to increase their difficulty and show development of ideas.

Background: This series of prints started with a earring design, which was printed in a pair (as seen far right in the photo). The student was then asked to think about how they could develop this ideas into a storage item.   They developed the star shape into a stationary holder.   He deliberately oversized the holes so that they could have multiple items held in each of the holes.   

The third iteration of this design featured additional storage in the shape of a rectangle that was inserted into the middle of the base.   The overall size of the shape was also increased at every step.

As shown left the next stage of the project is the decoration.  The spray painting of each of the shapes.

They were designed by a Y4 student (someone who is eight years old) who is developing his design skills in Tinkercad.   They were able to develop each of the designs without any teacher input.

Level of Difficulty: Medium - each of the designs in sequence is essentially based around the main interface shapes.   There could have been additional features added such as a personalisation of the design by including lettering or a name on the outside of the design.  We have been encouraging students to look at sinking the lettering into the design instead of having it stand out to ensure that it looks effective.

Timeframe: There are three distinct prints in this series.   The first is the earring which featured the shape that was to be developed.   This took thirty minutes.   The second or third prints was considerably longer.  The second (red) print was four hours and the largest print (the yellow print) was five and a half hours.

Size: Obviously there are three very distinct designs.  The earrings, which was the first stage is 45mm across and was 15mm thick.   The second container (which is red as shown above) was 60mm high and was 70mm across.   The final design included additional space for the pencil sharpener and was 100mm across.   Given the dimensions of what the student intended and the stability of the print this suited it perfectly.

What we would do differently/next steps for the students: As noted the design could have potentially had some form of personalisation.  We have started looking at adding small button LED lights into designs, and this would have been a great project to complete this.

Exemplar Boat: Problem Solving the Catamaran

 

As we have mentioned and detailed in a previous post on this blog we have previously developed and planned a Catamaran, as part of a class challenge for the students to build a boat.

The student concerned put a considerable amount of work into the project - but initial trial prints raised some issues from a range of areas.   The student themselves had the design undergo some significant testing to identify the errors in printing, and also look at what solutions that they might be able to use to resolve issues.

In the first version, two small join holes, created when two linked parts of the boat met, caused a minute hole which allowed water to enter ultimately causing the boat to list having taken on water.

The bow of the boat was designed more as a space that looked appealing, instead of being more water tight, so once water came into contact with the front of the boat it tended to cause it to start to take water onboard.   

The mast was designed to look appealing and not be functional, so the students reinforced it making it stronger.   The steering wheel is only visible in early designs as when the rafting was removed the steering wheel needed more robust attachment.

The base of the boat was reinforced with additional shapes and additional blocks to ensure that it was waterproof.   Previous testing on the early versions of the print identified that it was unable to sink.

The dimensions of the print have not changed, as the base is the same that is 140mm long, 120mm across and the cabin being 60mm high.   The print time was eight and a half hours, while this is significant, this is a particular detail process with a specific intention to complete a working boat, it features a high degree of difficulty. 

The water proofing that was attempted was initially using blu-tack.  This was discovered to be acceptable but the student wanted to upgrade to use a hot glue gun as he felt that would be more succesful.

Sphero Robot: 3D Printing the Paddle

We have started recently a 'boat building challenge' which came about as a result of a class wide design process for our students to start the new term.

We have a set of Sphero Robots in the School and we use these for a variety of coding relating tasks.   For this challenge we are looking at creating the ability for the Sphero Robot to power a boat.

The students have worked on a range of designs, with these designs the emphasis has been on the students considering shape and design and how the Sphero Robots power function (which is a spinning ball) will then allow the motion to be transferred to the boat to allow it to move.

Once again in terms of our design we have allowed our students to use Tinkercad to help with the process.  While we are wanting the students to complete the build process (or as much of it as possible) themselves we once again had students locate some of the pre-made material to help.  In this instance a key elements of the build is going to be the paddles.   These were located online.

We had a discussion in class about their format, while the shape looks like it will be suitable it was also determined that it could be broken down into a number of key elements - a series of rectangular wedges and a circle at the base of it.

The design measures 90mm from end to end and was 15mm high.   The design was imported into Tinkercad and then can be reshaped, addressed and modified.

We are now working on an axel, a way to connect the paddles and want to test it on the basis of how much power is produced as part of the process.

Sticker Machine Examples - Paint Container Conversion

Roland - Versa Studio Sign Maker BN-20 

This machine has a number of uses and is able to produce stickers, vinyl prints and prints on canvas material.   We have used it for examples that are on a variety of surfaces.

A brief example of how it might be used is something like this - in the example shown left an old paint container bucker has been cleaned out, for food scraps from the school for the worm farm.   The decal has been applied, including transparent sections where the black lettering stands out with the white background.

Applying another form of media to the plastic bucket would be challenging - as the applying of glue etc would unlikely to be successful due to the durable surface.    As can be shown from the example the sticker allows for a clear use for the container, and while the media is pre-made creation of any image, then a simple conversion of the image into a .PDF allows it to be printed into a sticker format.

Combining Tinkercad, Pic Collage and Pixton Part Two

 

This is a combination of using three web based programs in one.   In this example the student created a boat as part of the Room Seven Classroom Boat Challenge.

While we intend to print a number of them, some of the students when the design has been completed would like to share and have it shown to others.   While the Tinkercad design by itself is interesting and creative there are additional filters that can be applied.  In this case the original Tinkercad file was then imported in Pic Collage and the 'Cherry Blossom Filter was then added.   The final step was the student using Pixton, a comic App to produce an avatar of themselves standing in front of the design explaining about its creation or details about the print.

This is another student who followed the same three step process, and used their design avatar to explain information about the print.

This involved two of the three stages, with this design the student opted to leave the Tinkercad design in its regular state by just using a screen shot and then adding the characters from Pixton.

3D Printed Boats: Catamaran

Challenge: For a student to create an original boat.

Background: As part of the challenges that we are giving the class of students this year we recently gave them a 'boat' making challenge.    Experience has taught us in the past that the 3D Printer is able to produce an object that will float, due to the typical infill that is present in most printing.   This has meant that students have been able to produce themed prints (such as bath toys which we used as part of our school market day, which was last held in 2023).

We also had our senior students attempt to create Catamarans in the past (due to their balance).   You can see examples of this that were originally produced in 2017 and later variations and expanded updates from 2019.

This is the first attempt at a project like this with our current classroom which consists of junior school students who are seven and eight years old.

This project was open ended in that it was presented to students and they were encouraged to come up with an original design.   The students were provided a very basic example to help guide them, but were also encouraged to push themselves to look for real life examples that they could draw inspiration from and have details that they could mimic with their designs.

The teacher also demonstrated to students that Tinkercad, which was used for the designs,  includes as part of its object interface a hull option.  In this design shown in this post the student was able to use the hull from here as the main basis for the twin hulls.  He then made a third copy of the hull which he flipped/inverted, shorted and hollowed out which is the shape that he used to make the cabin.  Having located various Catamaran photographs he then added additional details such as the sides, the sails and then used various shapes to build a steering wheel.

The student from start to finish was able to complete the design within a thirty minute period of time.

Level of Difficulty: Hard - this students is a Y4 student however he was able to use Tinkercad to manipulate and make a Catamaran in a short period of time, this is by far the most complex and detailed project from the class as a whole, for this task, and also that this student has attempted.

Timeframe: Eight Hours.   There was considerable rafting that was present with this print, as the base of the boat, between the two hulls and the floor, needed to be printed with support which had to be removed.

Size: This is a large print, 140mm long, 120mm across and the base (the cabin area was 60mm high).

What we would do differently/next steps for the students: There were some issues with the print that were not apparent when this design was completed.  There was a very small hole that was at the base of the boat where the hull joined the floor.  Although this was only 1mm or less it allowed a small amount of water in, which overtime caused the boat to list.  This was an awesome teaching experience as the student tried to work out ways to plug the leak.  He applied blu tack the first time, without success and then started to look at water proofing - he was also concerned that part of his print was not water-proof, and has begun the process of taking the boat, placing it in a container and then checking on it to see if it has taken on any water.   He has already discovered that the boat itself isn't going to sink, as the cabin ensure it remains afloat.   Again the learning experience from this is rewarding and the student will be looking at several aspects of this.   The steering wheel which is clearly visible in the AR/VR version of the print (photograph shown above) did not survive being robust enough.   The student is also looking at what he can add to the overall design to improve its presentation.