3D Printed 'Not Lego' Lego Minaature Chairs

 

Challenge: To produce an authentic looking piece of furniture to work in conjunction with a 'lego/not-lego' set or scene.

This activity has several reference points.  Firstly one of the major challenges that our students were involved in was the making a 3D Printed furniture suitable for a Dolls House.   You can see an overview of this major project by clicking on the link here.   An off shoot of this project was creating 'lego' scale figures.

A discount purchase of end of line promotion from a local supermarket meant that we could access several kitchen scenes and our students as result worked on a series of figures to match and then items of furniture to fit into the scene.  Students AR/VR the creations into these scenes and then we printed in some cases the physical figures.

This design came out of that process as it was an end process of producing a chair to fit around the table.   It was a relatively easy design for the student and allowed them to create something that could easily be printed (see time below) and then modified to fit into the scene.

Resources Used to complete this project: iPad, Tinkercad App (for design and AR/VR projection), Bambu P1S, Cotton Candy PLA.

Level of Difficulty: Low - this was completed independently by a nine year old,  The chair design as it stands (pardon the pun) at the moment is recognisable and functional although the potential would be for further details to increase the challenge.

Size: This is a miniature print to fit into a 'lego' sized scene.   The chairs dimensions at present measure 20mm across is 40mm high and 20mm deep/wide.

Cost/Price:  We have used the Bambu Studios cost price analysis extensively to ensure that we are considering the viability of prints but also to make sure we could identify what could be a 'whole class' activity for someone who is working on a budget or has limited access to a printer.   This design uses 5g of PLA plastic with a price point of $0.13c to produce - making it one of the lowest price prints that we have completed this year.

Timeframe: To complete this print the printer had the standard six minute warm up and preparation time and then printed for twenty one minutes.   This meant of course the total time was under half an hour on the regular default settings.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students: The design that the student has created as shown left in place is almost too large as it stands at present.   When compared to the rest of the scene it is the size of a high chair but obviously does not have the correct dimension for this.  It needs to be adjusted smaller if it was to be for the table - however once this is completed (and this should take no more than a simple drag and click of the design) the student could make a full set from a single item.   The detail that the P1S can produce given the default settings is extremely impressive.  I have had a casual conversation with someone who is involved in role playing games and their machine is producing all of the figures.

There is huge scope for further design in this range.

3D Printed Tractor Accessories: Revised

 

Challenge: To produce an authentic looking accessory for a 3D Printed tractor.

Background: On a previous post on this blog we detailed this project and the students involved have now addressed a number of issues that were present.  In the initial version, the post of which is here, the students had a connector pin created but it needed some refinement.   Some of the smaller details on the print needed reworking.

The students took the initial working print and tested it in conjunction with the tractor - they identified that pin required reworking (it was made bigger and was therefore more robust, the original broke early on).   The ends of the accessory were adapted to ensure that they were balanced.  An attempt was made to address the connection at the underside of the design although this still needs to be addressed.

In the photo left you can see the progression between the three stages of development.  Print one while it had a design was too small, the second print, bottom right had some details but required the refinement that was provided by the third print.    

The dimensions of the different prints (particularly from two to three) did not vary significantly (and you can see them here).  

The students now feel that they are at the point where they have a working model and now want a final phase of adjustment (small details, accessories and tweaks) before completing a final design.

There has also been a range of discussion about what else could be produced in this range to create additional accessories that the students are familiar with on account of our school being in a heavily dairy farming dominated area.  The video below shows the print in 'action'.

Puanga - 3D Printing Art Prototpye

 

We have talked about the process of our students using Tinkercad to create an AR/VR image of the Puanga constellation which is visible in our region (instead of Matariki which is our nation wide holiday) 

We have started the process of early physical prototype of this with the intention of creating some form of a mixed media work.   The intention is for the students to paint a background and then have the 3D Printing attached to the background.   In early testing (shown left) some of the lettering stood out however while the lettering was solid the smaller stars had some difficulty being glued into place.   The students need to refine their design and ensure that the star had a flat back to it.   The lettering were sized large enough in this example to be glued directly to the background.

In an example like the one shown left (when the picture was taken prior to the print being removed from the plate).    Some of the stars shown left which worked in a context of the AR/VR work - but when converted to a physical 3D Print the size of the print the stars did not prove to be robust enough.

The stars will need to converted to physical print and then checked by the students.  It may well be that the AR/VR design should be increased in dimension to ensure that that it remains viable for the art.   

Finally the check that needs to be made to ensure that the glue can maintained and not have the pieces of the printing falling off at a later point.  We have used PVA glue in a first attempt and will be checking this over the coming days to ensure that it allows the design to remain in place.

Revisiting Our 2018 Numbers

 

The image taken left is from 2018.   This was the year that we decided to replace the wrought iron numbering system that was on the wire fence with some custom made numbers.

It is the area where we have our evacuation assemblies and where we need to have clearly visible signage so students need to know where to line us.  This led us to putting a series of 3D Printed numbers up in place of the originals and documenting their time exposed and out in the elements - the original numbers are mostly intact and are exposed to the elements throughout the year.   You can click on the original 2018 project print here.  We have followed this initial post with a series of updates over the years tracking the change in the PLA of the numbers (which is essentially none) and also what has happened to the prints over the years.

In essence two things have occurred.  The first is while the PLA itself has remained intact the colour that was part of the initial print (orange) faded over time.   We have taken down the prints twice (in eight years) and had them resprayed.

The second issue has been that students like to play ball games (particularly soccer/football) on the field next to where the netting and the numbers are.   Although they are not targeting the numbers directly they have received several direct hits from students kicking a ball.   The original prints were 10mm thick.

This week we made the decision to replace two of the revised prints that have been consistently hit by kicked balls from the field.  

Of note as a reflection of how the technology that we are using has changed over the past eight years the original numbers when printed took four hours to complete.   The same sized objects now, twice as wide are taking one quarter the time - ie just over one hour to complete.

Resources Used: Tinkercad App, iPad, Bambu P1S, Cotton Candy PLA (this may be resprayed later).

Level of Difficulty: Low - this is a seven year old student operating independently to produce something with a purpose the teacher didn't need any direction and the task took three minutes.

Size: The focused with these revised numbers has been on the need to ensure they are more robust than the originals.   They are 120mm wide 130mm long and importantly 20mm thick which is double the width of the originals.

Cost/Price: The print used 54g of PLA to complete and this had a price point of $1.37.

Timeframe: This took one hour to complete (as noted the 2018 original, half the width took four hours).

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students: Nil.   This was a task required to resolve a specific problem and it did so there is nothing further required.

3D Printed: Using Tinkercad Creations

 

Challenge: Using the pre-made characters or designs from the main Tinkercad interface in a creative way.

Background: This print came as a very brief activity from one of the students who was using some of the pre-generated designs in Tinkercad to create a potential project.   The student felt the dog that they were able to locate bore more than a passing resemblance to their dog and wanted to produce a print associated with it.   As the dimensions for the print were quite limited it was felt that this would be a worthwhile project and could lead to further development.

The student was easily able to use their own design skills to mount the animal on a base (that was made by importing one of the basic shapes0 and then they completed the quick design by introducing a name into the base of the plate.   This process was completed by a cohort one student in under five minutes independently.  

The print shown gives an example of the kind of detail possible from the Bambu P1S Printer - which is more-or-less as effective as the Bambu H2D.   The sole rafting that was produced with the print was a tree that came under the muzzle of the dog - the rest of the detail such as the legs and other features had none.

Resources used to complete this project: iPad, Tinkercad App, Bambu P1S Printer, Cotton Candy PLA.

Level of Difficulty: Low.   The student used the pre-generated design and adapted it - the level of skill was in recognising this could make a viable print rather than a focus on the design.

Size: The print measured 55mm across at the base and was 55mm long and 20mm high.   The dog was 70mm high and 40mm wide.

Cost/Price: The project used 33g of PLA to complete which included 10g of rafting.    The price point for this was $0.82.

Timeframe: As a relatively small print this print took fifty seven minutes to complete and had the standard six minute warm up time for. combined print time of just over one hour.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students: The student in question is going to put additional details into the design, re-centre the lettering and has thought about what else can be put around the base.   These changes are additions and would not significantly affect any of the major details of this print.

3D Printed Mini Pencil Sharpener

Challenge: To take a physical object, in this case a pencil sharpener and include it with a 3D Print.  Various versions of this has been produced however this version was a micro scale and attempt to complete the project using the smallest amount of PLA.

Background: As above - a deluxe edition was detailed on this blog as was another early prototype from this years version of this task.

The challenge concerned the students inserting a space internally into their design and making sure they had an understanding of measuring in millimetres and refining their design - too small and obviously the pencil sharpener couldn't fit and too large that the pencil sharpener would have too much space.    The sharpener itself is inexpensive.

They were able to be purchased from a local dollar store for a small charge which allowed the purchase of twelve of them.   Students did need to be aware that they could not have too much pressure applied as it tended to crack.

The other biggest consideration for students to consider from an engineering perspective is the exit point for the shavings once it has been used.  Consistently students have either a exit point that lacks a clear route or requires some force for it to work.   Working at a small scale like this allows the students to create something where the print is not too long and realistically allows it to be completed as a working prototype.

Resources used to complete this project: iPad, Tinkercad App, Cotton candy PLA, Bambu P1S.

Level of Difficulty: Medium/High as we have spoken about on a number of posts this task appears simplistic but is not, there are a number of challenges that need to be resolved by the students.

Size: The current version of this is designed to be as small as possible.  This example is 40mm across and is 50mm long.   At the back of the design the part of the design that has the students name was 35mm high.

Cost/Price: At present the print uses 18g to complete and included 6g of filament as support rafting.  Using the cost price model of the Bambu support software the cost of the print is $0.45c.

Timeframe: The print had a total of 42 minutes to complete.  A six minute warm up for the printer and then a total print time of thirty six minutes.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students: The final mounting of the pencil sharpener is the key element which in this case will involve the student completing testing to evaluate its effectiveness.

Room Seven Auroa Primary School: Week Nine

 

We've approaching the school holidays in New Zealand where we have our mid year break.   As it is a very busy time for our students we have a number of projects that are ongoing at the moment - and we wanted to share and highlight some of these.

In the print featured left the students working on the toy tractor accessories have reworked their original design which was featured on this blog here   It has been considerably resized however now works in conjunction with the tractor perfectly and the students are now looking at ways to refine the design and develop further accessories along the same lines.    

A seperate group of students are experimenting with the process of linking - starting with their names.   They are working with a former student who spent a considerable amount of time last year mastering the art.   You can see example of this students work here and here.   This is the link to the earlier post this month on the subject which you can see by clicking here.

Our students have been working in pairs on the 2026 version of the 'Pencil Sharpener Challenge.

In this challenge students have to take a small physical object (in this case a pencil sharpener, regular size to sharpen a regular HB pencil0 and build a 3D Print to house it.   This involves the students engineering a problem that needs to resolve the location and depth of a print, the exit of the sharpening once its been used and the overall look and composition of an original design.

It has proven to be something of a semi-regular challenge that involves a small outlay but allows the students to be engaged and consider size as well as the challenge of building something around an object.

There are a number of designs that feature on this blog that you can access by clicking on the link on the top right hand corner of this blog, as a search bar will allow you to locate everything tagged with this.

During the holidays we are celebrating our Matariki National Holiday - although we celebrate it slightly different in our region (Puanga).   This project is going to be a significant art project for the remainder of the term.    

Our students have been creating AR/VR images of both the constellation (for Matariki) and the star for Puanga which will be a physical display in our classroom.   You can click on the link to this work here or you can as always use the search bar.

Finally as an Apple Distinguished School we are sending a number of staff to the ANZ Apple Summit in July, please get in touch with our teachers (from Auroa School) if you see them there.