3D Printed Flower Design - SVG

 

Challenge: Independent activity - student driven.

Background: We encourage our students as much as possible to be creating, designing and making things in their own time and we try and print these out when the students are able to create something individualised and could potentially be used for another purpose.

This design features a 'flower' shape and has the initials of the student who created it placed in the centre of the design.   

The design came out of our SVG challenge when the student found this image and then felt that it would be a piece that could have a number of practical functions as it had the space in-between the different petals.   Therefore it could be used to tie or loop string or other material through it.   The student has completed the print and is now 'road testing' the print to find out how it might be able to be used for different roles or tasks.   

Resources Used to complete this project: iPad, Tinkercad App, Bambu P1S, Regular PLA 

Level of Difficulty: Low - the most challenging aspect of the task was to locate an SVG file to complete the project.  This was completed by an eight year old student from cohort one and was completed independently without teacher input.

Size: The print measures 80mm across, is 110 high and is 10mm wide.  The petals are obviously not filled out which helped significantly reduce the printing time.

Cost/Price: The print uses 18g of PLA to complete the task.  There was no 'rafting' or waste produced by the project.   The price point for the print was $0.45c.

Timeframe: To complete the print the printer took six minutes to warm up and reach the printing settings and took thirty six minutes to complete the task for a combined total of forty two minutes.  

What we would do differently/Next steps for the student: This project is one where the print is completed and the student is making sure that they can find out a purpose for it.    Potentially the design will have multiple purposes depending on what the student decides.

Virtual Pinball Auroa School - Tournament Week

 

Its tournament week at Auroa Primary School! We are very excited to have our first phase of the tournament with our 'bottom six' shootout - we drew the teams at School Assembly on Friday and this week they will battle each other with the chance to make the main draw!

If you would like to see a summary post about the tournament this year have a look at this special preview of our competition machine this year - then click on the link this video here.  If you would like to see a summary of the competitions that we have had in the past including our previous grand finals and full live streamed competitions then click on this link here.

We will be updating the site this week with the full tournament information detailing the competition and the viewing details.

Modified SVG - Reworking a SVG

 

Challenge: Student locate an SVG file and adapt it significantly.   As note from a number of recent prints this project started with an SVG file.

Background: As noted this came as an extension project as part of our students sourcing of SVG files.  In this instance this student wanted to have an animal from another country to represent themselves and then convert it into having a stand.

The student then created base and featured their name on it prominently.   They were working as part of cohort one (having used Tinkercad since the start of the year) and are seven years old.  They were able to complete task independently without teachers input.

Resources used to complete the task: Tinkercad App, iPad, Bambu Printer (P1P) and Bambu PLA, Pic Collage was used for the AR/VR imaging.  

The design was then put into the Tinkercad App and the iPad was used to AR/VR the image.   This image was then put through a further filter being an AR/VR filter which was a 'Magic Camera' option from the Pic Collage App.

Level of Difficulty: Medium - the design was repeatedly reworked by the student until they were happy with it and adding the AR/VR element to the presentation.

Size: The print measured 140mm across at the front of the base, the height of the base was 50mm high and 20mm wide.  The deer itself 110mm across and 120mm high.  the silhouette of the print was 10mm wide.

Cost/Price: The price of the print was two dollars and fifty cents based on the use of the PLA that was 83g of PLA for the print and 17g for the support of the print.

Timeframe: Six minutes of print time and three hours and seventeen minutes of project print time.  This print was completed during the basic settings for the printer including the speed and infill on the print.

What we would do differently/Next Steps for the students:   The front leg of the print as can be seen in the picture is bent - this proved to be challenging for the printer to complete as essentially it was a curve.  While this did not appear obvious when looking at the virtual image on the iPad however it became a challenge in practical terms when printing it.   

It is going to involve a resolution between the design and the practical creation process of the printer.

3D Printed SVG - Extra Details

 

Challenge: To take an SVG file and modify it for a purpose by altering the original file.

Background: We have detailed this process in a range of prints and descriptions on this blog.  In some of the process the files that our students located needed to be modified for a purpose or to make them more 'useable'.

The file shown left is a good example of this.   The original SVG file which was sourced online from a popular SVG site was two seperate pieces being the body and the head.   The student was able to resolve this by creating a collar for the log which link the two pieces of the print.   

The student also personalised the design by putting the name on the base of the animal.  Finally the issue of the purpose of the design was resolved by the student inserting a hole into the leg of the dog.  Hence the design could be converted into a name badge for the animal or a keyring.

This selection, conversion and entire process was completed by a student who is seven years old independently of the teacher.

Resources Used: Tinkercad App, SVG file (located online this is one of the first files that comes up with a general search), iPad, Bambu Printer (P1P).   

Level of Difficulty: Low - the student used the design, modified it themselves and was able to complete the entire task from start to finish, including experimenting with various potential colour - in under thirty minutes.   There could be more details potentially added to this to increase the difficulty.

The student was also able to use the AR/VR function that is available with Tinkercad to project an altered version of the image with additions to the design.   The student decided not to go with the additions (such as the blocks by the feet or the relocation of the hole) however it also allowed them to look at the dimensions of the print.

Size: The final print was 100mm across and 100mm high from the base of the feet to the ears and top of the tail.  The print was 10mm wide/thick.  It was printed using regular PLA.

Cost/Price: The print used 18g of regular PLA to complete the print.  Based on the Bambu Lab studio software calculation the print cost $0.67 to produce.    This used regular PLA to complete the print.

Timeframe: The print time for the print was six minutes preparation time from the pinter and then twenty seven minutes to complete the print - a total time of thirty three minutes.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students: We choose to print this using the P1P printer and as a result it was completed in a single colour - we could have expanded it to the H2D and would have had the option (which we have only used occasionally of mixing two different colours).  The next obvious step would be to consider spray painting or further decoration.   Otherwise the print is complete.

Printer Set Up: First Changes Since 2025

 

We've been detailing how we have our hardware set up for our 3D Printing at our school - and it also formed part of our '3D Printing Lore' series of posts where we were looking at a single printer for the entire school, for the calendar year, our H2D Bambu.

That has changed recently at Auroa Primary School.

We have started the process of upgrading our secondary printers, still using the large Bambu H2D for the larger projects but we have have added to our printing resources two secondary printers a Bambu P1P and a Bambu P1S.   We have started the process of replacing the Snapmaker machines that we have on site and will soon be producing prints on Bambu.

The thinking behind this is based around the reliability of the machines and what meets our needs as a school.  We want to be able to produce material (prints) as seamlessly as possible and while we have been pleased in the past with our group of four to five machines of Ultimakers (and then the various upgrades and reconditioning that we completed to various 'plus' models) of Snapmakers and now Bambu,

We switched because we want to minimise the time spent on engineering the machines, which is essentially been unblocking them when a print has failed due to some technical issue.   

The amount of 'rafting' has also decreased significantly overtime if you consider ten years ago some of the prints that were being produced were encased in support plastic to ensure it was stable.   Recently the newer print process has significantly reduced this although we also do need to note we have been stockpiling all of our PLA and intend to recycle it using Kiwifil,  a New Zealand company we discovered earlier in the year.

The photographs with this print also show another aspect to the printers - the connectivity between them.  In this instance with the P1S the yellow casing that you can see visible is the 'Mario Themed' casing which is available by the Bambu Labs online portal.  

We have used the resource to produce material like the 'waste shoots' for the printers which can then be clipped onto the machines.

These are not items or resources that we are needing to create ourselves but freely available files and resources that come in with the online portal supporting the machines.

Moving forward we will be identifying with future prints which of our machines that we will be using to produce them, noting the difference in time being the most obvious point of difference.

3D Printed SVG Dinosaur

 

Challenge: Use an SVG file from a free site to create a file and modify it for a different purpose.

Background: We have detailed this process through this blog over a number of posts - which you can see by clicking on the link here.  It is also the same process where we developed SVG stencils such as this bus.

In this example here this process was completed using a dinosaur SVG which was then converted by introducing a name onto the figure and introducing a significant hole into the figure - this then converts the purpose of the figure to a key/badge.

Resources Used: SVG File (free download), iPad, Tinkercad App (free), Bambu PS1, Regular PLA (Bambu brand PLA)

Level of Difficulty: Low.  This was completed independently by an eight year old student who is working for the first year with Tinkercad in the class, started using the program in February.

Size: The print measures 200mm across is 100mm high for the main body and 130mm high at the top of the neck, head.   The print had a width of 10mm thick meaning it is extremely robust and unlikely to be broken or damaged.

Cost/Price: The print used 37g of regular PLA to produce.  This gave it a price point of $0.93c.   Given the dimensions, the intention and the decision to make sure it was durable this was about correct.

Timeframe: To complete the print on the Bambu P1S Printer (this is a new smaller machine and the first print that we have completed this year on the machine.  We will be producing a seperate print detailing this set up and describing how the machines differ from the H2D.  This print took fifty four minutes.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students:   Nil this was completed as intended.  There was no 'rafting' waste plastic as a result of the print (although we are now recycling everything anyway).  

3D Printed SVG Stencil

 

Challenge: To use an SVG file to produce an effective and working stencil.

Background: We detailed the creation of this process earlier when we explained how the students rather than creating an original file from scratch (which can at times be time consuming and also frustrating to get the details extremely accurate.   

One of the options to reduce either the timeframe or the process is to use freely available SVG files as we have detailed, including this previous example of a school bus.   This instance saw the student taking a seperate 'profile' image and use that image to create a series of visual images.

This process involved taking the image using the Tinkercad App and then projecting it to an outside location.   When this had been completed the student used their iPad to take a screenshot of the image and record it.

They then took the image that they had created and used the Pic Collage app to apply a filter to the picture.

The final stage of the process was then take the original design and 3D Print it.

Resources Used: Tinkercad App, iPad, Pic Collage App, 3D Printer and 3D Printer PLA.

Level of Difficulty: Low - the process most challenging part for the student was to select an SVG file that would be suitable for a 3D Print.   Some of the files suggested made great AR/VR images but were then discounted as 3D prints due to their design or shape.

Size: The physical 3D Print measures 160mm across and was 70mm high.  The print was 1mm thick.

Cost/Price: As it was a stencil the print used only 8g of filament to complete the process and this had a corresponding price point of $0.20.

Timeframe: This project took twenty minutes in total to complete - five minutes to warm up the printer and fifteen minutes to complete the actual print.

What we would do differently/Next Steps for the students: The space between the smaller windows at the back of the bus is quite small so while it should work as a stencil if it was spray painted actually colouring it in would be a challenge.  The student who completed this project is an eight year old student who is working as part of the cohort one this year - ie they have had one and half terms of 3D Printing experience.