Using Tinkercad as a VR/AR Tool For Sketching Out School Improvements

 

This is a continuation of the task from last week where we asked students to consider using Tinkercad to create improvements around the school.   Students used their iPads to locate an area needing improvement, then went back to Tinkercad as a CAD design tool to create something that could improve, enhance or make the area look more creative.

They returned with their design and used the AR/VR function from the App to 'project' the improvement in place.  The final step was to take a screenshot of the improvement, now in place in the location where it has been created.  In the example shown above you can see the front entrance to the school where a student has used Tinkercad to create the colourful mat that has been placed in front of the door.

We also asked students to consider placing a before and after shot side by side.  This student chose to look at the flagpole next to the schools main entrance, which has not been functional for several years.   The student in this case opted to design a new flag for the school and then project it in place in the second image next to the first, where you can clearly seen the difference between the two images.

We also used these examples to allow students to think about their own ideas and what they might need to consider.   

This was quite evident when students started looking at designs like the chicken area.   The current student line of thought is that the chickens are going to lay their eggs directly into the box - they didn't have a run or another area for them to be contained but also exercise.   There was no thought to feeding the chickens or the water that chickens might need to be viable.

This was a consideration and also bear in the mind that the student concerned has a chicken area on his farm, so it is imagined that a discussion might lead to an adjustment of the design so that it might be more considerate and also a bit more realistic! 

KiwiFil - Recycling PLA

 

Over the years we have been very careful on this site not to endorse anything in terms of products but also at the same time we like to let other schools and educators know what we are operating with and how our systems work to encourage and inspire others with their projects and ideas.

We are also very conscious of not creating too much waste and have been looking at ways to deal with issues such as that.   We recently were able to find a location of a business that is doing a lot of these things already to an extremely high level.

KiwiFil is a New Zealand based business - the ethos behind the recycling and the story of the products is something that is resonated with ourselves to a high standard in the short time that we have been aware of their operations in details.

We are ordering a bunch of filament from them and intend to start creating projects using their PLA with New Zealand wool in it and their recycled product.   The best explanation for this site and business needs to be left to them, and you can check out their website and amazing story by clicking on this link here.

Once we start the process of printing with the new source of PLA we will post here with the details.

3D Printed Ornate Jugs

 

Challenge: To use pre-made 3D Printed designs to further to develop ideas and creativity.

Background: We are expanding our students range of ideas and prints and as we have mentioned before there are times when the students create a design and make something from the start, there are also times when we complete prints that they have located but have a purpose that in the long term we think will help with other ideas and creations.

We previously posted about a vase that when produced was 100mm high this led to it being used to a photography task involving forced perspective.

These are the full range of vases and pots from this range of prints with the example in the group that is front right, which features the handle.

From here already there has been discussion when one of the pots, combined with the bottle previously described has been inverted and placed on top to form a lamp shade - with a student undergoing a project to complete a working light as a result.

Level of Difficulty: Low - the students were responsible for locating and sizing the print but not the design.   Once  this was completed and a physical print is shared with the students it is hope that this will be the encouragement that the students need to create their own inspired prints in this theme.

Size: The jug measures 100mm high and is 60mm wide at both the top and the bottom of the jug.  This could have resized depending on the scale required for this project - these dimensions are for a mid range but obviously the miniature and potentially a full sized version could be completed.

Cost/Price: According to the Bambu Lab Software this print used 71g of PLA filament to be completed.  This has a price point or costing of $1.80 to print.

Timeframe: In its current form the print using the regulation settings (and a standard twenty percent infill).  and the print took two hours and eight minutes to complete.  As noted if it was resized the print would result in a corresponding change in the print time.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students: The idea is now to get this print in the hands of the students to think about how they might use it, and what prints or projects can come from the results of handling the object.

The print can function as a active jug as a result of the plastic and the print itself being sealed.   

3D Printing Lore: Summary

 

Each of these discussion points are linked via this blog to a relevant post about them, the presentation in its full form is available via the Facebook page at 3DPrintSchoolNZ

Lore #8 - You don't need to be an engineer to 3D Print

There's a new poster coming to create a series of 'talking points' based around 3D Printing in the Classroom and while its from the perspective of our small rural school in South Taranaki New Zealand - we've already posted a series of talking points about this - which you can click on the link below about each topic for further information or details about how it applies to us.

#1 You don't need more than one printer at your school to print your student projects.

#2 All of your 3D Printing projects don't need to be 3D Printed - there are other options!

#3 There's a range of non-standard filaments that are available to enhance your prints

#4 Juniors can create, design and develop a range of 3D Projects 

#5 The teacher doesn't need to be an expert in 3D Printing

#6 You have options to enhance your printing projects with options

#7 Engage with the wider community with your projects and resources

#8 - You don't need to be an engineer to troubleshoot 3D Printing projects.

We've been tracking our 3D Printing over a number of years with the first printer at our school operating in 2014.   The early machines that we had were complex and 'relatively' reliable.   When we had problems with the printing with the machines (when they would print incorrectly) it could at times require significant teacher input to correct the machines.

Following our early machines we went to a series of other branded machines that were significantly more reliable Ultimakers (2015-2022) in various version and updates.  We went to Snapmakers in 2022 and then last year 2025 we switched to (primarily) Bambu.

It has never been our intention to endorse any particular products or processes via this site - however we would like to point out that everything here is created by students and staff (where noted) and the intention is simply to share what we do so that other people can get inspired and have a think about how that might apply to themselves or their school.

With that in mind the Bambu H2D that we are using has taken things to another level.   Since August last year essentially everything on this blog has been printed off the one machine.   The machine itself has had to be greased (the axel) however this was relatively simple.   The inbuilt protection against a miss print has stopped it a handful of times.   The changing of the filament etc is extremely simple.  We have yet after seven months to have any significant issues with the use of the machine with prints ranging from 30 minutes to forty hours.

The print shown with this post took forty minutes but crucially the print itself is how it came off the machine - the sunk in lettering that is visible was completed without any support or material needed to be removed.  If you note the smallest name, Penelope, this has been completed and is currently 3mm in height.   This is something that we have seen with this machine.   It is also noticeable that the amount of rafting or support plastic with this machine for general prints (such as the cow) this has been greatly reduced.

As the technology has evolved with the 3D Printing the scope, accuracy, reliability and potential has continued to improve the outcome for students using the tools available.

3D Printing for Photography Forced Perspective

 

Challenge: To produce an object as a 3D Print that could be used in a forced perspective photography task.

Background: This task was pretty self explanatory - we were looking for some basic 3D printed shapes that we could combine with the use of the iPads camera to carry out some 'trick' or size forced perspective photography.

The object in question that we used to start the process rolling was located online and was identified as a vase.   We deliberately choose something that was small, functional (as we have shown in evidence before 3D Prints are water proof) and in this case was a design available online.

Level of Difficulty: Low - this task was about using an object to create a photograph task, although in later versions we are wanting the students to potentially design their own miniatures for use in the process.

Size: The entire reasoning behind the process was the size of the object.  As it stands at the moment it measures 70mm high and is 20mm wide at the base.

Cost/Price: The print used 4.75g of PLA plastic.   This has a price point using the Bambu Lab software of $0.12. 

Timeframe:   Given its dimensions the print time was thirty minutes (which included the machine warning up).   To produce a series of these for the classroom would be relatively straight forward.

What we would do differently/next steps for the students: This task was all about the digital photography task - which is detailed in the Apple Books Everyone Can Create (Digital).   The next logical steps is for the students to produce the objects and then apply the digital photography task to the object.   We would be wanting to give the students a set of specific measurements to work with.

Central to the success of the task is also thinking about the location (around our school or our playground) such as example that came in early work from the students in bark on the school program.

The iPad focus on the object at the front (in this case of course the vase) takes the focus and the contrast between this and the background has plenty of scope for experimentation, development and the creation of ideas.

Using Tinkercad to AR/VR School Improvements

 

This challenge has combined the use of Tinkercad as a design tool with students and their iPads and the Tinkercad App with its ability to project students designs into an AR/VR setting (essentially anywhere, without the need to green screen).

Our students focus with this task is to look around our school for potential improvement, details or ways that we could enhance the presentation of the school, 

 Once the students have identified an area and a solution or improvement the students were tasked with using Tinkercad to create an object that we could then place in the location to use as a discussion point.  At this stage the students are beginning this task with discussion points - the example shown above is the students have identified that the sandpit tools for the school could be stored close to the sandpit for easy access.   The box design shown is rudimentary at the moment, the challenge will develop for the students to create something with more detail, improve how it might function, add detail and then present this to the schools management.

We had a very short timeframe for the beginning of this task - students had a ten minute countdown timer set on their iPads and this included the design part of the task, taking the photo and identifying a potential problem.

An early attempt to create a unique vegetable garden is shown left, the students are going to add depth and more details to their virtual garden (as we have done with examples such as the virtual Christmas Tree from last year, linked here)

Other students have identified areas such as the school flagpole, the walls of some of the classrooms (where they want to create or bring murals to the fore) and improvements to the playground.  Each of these areas has potential development and skills required to introduce a concept and think about its composition, display and the ability to AR/VR the scene.  This is not always as easy as it seems - we have discovered that while Tinkercad works extremely well from a ground basis as it is raised it can be particularly challenging to raise above ground level significantly as we discovered when working on the students bird blockers project.

This is a process that is in its very early stages with our classroom - it will be contributed to and developed over the coming school weeks.

If you would like additional examples of our students using the Tinkercad App and web browser with its AR/VR feature from the Tinkercad App you can use the search bar top right hand corner of this site.