AR/VR Onto a Pre-made Background

The backdrop featured left and detailed in a previous post as possible the best 'value' for money purchase for a classroom ever has been put to use via Tinkercad, the Tinkercad App and its ability to project images using the AR/VR button.
 

Tinkercad has a number of pre generated object available from the main interface, including several which the students identified as suitable for projection in the scene shown.

One of the challenges for the students was the fact that the project image tends to be quite bright and can stand out.   When the background is bright and has a strong image like it did last year when we had the Christmas Festive Background Challenge in this instance the students needed to consider what elements that they could use to change the setting.

The crocodile proved to be a popular choice - which in some cases was multiplied several times.

This allowed the students to experiment with the placing and composition.   This will be uploaded to Facebook and a number of examples will be shown.

3D Printed Bottle - Exemplar

 

Challenge: For a student to create a unique and individualised project.

Background: As detailed in a previous AR/VR and design task was the challenge for students to create something unique - this meets the criteria of printing an outstanding design and this student wanted to make a copy of a bottle.

He based his design on a bottle that is available as a design from the main Tinkercad interface.   He wanted to replicate the design using the different shapes and tools that are freely available and did so using his iPad and the Tinkercad App.

There was a considerable amount of design associated with the creation - and he wanted to ensure that it was a viable print, which was completed once he had shown that he had the dimensions mastered (using the 'measure' tool) and could justify how it might be used (which of course is helped by the fact that the PLA is waterproof and when printed as a solid shape is water tight.    The students next step is that he wants to develop his skills further and work on a lid, with thread that can be used to screw and tighten on to the bottle.

Level of Difficulty: High - while this is a eight year old he has spent considerable time applying his design skills to create this bottle and has done so from scratch constantly revising, working on and developing his project over several days (which he has done in his own time).   The 'unlocking' or successful completion of the lid will prove challenging but the student is determined to complete it.

Size: This is significant print with significant dimensions.   It currently measures 210mm high and is essentially 70mm wide.  It is narrower at the point of the lid where it is 30mm across.   

Cost/Price: Using the Bambu studios information relating to this print we can determine that to print this unit, including the 'rafting', the support PLA that it took 200g of filament.   This is a significant amount.   The cost associated with this print is $4.91.   This is considered something of a one one based on these dimensions.

Timeframe: The print took considerable time to complete being printed over five and a half hours.   It was completed on the Bambu H2D and we would not consider completing it on any of other machines due to the finish and detail required.

What we would do differently/next steps for the students: 

We followed through with the printing of this project based on the creation by the student and their input outside of the classroom process.   The print dimensions, cost price etc means that this is not feasible for a classroom project (although of course could potentially be in the right circumstances).   The opportunity to personalise the print was clearly there as was the potential to use it in conjunction with something like the Roland Versa Sign Maker machine.

The lid is potentially the most challenging part of the entire process, identifying and successfully executing this is very challenging but the student appears to be relishing the opportunity presented by the design challenge.

Summary of Half Way Point: Term One 2026

 

Students have completed the introductory task which was the creation of a name badge/plate.   This was detailed on the blog here.   This print them morphed into a series of prints based around the development of a generic stencil and then a stencil which was personalised for the students.   You can view all of these posts by clicking on the links above.

These posts were completed by seven and eight year students from our rural school in New Zealand using Tinkercad and their iPads.

We have had students refining their designs based around the repairing of a piece of play furniture, which in this case in a barn/farm set.

While it is not immediately obvious if you haven't seen a post before about this item the door shown left, in white has been created by a student and then using the Tinkercad App and the apps AR/VR feature the students have 'projected' the door into place to see how it visually looks - there is no 3D Printing of the part at this stage, the students are designing and crafting thier ideas and applying them in a virtual sense.   Eventually the doors will be printed and an attempt will be made to complete the play set by developing a solution to the roof which will need to be produced in several stages.  You can view examples of this work throughout this blog by using the search bar top right or clicking on examples here.

We have spent considerable time exploring the AR/VR design aspect of Tinkercad.   Students have made a range of creations and used the pre-made items and also used original designs such as the donut shown left which was then projected into a students lunchbox.    When this was completed we have taken the adapted image and combined it with another level of AR/VR by running it through one of a number of Pic Collage filters that are available via that App.

Our students do not have time to allocate to this other than our 'design' or 'investigate' time in the classroom which is usually in the afternoon.   

Fifteen 3D Printed Cows: Lore #6 You Don't Need Every PLA

This is a follow up from a previous print listed on this blog detailing the preparation for a community event associated with our school and the way that we are producing a point of interest.

It also ties in very well with another 'Lore' to think about when considering 3D Printing int the classroom or educational setting.  These are are all ideas and we don't expect you to agree with everything and this very. much applies to our own mindset - it is very much acknowledged that every school and environment is different.

To recap on what we've looked at previously:

#1 - You don't beed more than a single printer to print in a school environment.

#2 - You don't need to 3D Print all of your students 3D Printing projects.

#3 - 3D Printing using glow-in-the-dark filament is easy

#4 - Juniors can 3D Print just as well as seniors

#5 - The teacher needs to be aware (but not an expert). 

The point of this post is to show the group of five of the distinct cows that are going to act as the centre piece for each of the tables for the community dinner.   Rather than have 'regular' cows we decided to go for novelty cows that are designed to stand out because of their decoration.   Once we had decided to look at the base set of PLA available we talked to the students about other options.    One of the students knew that we had used spray paint in the past to change the colour of prints that had been made so we started the discussion about this.   The students started looking at options for how they might alter the colour when the prints were spray painted.   In the group that is shown above the cow that is located at the front right is a regular PLA print that has been sprayed florescent pink.   This has also led to discussions about using masking tape to create stripes etc.   which we still doing shortly and greatly expand the opportunity for the production of 'individual' cows and more 'unique' prints.

Junior Cohort Challenge - Bottle

 

We are encouraging students as much as possible to come up with original designs and creations, thinking about objects and shapes that students can create and detail using programs - in this case Tinkercad is our design tool.

Students are using Tinkercad with their iPad to create designs such as this.   This was created by a cohort two student, that is student who has used Tinkercad previously last year and this year we are looking at projects to extend their design skills.

While there is a range of objects that can be selected to design one of the best items for honing the design skills of the students (again as we have pointed out numerous times are seven and eight year olds).   

The concept of the design and the production process are some of the most important process.

The original Tinkecad main interface item is the bottle shown left of the pair, the original being shown above.   The main difference between the two designs at this early stage (as the student has had precisely one block of time in class being able to design this) is that the student has not hollowed out their design by using the 'hole' tool accessible from the main page.

This is something that the student will have the skill to complete independently and should be able to succeed with shortly.

The student also was able to look at using the final stage of the testing, which was to use the AR/VR function that is present in Tinkercad to project both of the bottles into different locations in the classroom.

In the example shown left the project virtually of the objects allows the students to compare how they look in a real settings, what they might need to do to adapt the design and how the could compare to each other.   The student also put a 'real' bottle into the mix as well but decided against the photograph as they had labels and stickers on them which meant it was very visual to see what was the 'real' bottle.

The students next step is to refine the design again so that both of the designs are closer to each other with their dimensions so the two are identical.

AR/VR Supreme Tinkercad Exemplar

 

The example shown left is a original student design created by a cohort two (more experienced student in the use of Tinkercad, having spent one year in the classroom previously).   

The student used the various shapes from the main interface and included the paws/claws which can be located with a quick search.   The body, mane and details were all created quickly.    The student then used the AR/VR Tinkercad app to project the image into a location which would demonstrate its scale - in this instance it was in the middle of our school field in summer, which provided an excellent backdrop.  While this looked fantastic and the student was thrilled with the result - pic collage took it to the next stage.

With the 'festive winter' themed pic collage filter the design really comes into its own - the expression in the face provides the detail that was previously absent.   The background and foreground also really suited the  composition of the picture - which again when shown left looks particularly striking.

The student wanted to use the image as a creation (art) based however it would obviously make an amazing writing prompt or potential card etc.  The entire process took under half an hour to complete (independently) with the student working with the app and their iPad.

This is the students summary on Seesaw which is draft combining all of the elements that the student put into it from the original Tinkercad design and then into two additional versions 

The student is going to refine the post to ensure that it is grammatically correct and then post it to be shared with the classroom and their family.

 

Six Year Old 3D Printing Project: Day One

 

Six Year old student, using Tinkercad having been introduced to it by the students from the other classroom who are working on it as of four weeks ago.

Student used their iPad and the Tinkercad App.  Teacher used Bambu studios to convert the file.

Converted from the Tinkercad app into an .stl file Then taken to our Bambu H2D printer (the one printing every school project this year) and printed.

The project measures 70mm by 50mm and is 5mm wide.   The project used 10g of PLA plastic had a projected cost of $0.23 and took twenty four minutes to print.   The last potential addition would be if the senior students spray painted the design.