3D Printing - Junior Classroom Challenge Part 2

Challenge: For student to create a personalised iPhone/Phone stand. 

Background: This was part of the challenge that was presented to the students at the start of term three in New Zealand.   They had come back and to get them creative, to get them designing, their first task was to create a unique pair of earrings - this worked well and was very much a short term print.

The next challenge in this series was to make a phone stand.   The criteria for this was that the stand needed to be personalised somehow, had a shape that was also on the design and we encouraged the students to come up with some unique or interesting design aspects.   The print is a medium level print (see below) so the print is a challenge for a classroom to print with one printer, however we are doing this over the next few weeks as time allows.

The personalisation details can be seen on the left of this photo.  The student wanted to gift it to a family member (hence the 'P') they wanted to include a star on the top of the main base and also a heart.

An interesting aspect of this design was that the student opted to introduce storage to the base of the design, as shown in the first photograph.   This storage did not compromise the ability of the stand to work.   

The student responsible for the completed project started working on 3D Printing and design this year having no prior experience to design and creation, but has picked up the process quickly.   

Level of Difficulty: Medium.   The base for the design is one of the many templates available via Tinkercad.    The students design process was around sizing and then thinking what additional features that she might be able to add to the design, storage on the inside worked really well as did the overall design.

Timeframe: The print took five hours to complete which was reflective of the size and the purpose of the print.   There was limited potential to make this any smaller as it would then not have been able to complete it purpose.

Size: The stand measures 80mm long was 60mm wide and at top of the back of the design was 80mm hight.   Again like the timeframe given the specific purpose of the print this dimension was the minimum required for it to be successful.

Not only was the stand able to easily fit a variety of regular size phones we also discovered that it could also balance an iPad, although we did need to be careful to ensure that the iPad was not knocked as it would then tip over.

What we would do differently/next steps for students: 

We have printed a variety of stands previously that have included personalisation, an example of which from 2023 is shown here.  In these examples storage became an active and challenging aspect so in this case the student could have looked to expand their storage so perhaps look at a hinge or a small door or lock - however this would substantially increase the difficulty and make this a more challenging project.   As it was the student concerned was extremely happy with the outcome.

We have also a number of examples of projects that you can view relating to these on our blog, as always your can use the search bar and type in the name of the project or example and look for a variety projects completed by students on this topic over the years that this blog has been running.

Junior Classroom Projects: To Consider

 

Tinkercad as an iPad App has many advantages and while we use it primarily for 3D Design for 3D Printing it also has a number of other outstanding features.

From an educational perspective the class/school design management is robust, versatile and incredibly easy for the students to use.   We have a strong farming community at our school and students are forever looking to build different images and shapes.   Some of the 3D Designs by their nature are too large or complicated to realistically make into a 3D Print - such as this hay shed, tractor and bale combination shown above left.   The student has had a lot of joy in its creation, being able to see how it goes with motion, and look and work on its composition.

Thanks to the Tinkercad APP there is also the opportunity to AR/VR this scene at a number of locations.

We also are always looking at ways and opportunities to excite students about the creation process.   In the print shown left the student purchased from a local store and was given the red dragon.   The student concerned recognised it as a 3D Print and asked permission from the teacher to try and track down the original to see if she could find it and we as students could then print our own original copy out.     It took some time to locate, based around if it was a chess piece etc but was located as a 'Cali-Dragon' on Thingiverse and was subsequently downloaded from there.

The print was relatively short in terms of duration and while the student didn't create anything unique as they were merely printing a pre-made design the intention as always is to inspire and have the students thinking 'what could I make next?' 'what could I do differently or how could I change this?'

3D Printing: Junior Classroom Challenges

 

Challenge: To create a unique holder for a pencil sharpener.

Background: This term has just started.   To introduce the students again to Tinkercad and thinking about CAD design and projects we started with the earrings project described in a series of prints which are featured on this blog.   The next step challenge for students who have completed these is to make a pencil sharpener holder.   We have had students attempt this challenge before, some of the results of which you can see from projects such as this and this.

The teacher of the class is always looking for objects which can used or help with 3D Printer Challenges.   One in the past that has been successful was the purchase of pencil sharpeners from a local dollar store.  These objects, shown in the picture below, are typically able to be purchased for a small amount of money.

These items tend to wear really quickly, as you see from the example left.   The idea here is to create a replacement piece to work in conjunction with the pencil sharpener, to ensure that it can be still be used.   
The print shown here on the left is the first draft of a print by a student who could be described as capable.  She wanted to have a double heart to help with the design.   The consideration with the object is to ensure that there is a suitable hole for the inserting of the pencil and also for a exit hole for the pencil sharpening to exit.   

This is an ideal task for a classroom of students to complete in a relatively short space of time as the casing does not need to be particularly large to complete the task successfully.

Level of Difficulty: Medium - although the size of the object is not particularly challenging some of the fine details can be - the students need to balance between having the object housed successfully but still have it functioning.

Timeframe: This is where this challenge stands out to become manageable, the example shown in this post took forty minutes to complete printing, and with some minor adjustments (see below) the task is complete.

Size: This example consisted of a design that was 20mm high, was 60mm across and had walls of the design that were 5mm thick.

What we would do differently/next steps for the students:   The pencil sharpeners came in range of shapes with the rectangular ones being the ones that the students were the most confident in designing.  This student undertook to use a heart shaped object because she felt the challenge would be better but the obvious part of this is what is the purpose of the second heart shown in the design and to consider how it links to the main part of the design? Is it needed or should the student remove it?

3D Printed Earrings - Part Three Additional Designs

 

Challenge/Background: As detailed in a series of posts that have been detailed on this blog the students have started the term in New Zealand with an individual design challenge to customise a pair of earrings designed using Tinkercad.

In the designs shown left the student created two seperate designs, one for themselves and another which was intended as a gift.  They had similarities in design featuring a heart, a name and a star design on the base.  Each of these prints measured 60mm high, was 50mm across and 10mm thick,   As a consequence of this the print time of each of the prints was forty five minutes.  A discussion was made about whether or not these earrings were in fact not suitable for purpose as they were too large.   The student did not think so however it was commented by another student 'that they would make a great Christmas star' which was a reflection of its size.    The student is at this stage not intending to redesign the project as she believes it has been completed.  The student concerned is a Y3 student who is seven years old who is 3D Printing in her classroom for the first time this year.

A similar design was completed by the student who design the pair on the left.   They were crated in the main Tinkercad interface

Again as the design above there were three main components to the design.   The background or base of the design, the name that was applied and the hole that was inserted into the design to hang the earring.  Significantly the time to print each of these designs was reduced by nearly half of the ones above as they were 5mm thick.   The student who design these prints was a Y4 who has worked on a number of projects in the classroom this year and last.

She was able to complete this task independently from any teacher input and the result was just printed by the teacher.   

In the third example shown left this student opted to create a minimalist design - she had experience with earrings and wanted to make sure that they were as small and thin as practically possible.  

The print time for these designs were only 12 minutes for each earring, they were 50mm high and crucially 5mm thick.   The student used the 'scribble' design to make the shape of the star shown left.   The student enjoyed the fact that these were unique.  She considered putting additional details into the design however was very concerned with applying a basic level of detail to ensure that the design was light-weight and was able to be printed in a extremely short time frame.  Again a student, in this case eight years old who was able to complete the design independently and the teachers role in this instance was again to just print the finished product.

3D Printed Junior Earrings Design: Part Two - More complex and Revision

Background: We detailed the process yesterday and shared that we were looking at producing a range of designs from a class of students (the class of students being currently twenty seven students in the classroom).   The details of which are similar.

Design Shown Left: a heart design with an 's' linked into the bottom of the design.  The design was 20mm across and 40mm high.  The prints took forty minutes to print for both,   The depth of the prints is currently 5mm.  The revision part of the process is going to come when the student looks to hang the designs from a hook.   Once this has been completed the student is intending to look at decoration of the prints by spray painting them, and then the project will be completed.  This was completed independently by a Y4 student who is 3D Printing for the first time, using Tinkercad.

Design Left: A pair of cow designs.  In this example the student used the knowledge that she had gained as part of our School Market Day from 2023 when she ran an earring business.  Initially she was looking at key rings, but made the decision to pivot to earrings at the last minute, resulting in a much smaller print time and a business that sold all of its items.   You can read the details of the project here, or view the material related to our School Market Day here.

These designs, shown left measured 60mm across were 30mm high and were 5mm thick.   Based on her experience from last year the student made the decision to have two different circles for the attached earring loop which would hang slightly differently.   The print took just over thirty minutes to print.  These prints were produced by a Y4 student (eight years old) who has worked extensively with the 3D Printers over the last year on a variety of projects and ideas and is able to show a high level of capability.

Design Left: Student who wanted to show off her design skills and created the matching pair shown left.  The design was completed from Tinkercad main interface and was based around three distinct shapes.

The design measured 30mm across and the student intends to use spray painting to apply a level of decoration to the print.   The print took thirty minutes with the size at present.    

The student completed this design and project independently in under ten minutes and was able to present these to the teacher for printing.   This student is a Y4 student at our school who has used 3D Printers now for a year and half and produced a number of creative and innovative projects based around her work.   

Some of the designs that have been created are requiring adjustment.  While we have encouraged the students to show clear understanding of the sizing, there have still been examples of students who wanted to go big.   One of newer students, being a Y3 student who is printing for the first time this year produced this earring which was intended as a gift for his sister.   The earring at present measures 70mm across and is 60mm high.  the print has a width of 10mm and the letter 'b' extends out a further 10mm from the base of the design.   The student wanted to work with these dimensions but it was unsure of the size being an issue.  When the print was completed, and came in at the forty minute mark the student still felt that they were making something that would be successful, however based on the feedback that he has received he is now looking at revising the dimensions of the design to ensure that it is more pratical.

3D Printed Junior Designs: Earrings

 

Challenge: The new term has started and as a result of this we looked at focussing on a class wide challenge, one that would allow the students a freedom or open design, but one that would realistically be able to printed on a single machine in a short space of time.

Background: The design criteria was to create a pair of earrings.  The earrings needed to original (see details below) created and sized by the students.   The students who are Y3/4 (seven and eight years old) needed to be able to demonstrate the size of the designs, show what they had designed themselves and how they might be displayed.     This allowed the students to be creative and bounce ideas off each other.   The designs were created in Tinkercad where a classroom space has been set up (as detailed previously Tinkercad has an exception teacher/classroom interface for designs and creations and potential collaboration.

The students were instruction to complete using their iPads and bring the teacher the finished product for printing.    Designs were then typically copied or duplicated once complete.  Most had been produced using the basic main Tinkercad interface.

Once the design had been completed the students needed to include a way for the design to be hung from the ears, in most cases this is by introducing a hole into the design, as shown in the photograph.   

Level of Difficulty: Low.  Complete in ten minutes (on average by students who are seven and eight years old).   There are some students who have added additional features to the designs to make them slightly more complex however this intended as a project to get the students completing a design which would be successful and printed in a short turn around.

Once the designs were finished and the first prints completed then the next stage was to ask the students what needs to be changed or what could be adapted.  In the example shown by the ducks left the student made the decision to resize them slightly.  The original was 30mm high and 20mm wide.  the student wanted to make them more 'duck like' so reduced the size from the one in the left to the one on the right which reduced its height to 20mm.

The ducks were potentially the easiest design of the set as they were a combination of two predesigned shapes from the Tinkercad interface 

Timeframe: This design challenge was completed with the intention of a class set being completed in two to three days of school.  The prints all had slightly different print times, ranging from ten minutes for the smaller of the ducks (photograph three), the 'G' for Grandma prints (forty minutes both) and forty five minutes for the circular designs shown in photograph ones.   We were able to use as examples some of the prints that have previously featured on this blog - from our school market day

to our students who have run small scale design businesses and sold the earrings via the public.

Size:  In the three examples shown to illustrate this post - the circular designs shown in photograph one were 50mm in length, 25mm wide and were 5mm thick.   The 'G' pair were slightly bigger, they were 10mm thick, 60mm high and 40mm wide.   There were some dispute over whether these were too big to worn as effective earrings.     The pair of ducks, which is photograph three, were 25mm across 20mm high and were 10mm thick.    These were scaled down as noted.

What we would do differently/next steps for students: These are not a single print but a series of class prints, and they are going to evolve in the course of the next few days.   We would like each student to revise the print, and look at what they could potentially change, for example the reshaping of the ducks to make it more duck like.   

Laser Cut Projects: Photoframe

Challenge: Independent design activity from a senior (Year 7 and Year 8 student) creating something original using Sketch Up.

Background: Student was looking for ideas for a project and saw some of the off cuts from another students projects.    The student then decided that this would be the basis for an original project.   The student wanted to create a layered effect with the laser cutter to produce a series of layers to create a frame for a regulation photograph (as shown left).   

The design process was based around the corner pieces (which were a series of circles) with the addition of the three layers of the print.

The project was then joined and put together with wood glue and set.   

Level of Difficulty: Low - the student was able to create and execute this project completely independently.  They had previously worked on more complicated projects but these had been very detailed with the student following a teachers set of videos as shown in this post.

Timeframe: Five minute.  This task potentially could be completed by a full classroom with the variation provided by the corners of the frame - the decoration of the MDF./Bamboo is another potential for some variation.

Size: The current frame as shown in the photograph 150mm across and 200mm high.   Each of the layers of the from is 5mm thick so 15mm before the final corner edging.

What we would do differently/next steps for the students: As noted the student was responsible for the design and execution of the project.   They currently have no stand at the back which could potentially be developed but otherwise the project is complete.   We completed 3D Printed versions of a stand in 2018 the details of which can be located here.

3D Printed Junior Light Box House

Challenge: For student to create a light-box, a 3D Print illuminated by small scale LED.

Background:   We have had previously students dabble in working with using the 3D Printer to create a small structure.  We have also used LED lights and used the 3D Printer to make customised brackets.   You can see the previous examples of the housing attempts here from 2019.  This was a key item from our Market Day in 2019 as the LED lights could be purchased extremely inexpensively.  

We have also an ongoing attempt to use the School Laser Cutter to produce a LED light-shade.  This project is awaiting the purchase of the LED lights as the design and the boxing has been completed.   There is also an additional recent print, which while intended to be for stationary was also a house design and could be easily adapted for this purpose.  This recent print was detailed on this blog here.

The students idea was to design a basic house structure using Tinkercad and use the introduction of a series of windows into the design to allow the light to exit.   There was also a range of furniture that were designed using Tinkercad to be placed inside the house as shown in the photograph from above, left.

The student is a Y4 student who has been creating and designing for the first year this year.   

Level of Difficulty: Medium.  The student in this case has added a number of features to their print, however there is potential for more personalisation. Including potentially a name or a sign, something specific to the area.  This is an area of potential development for the student as this first print was intended as a test run to see the concept and the idea would be successful.

Timeframe: Five hours on the regulation Snapmaker settings.    As noted the student was intending to use this as a test case to see if this idea would be successful and could be developed further.

Size: The print measures 70mm wide, is 70mm long and had walls that were 5mm thick.   The roof starts at the 50mm point with some limited overhang.   The inside area of the house contains ample space for a potential LED light.   The student has mentioned once they have the light to design further housing for this.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students: Currently the roof stands as a basic opening, one challenge we could potentially put to the student is to work out a way to have a removable roof and how this might affect the design.   The roof has a slight overhang on one side - by inverting the design and printing it from the roof up this would minimise the rafting and allow for the overhang to be created.   Other features like developing a swinging door etc would potential be worked on - as would the potential to scale this to mini-figure size to work in conjunction with Lego Figures.

3D Printed Junior Progressions: Next Step

Challenge: For student to further develop a range of prints showing progression and student design development.

Background: This is the fourth version of this design which was featured on this blog in its initial design and then followed by several updates.  These came as the student wanted to ensure the storage was correct and could maintain the items that she was wanting.

The original print details and the three versions of it are contained here in a link to the individual print information.

This version was reflective of these changes.   The print has essentially changed a little with the design as the student originally wanted undergoing revisions as she developed and proof tested it.

Level of Difficulty: This would be an ideal project for a student confident in using Tinkercad and she did so using the main interface.    She included her name on the design so it could tick off the personalisation aspect.   There is also considerable storage on the middle level of the design.

Timeframe: Five hours.   This print has undergone revision due to the size and the desire of the student to have particular items held by it.  I could be upsized but the student is currently happy with this.

Size: The print was 80mm long 70mm wide at the front and was 60mm high.   The internal storage area is 40mm across and 20mm high.   It moves 20mm deep into the base of the design.

What we would do differently/next step for the students: The design is now complete as the student has completed the revisions that she wanted to.  She is a Y4 student at our school a student who is eight years old.

Versa Studio Sign Maker: T-Shirt Creator

 

Roland - Versa Studio Sign Maker BN-20

As we've previously mentioned on this blog - when detailing our DPE projects for our senior students - show what was possible with the Laser Cutter to create a desk storage organiser or a chest storage box.

As part of those rotations we also have an opportunity to use the Roland - Versa Studio Sign Maker BN-20.   This is the machine used by our students to create stickers, to create labels for the sports bottles or was used extensively during our school market day to produce labels for various businesses.

Using GIMP the students designed a personalised sticker about themselves.   This was then applied with a hot press onto a t-shirt producing a personalised t-shirt.

The students designed their individualised shirt with a level of individuality that would allow them to develop their design skills further.

The close up of the centre of the design can be seen left.   There is a main character, and outside of that there is a circle.  Contained within the circle are some individualised items - a chefs hat (cooking), a plant (gardening), broadway sign (musicals), pot (kapa-haka), books (library, microphone (singing) and the emblem of the swimming club.

The t-shirt is able to be worn as a regular item and able to be washed as a normal item.

The process was completed over several days with some focussed on the design and shape.   An adult was responsible for using the hot press to attach the sticker to the t-shirt.

3D Printed Desk Storage: Pushing the Smaller Details

Challenge: For a student new to 3D Printing to challenge themselves with the design details.

Background: Its been ten years of 3D Printed designs from students featured on this blog.  During this time the the machines that the students have been using to print have continued to evolve and improve.  Ten years ago the first machines that we used produced prints that were functional but lacked details.

Our upgrade from Ultimaker to Snapmaker took place in 2022.   These machines have continued to allow the students to come up with creative and interesting designs which in the past would not be possible.   An example is shown above.  This student is a junior student at our school, a Y3 who is working on 3D Design using Tinkercad for the first time.   The student has produced several prints that have already featured on this blog from this first year of designs.

In this design you can see the first version of the print prior to the removal of the rafting, and with the removal shown left.   The student wanted to develop a person standing outside of their house, with the house being used for storage.  The student created a house and then designed a figure at the front left.   They added additional details such as the fence shown at the front, and the dog house shown at the front right.   The student wanted to make a door and a window, allowing the storage at the rear of the house.

The issue was potentially if the rafting could be removed without compromising some of the smaller features of the design.  In this instance the teacher involved used a small pair of pliers and a small screw driver to remove the additional plastic PLA from the design.   

Level of Difficulty: Medium - while this student is a relative novice to 3D Printing this design has a number of aspects that make it detailed and creative.    This was completed independently and the student was thrilled with the aspects of the design, the composition etc.   The teacher was not so sure as he felt (incorrectly) that the fence would not be successful.

Timeframe: Five hours.   The dimensions of the print were not overly large, the amount of storage possible is reflected in this.   The student with hindsight wanted to print this on a larger scale but as noted the teacher was dubious with the features, the nozzle and the timeframe if they would be successful.   This will be revised on a larger scale now that we know it will be successful.

Size: 80mm across and 60mm deep - 50mm high.  These dimensions allowed the print to be completed and then tested for its viability.   The student has already planned to upscale this design to ensure that it was able to hold more material.

What we would do differently/next steps for the student: On many levels this was very successful.   The students has used other tools in the past but this is his first design that he can be really excited about which he felt was his.   He should continue to be motivated to work on ideas and designs which we will do our best to make.   He worked independently which also challenged the teachers thinking as he didn't think that he could complete the design and it would work - however it was more than successful and also allowed the teacher to look at the progress over the past ten years and see how the ideas have developed.

Laser Cut Senior Project: Desk Storage

Challenge: For a (senior) student to use the Industrial Laser Cutter to create a significant project following instructional videos.

Background: As we have noted before our senior students once a week complete a DPE Day, which is similar to a Technology program at some schools in New Zealand.    Typically in smaller schools the students sometimes travel to larger schools for external providers for this.   While this was something that was done in the past, our school several years ago made a decision to host this program ourselves.

What it means in practical sense for our senior students is that they complete in various subjects.   On of which focusses on the use of the industrial laser cutter that we have onsite.

This project shown here was completed by a Y8 student during a recent session with the laser cutting.   The student used Sketch-Up to design the different sections of the storage.  They followed a series of flipped instructional videos which provided the steps to create each of the pieces which had been created by one of our teachers (we could potentially make these videos available if there is interest).  

Once these pieces were designed they were then transferred to a USB drive before being laser cut.   The student then inserted the tabs into the correct location, applying wood glue to complete the process.   The storage was created in 5mm MDF with the exception of the handles of the draw at the bottom of the design which was 3mm MDF.  

The process was completed independently by the student and was able to have the final project checked off by the teacher.

Level of Difficulty: Hard.   This was not an independent task but was one that required a students abilities to use Sketch-Up and also follow specific instructions.   While it was very much following step by step instructions and this was very prescriptive it is nothing something that students without a laptop or skill in Sketch-up would be able to complete.

Timeframe: Each of the individual pieces took two minutes or so to complete.   However there are a number of them to make up the storage item, fourteen in total, however they could also be put into a single sheet of MDF and printed at one time.   The total time for the project including the gluing, the laser cutting, the design and the pieces drying was two and a half hours.

Size: The print measures 180mm across at the front and 130mm deep.  The print is 200mm high.   The draw is 40mm high.   

What we would do next/Next steps for our students: This task is a student following a series of instructional videos from a staff member, the next step would be for the student complete designs on their own with their own creativity completing the task as opposed to be following set instructions. 

The student will need to sandpaper the drawer to ensure that it is able to be opened and easily.

Christmas Decorations: Starting Early for 2024

Challenge: For student to create a unique 3D Print.

Background: The student concerned here wanted to play around with Tinkercad and is designing a range of whimsical original designs.   She has shown with her work to be creative and interesting.   In this instance she was playing around with the shape.   When it was presented to myself I assumed that it was a Christmas Decorations.   We have previously completed a wide range of projects related to Christmas decorations.

However the student thought that it most represented a person wearing a cloak, which could be seen when focussed on and tilted.   She had the idea to put a box at the bottom for the shape to stand on (which is where the Christmas Tree first became a thought.

Also of note this is an original design from a seven year old who is in her first year of creating using Tinkercad.

Level of Difficulty: Low - this is the student making shapes and putting a group of them together, and while she had an idea in mind for the design, as stated we felt it closely resembled something else - hence the reference to Christmas Decorations.   Typically each year we produce unique ones but this can take some time to produce a range for the classroom, so starting early is also a positive.

Timeframe: Two and a half hours.   There was some rafting that was produced with this print however this was at the base and therefore was not significant, although in hindsight it could be reduced.

Size: The print is 120mm long, was 70mm wide and 50mm deep.   Given that it is looking at being converted to a Christmas Decoration as described, these dimensions are perfect.   Also of note is the loop that is visible at the top of the print, which is perfect for hanging string to have it on a tree.

What we would do differently/next steps for the students: The students design was a source of pride for them, and while it was not intended as a tree is being converted to such.   The student is now thinking about what else they can convert or design for Christmas decorations.   

Versa Sign Maker: Individual Water Bottles for School Sports Teams

We have been using our Roland - Versa Studio Sign Maker BN-20 for a variety of different tasks around our school.  One of the things that it proving excellent for in terms of use is creating vinyl stickers which can be then used for the purpose of labelling etc.

The example shown left is for the school Netball team.   Each player in the team has been issued with a water bottle, to create a sense of identity for the team and also to ensure the bottles are clearly labelled a sticker has been produced for the team.

The sticker was created using Gimp and the main image taken was a photograph of the school team.   The picture had further elements to it - a silhouette of Mount Taranaki which is a local landmark, and the name of the team on the outside of the sticker.

There was potential for a further level of personalisation here as a second sticker could easily have been added on the other side of the bottle to ensure that students did not drink from the same bottle by accident.

 As is shown in close up left - you can see the features in more details.   The printing time is minimal (slightly longer than a regulation printer).   The sticker measured 160mm high and was 120mm wide.

The design was completed by (senior) students.

There are obviously further ideas that could be used that follow this format or this idea and the level of individuality could be also added to, in terms of layers (for instance if a student required multiple water bottles or containers some of which needed to be clearly separated or identified).

 

3D Printed - Personalised Animals Tag

Challenge: For students to create something that was unique and personalised.

Background: This task came from a brainstorming sessions with the junior school students about projects that they could work on related to the use of the 3D Printer.   The students identified that the pets they had that they were interested in producing something for.   When they looked at what they could potentially do one of them mentioned an ID tag or some form of identification to be attached to the collar.  The 3D Printer is ideal for this as we have identified that the prints do not weather over the long term (instead of something like the laser cutter and the MDF which would not last).   The early prototype of the design shown left had the student opting to use scribble to create the shape, the name of the animal (in this case Rosie, a dog).    

The students are intending to complete numerous print runs to ensure that they can attach to the animals collar and do in a way that is secure.

Level of Difficulty: Low - the students are working form basic designs with a small number of pieces and additions to the print.  These are junior school students who are eight years old who are working independently to complete this task.

Timeframe: As these are small prints the time taken to produce them is reflected in this, by their nature they cannot be too cumbersome for the animals.  Both prints are under forty minutes.

Size: The early version of this measures 65mm across and is 90mm high.  The current design measures 5mm wide.   The Trouble design is 50mm across and 50mm high, and is 5mm thick.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students: The students have some questions about the finished product.  They need to complete testing to ensure that it works correctly, and that can feasibly work in conjunction with a collar etc.   Given the dimensions the project will stay manageable and small scale, but it will remain independent and be resolved.

Step by Step Guide: 3D Printed Flexible Animals

 

One of the most popular series of posts that we've featured on this blog revolved around our students looking at flexible animals, of which there are a number online.  One of our Y8 senior students who had a particular interest in 3D Printing then took it upon herself to teach herself the process on how to make the animals - and then also created a series of step by step how to videos for the purpose of sharing this creation and design work with our students.

Once the student had mastered this process they were able to apply the learning to a variety of animals, all of which followed a similar pattern. 

Following the success of this series of prints were developed the idea further by having students working on accessories for these animals as shown here.

These were key items that featured for sale in our school market day - which you can view by clicking on the link here.

You can few the process and the designs here.   While the student has now graduated from our school we have been able to retain the knowledge and have now a new group of students using these tutorials to perfect this design so the students work will continue.

The process was created in Google Slides if you want to have a copy of this slide or further information then you can email myself at myles.webb@gmail.com