3D Printed Boats: 2025 Junior Designs

 

Challenge: To build a realistic boat

Background: We have given the students an opportunity to have some design time in the classroom.   The students have been working on a variety of projects one of which is the boat that was shown left.

When the student was working with the main Tinkercad interface a boat hull is one of the items that can be produced.   The student had also seen on of the previous designs from the inspiration box - which had further developed his idea.   As a student who liked history he thought that he might like to attempt something inspired by the Titanic, which has been another significant recent project with the 3D Printer.

We have printed a range of boats in the past - the IRB inflatables for a local Surf Life Saving Clubs special event, a rowing boat, with the intention to power it by a Sphero robot, a complicated and detailed Catamaran from last year or an earlier version that was created detailed from scratch.

This is the first example from the students - one that we were able to print, place inside a water container and then post some questions about - would it float? The answer to that is yes: we have confirmed this in the past, thanks to a lucky accident during swimming where we were floating 3D Designs in our school pool, starting with this butterfly.   This led to the creation of a series of 'pool' or 'bath' toys including a range designed for our previous market day.

Size: The boat current design is currently 140mm long from bow to stern.   The decks are currently 30mm high, the stacks 20mm high and the hull is 20mm high.     At this stage these dimensions are suitable for the print, although as details are added to the ship, as the student undertakes more research, and therefore changes are experienced.

Timeframe: Three and a half hours on the default settings.   In this instance the default is perfect as it ensures that the hull is able to float, a more dense hull would prevent it from floating freely.

What we would do differently/Next Steps for the Students: There is something of an art to ensure that the design is balanced.  In the example shown at the start of this post the decks are off centre, this is clearly shown when the design is placed in water, it lists considerably and the students are clearly able to determine what was required to have more balance.  The other aspect of this was the students were able to use the motion feature, that we have previously detailed to run motion tests on the boats to see if they weren't viable to print - designs for instance that hadn't been linked would fall apart or designs that were lop sided would tilt or collapse on one side.

This is evolving into a classroom challenge or series of prints that will be developed and reported over time.   An example of the evolving print is the final design shown bottom left.   The student has used the main Tinkercad interface design to create a boat design that was influenced by a themed ride at an amusement park.  Their intention is continue to refine and improve the design.