iPad Stand: Market Day Exemplar

 

Challenge: To produce a unique personalised object for School Market Day as a major project/object.

Background: The process detailing the creation of this post has already previously been discussed with a post on this blog.  You can click on the link that post here - when our students use Tinkercads AR/VR option (available on the Tinkercad App to create a virtual version of their unique design which had been created using Tinkercad.

The Stand template had been used, and then adjusted to reflect the interests of the customer.   In this case as is shown left the 'Willy Wonka' hat at the front is replacing the wedge to hold the iPad in place.    The customers name and favourite food are prominently on the front of the design.   The print is shown as it was removed from the Bambu H2D without any removal of rafting, as noted in previous posts about the matter the 'trees' that are visible on the design are the full extent of the rafting.  Had this been completed using the Snapmaker we would anticipate a number of challenges with the format and the detailing (specifically from this view the lettering inside the base).

As shown left the stand is capable of having a regular iPad standing in it, including one that is using a 'smash protection' screen - making it more bulky than a regular iPad.

Level of Difficulty: Medium - this was primarily created by a seven year old using Tinkercad and its stand as a template, however he was able to add the personalisation features, complete the VR/AR of the design, ensure that it is all balanced and then present it for printing.  This student has worked on a number of designs featured on this blog and has been able to show a high level of balance, reasoning and design ability, including posts like this.

Size: This is a substantial print - and its dimensions reflect this.   It is one of the largest stands that we have printed.   The main base is 140mm wide and 130mm deep.   The width of the base is 10mm.   The back is 130mm high and has a similar width etc to the base.   The hat at the front is 40mm high.  While these are extremely large dimensions relatively speaking the stand needs to have the weight, size and dimensions to function as a working iPad stand.

Cost: The print including rafting uses 226g of filament, 75m, printing time on the Bambu H2D was six hours twenty minutes the listed cost is $5.20 - which we have converted to NZD are is roughly nine dollars.  This cost has been reflected in the charge that we have made for our 2025 Market Day, if we wanted the students to consider making a profit it would be reflected in a price above this.

Timeframe: Six hours twenty minutes.   This was completed on the Bambu H2D - finishing aside the main difference is the timeframe - which as we have noted is 50% faster.  Again the limitations about cutting time from the print is the fact that it has a very specific purpose and needs to be able to hold the weight of an iPad so in that case the timeframe has limited flexibility.

What we would do differently/next steps for the students: The students engaged in a process of design and creation and based their pricing for the customer on inbuilt calculations with Tinkercad/Bambu Labs and set a price based around this.   Subsequently the students realised that they could have explored the option of using multi-colours with the design and the print (a clear example would have been the Wiggles name plate as shown above, which could have been the traditional colours) however this would have increased the print time and caused there to be additional PLA which would have meant the project would have run at a loss.