3D Printed iPhone Stand: Imperfection Project

 

Challenge: To produce a unique iPhone stand.   As this was part of the 2025 School Market Day the focus for our students in this case was on innovation, creation and personalisation.

This task was created by a eight year old student using their iPad and the Tinkercad App.  The student also used the Tinkercad App to AR/VR their design.

Background: This print is going to be used as a teaching point this year - due to its imperfections and details there are a number of points of interest.

Lego Lettering cluster (viewed from the front of the design).   This was designed to be built around a lego brick as the centrepiece.  The clustering of the 'Lego' lettering looks untidy and is overlapping in places.  This needs to be reimagined and discussed with the students about how the lego brick could feature more details and address the spacing.

The lego layering on the top of the iPad.   The spacing between the studs is not consistent, some of them are also not in a line.  By discussing with the students we would like them to think about how they could replicate the stud so that it was even and spaced correctly.

The back of the iPad stand has a lego face figure.  While the figure is distinctive it could have some further adjustment (the eyes are slightly out of balance) the general dimension of the figure itself.

The overall dimensions of the print need to also be looked at and potentially addressed.   This print was obviously printed in glow-in-the-dark filament as a further discussion point for the students.

Level of Difficulty: Medium this task was completed independently and needs revision, so would something that would need a longer timeframe than an a basic task.

Size: The print base at the front measures 120mm across at the front and is 90mm long.  The thickness of the base is 5mm.   The panel at the back is also 120mm across however it is 10mm thick and 120mm high.

Cost: The iPad used 60g of filament to complete the print.   This was identified as costing $2.10 of PLA according to the Bambu studios costing software.   There would be a slight increase due to the nature of the PLA.   

Timeframe: The print took two and half hours to complete on the Bambu H2D.   Given the details of the print this is not something that we will intend to complete using the Snapmaker.

What we would do differently/Next Steps for the students: 

This project is intended as a project where we can discuss what needs to be addressed and what could be reworked.  It is printed as such and intended there is considerable level of revision for this print.

We anticipate that we will be updating this print later in the school year.   Our students are currently on their end of year holidays in New Zealand and will be returning shortly to school - we will back from our break next week with the students and should be posting shortly after that.