3D Printed Tractor Accessories

 

Challenge: To create an additional piece of machinery to work with a 3D Printed tractor.

Background: Last year one of the students located and found a 3D Printed tractor (stl) design which they were able to print out.  This tractor has survived over a calendar year and maintained its shape and features.  The student who owned the tractor brought it into the classroom and said that they wanted to develop something more for it.   On discussion they wanted to produce the machinery to go at the back of the tractor to dig fields.    They reasoned that by using Tinkercad they would be able to produce a piece.

The idea was to produce a rotary hoe attachment for the back of the tractor.   The first part of the design was to create something for the machinery - in this case the students located a wheel which they could invert and have attached the main body of the design which was a generic shape.

This was the first attempt to look at the bar connecting the two items.    

Resources used to complete this project: iPad, Tinkercad App, P1S Printer, PLA.

Level of Difficulty: Medium.   The design is going to undergo a number of revisions until the students are happy with this, this is the first in a potential series of prints designed and shaped by the students.

Size: The design at present is 110mm long at the base is 30mm wide and is sitting currently 20mm off the ground.   The beam to connect to the tractor is currently a rectangle that is 50mm long 10mm wide and 5mm thick.  Crucial to the success of this print is ensuring that the print can attach to the tractor.

Cost/Price: The print used 18g of PLA and a further 9g of PLA to support the print (in the form of the base).   This had a combined total of 27g and a cost point to produce this of $0.68c.

Timeframe: This project had a total print time of one hour and twenty six minutes.  This consisted of a six minute timeframe to put together the printer (ie warm it up) and a further one hour twenty to print the design.

What we would do differently/Next steps for the students: The students are going to spend time working out ways to add additional details towards the machinery, they are actively looking for additional parts that they feel could either be used as a imitation piece or be modified by themselves to add to the design.

Repairing a broken Toy

 

Challenge: To repair the broken part of a sandpit toy.

Background: We have a school sandpit, and in it we have a large number of high use items.  One of these is the bulldozer shown in the photograph on the left.  As shown the front of the bulldozer has broken off.  While this was a shame for the students it also allowed us the opportunity to use the broken toy as a discussion piece - could we 3D Print something to replace the broken part of the toy.

This provides a number of challenges - the first aspect for that is to build the replacement part that fits the size and shape of the digger, the second is to work out a way to attach the blade to the front of the digger.   We used a group of students to work in pairs on the project with three groups working to produce ideas that they could bounce off each other and then selected one to produce the first draft effort.

We come from a rural area of New Zealand and as a result the students live rurally and are involved significantly in dairy farming.  The students as a result have experience and knowledge of machinery, which in this task they were able to bring to the fore.  

The first attempt at a replacement piece is shown left, at five and a half hours it was considerable, but the challenge is in producing a durable piece, potentially an interchangeable piece and something to replace the broken piece.

Level of Difficulty: Hard.   There are a number of complexities to the print, while the blade itself is the key element the hardest part is making a connector for the back of the blade to the front of the digger.  The students have made a first attempt at this but they are looking at revising what has been made as they are not happy with the connection and then the subsequent operating of the digger.

Timeframe: As noted five hours.  We are now attempting to look at the connection (shown left) as the back of it needs attention.   Having printing the main part of the digger blade, we are now just focussing on printing the connection piece, this can be measured in short minutes (ten to fifteen).    We are going to concentrate on correcting this part of the print until it is perfect and then look at printing the entire project again from the start once the students feel that the can be successful.

Size: The blade measures 140mm long and is a basic shaped rectangle of 60mm by 60mm, hollowed so it is able to scoop.   

What we would do differently/next steps for the students: The students have already identified that they can make a range of scoops to go at the front of the machine, once they get the connection piece right.   Once they have mastered that we are going to be challenging them to 'brand' their machinery.  We have already attempted this in a series of prints from last year with a similar theme.  This project was carried out by a senior student - this project is being worked on by seven and eight year olds who are working with Tinkercad for the first time.

3D Printer Digger - Replacement Part

Challenge: Student has a model digger (a JCB) which is an important part of his collection.  The front end loader part of the model is plastic and is broken - can he 3D print a replacement piece?

Background: As indicated the front end of the loader was manufactured in plastic.  A replacement piece cannot be purchased without a purchase of the entire model, so the solution which initially seemed a bit daunting for the student was to see if the 3D Printer could be used to recreate the missing piece.    One of the other aspects of this was including the name of the company that the digger was for on the scoop part of the machine - as shown in the photograph above.   This made the print unique to this student and their family which are involved in the business.

Producing a replacement part that integrates perfectly with an existing piece or item is an exact process and as such it proves very challenging.   There have already been numerous challenges that have been created by designing the print.  The dimensions of the print are dictated by the dimensions of the design as seen in the photograph on the left, with the test print mounted on the toy,  with the intention that it should fit perfectly.  This was identified early however the key element would be the clipping of the front of the loader to the bar that connects it, allowing it to be stable when lifting an object.

This proved to be exactly the sort of challenge that we were looking for to extend this student with his designs.  He was able to create the shape easily from the basic Tinkercad interface and worked out the length successfully by interacting with the original design that it needed to attach too.

Level of Difficulty: High if you include the ability of the front of the tractor/JCB to interact in a way that allows lifting.  

Size: The print measured 90mm across and was 60mm wide.  It had a height of 30mm.     These measurements were dictated to by the size of the original toy that this has been created as a replacement part for.

Timeframe: Just over four hours at present which includes some rafting to protect the integrity of the print.

What we would do differently/Next steps for students: The student has not been satisfied by the locking mechanism to attach the scoop to the front of the JCB.  The original model/toy it has a specific lifting role of various farm items and the student who owns the model wants to be able to replicate this perfectly.   

There is the design that is going to go into the displays that are potentially on the front of the digger - using the 3D Printer brings in the potential to make something unique that has a direct reference to a particular local business which would be impossible without 3D printing.

There is further work to be completed on this project however it is already at the stage that it is ticking a huge number of boxes as a worthwhile student directed project involving creativity and real life problem solving.