2023 - School Market Day: Y4 Business.

Y4 Students Market Day Project: Articulated Toy Dogs

Previously as noted on this blog we have a school market day upcoming where we are inviting members of the community to come to our school and purchase innovative products made by our students using the technology that they have available.

We shared a number of prints and the process last year which were featured on this blog (and have the label 'market day'.   For this year we have a junior classroom that is the focus - so the products that are created have been made by a nine year old.

Challenge: To create an innovative Market Day Business.

Background: As detailed above.  Articulated animals have proven to be extremely popular as the size can be controlled and the student can potentially have an interest in them.   While there are a number of freely available downloads of a range of animals the innovative part of the process has moved onto the students being able to design, create and manufacture these animals themselves rather then relying on available designs of others.

The student in this case was able to receive guidance from a Y8 student at our school who has created media including a full presentation showing the entire process from a flipped perspective (including video creations and a step by step guide how to produce any animal by following the process.

This Y4 student wanted to create a unique flexible animal for her business.  She used Tinkercad as a design CAD software and used her iPad for the manipulation.   She was able to source a SVG file for the silhouette - and the linking for the animal came via a ball and socket join that she had created on Tinkercad.

The learning process was not initially successful - the first designs didn't feature linking to the entire shape, as shown left, when the parts of the animal were removed from the printing plate and they fell apart.  This briefly had the student contemplating creating a jigsaw puzzle based on the parts that she was making, however she was redirected as she had set herself a goal.

She also researched her favourite dog and learnt how to QR Code for her packaging.   This dog was then redesigned to ensure that the linking was correct.   The student then started to produce a variety of them and investigated the spray painting of them to complete the presentation.  We also were able to identify the animal as being able to be produced in a reasonable timeframe - which allowed the student to start testing the design in terms of manipulating and playing with it.

The dogs (completed, as shown left) consist of the four main linked parts.   They are currently measuring 70mm long and 50mm tall.   They are 10mm thick which allows for a reasonable strength to them.

Currently on the Snapmaker default settings we have the print coming in at just over two hours (each, although we can of course load multiple dogs onto a print run) and the student has set a price of $2.00 per dog to cover the cost and make a small profit.   (This money is being raised for the school and is reflective of the cost and the student not looking to make a huge profit with the process and item).

The student is being extended by developing and refining their CAD design skills (using Tinkercad) and the Snapmaker 3D Printer.  They are using Pic Collage to design packaging and QRstuff.com to manufacture the QR Code.   Given how successful this process and project has been there is no more refining it or creation of it as it has been extremely successful.

3D Printed Original Articulated Animals - Highest Degree of Difficulty

Challenge: To create and successfully print an original articulated animal of challenging design.

Background: The student who has been responsible for creating the original articulated animals including the Kiwi, the Lion and other animals featured on this print was looking for ways to extend her designs and her animals, one of the animals she felt could make a striking design.     She choose an Octopus for this purpose.   The challenge was based around the legs of the Octopus and have them interact with the body of the Octopus.   This took several versions of this print to get correct so the student was happy with it.

Versions one and two featured legs that didn't have the width to support the print and were too fragile and needed to be replaced.   The third completed version the student was more happy with - this however left her thinking about other design aspects - one was the length of the legs, the second was whether it was robust enough to allow it to be repeatedly handled.    Finally the use of the arms as they stand led the student to look into creating a hook for the Octopus so it might be easily hung from the roof and then sway in the wind.

Level of Difficulty: High - this was specifically to challenge this student who has shown a high degree of design, thinking - this was not for the faint heartened and nor was ever intended to be.   

Size: The main body of the Octopus was 60mm across and 45mm high.   The tentacles are currently 50mm long although as noted the student is examining options to develop this further.   

Timeframe: The final version of this print took three and a half hours, earlier versions which were not considered successful were one hour and two hours.   These resulted in the tentacles of the Octopus not being robust enough.   Even with a three hour print examining the eyelets of the tentacles they are looking considerably weak in locations.

What would we do differently/next steps for students: As noted the student has spent considerable time reworking this design at present and is continuing to refine and work on the design this student is showing an incredibly aptitude towards being creative and challenging themselves.    It is anticipated that she will rework this design again considerably.

However this is a student who is twelve years old working independently to an extremely high standard.

3D Printed Articulated Animals: Originals

 

Challenge: To produce a unique 3D Printed articulated animal.

Background: When we switched this year to using Snapmaker Printers one of the first objects that the students focussed on producing were a range of articulated animals.  These animals typically are able to be moved repeatedly (hence the articulation) which the students enjoy being involved in moving.    A selection of these were printed initially when we switched printers and the students were suitably excited however the challenge was to create our own unique versions of these.   The solution to this was to use Youtube tutorials for the students to focus on being able to identify the way that the linking could be created and then applied to a unique New Zealand specific animal, the Kiwi.

Level of Difficulty: High.   This project involved identifying the linking, working out how to apply it and then experimenting with using it to make sure that it would work with the design.

Once the linking had been successfully created there are a range of animals that we intend applying it to, over the next timeframe.

Size: The Kiwi measures 90mm across and is 80mm high.   The  width of the design was 10mm.

Timeframe: Using the Snapmaker the total print time was two hours.   There was no rafting with the print, the print was removed from the machine as shown in the diagram with no waste PLA (plastic).   Although there could have been some slight modification with the size it would have affected the overall of the quality of the print, which just felt about the correct size.

What would the students do differently/next steps for students: This was a very positive experience for the student concerned who was intent on completing the linking successfully.   This is going to open up a range of prints from this point.   You can see the original attempt at the linking shown in the above photograph which is placed underneath the Kiwi design.     The student could also consider the use of spray paint to decorate the print as we have done previously.

3D Printed: Articulated Snapmaker Prints

Challenge: Students wanted to use the new 3D Printer (Snapmaker) and print a project based around an articulated animal.   Once this was produced the challenge put to the students was/is to create and design their own original articulated animal.

The first step in the process was to create the stimulus by using the printer to create something that could be easily located in this case we used Thingiverse a free website with design and sourced files created by others.   There was a range of articulated animals that were able to be downloaded and printed.   The initial idea was these animals would be a quick or relatively quick print and attract attention due to the articulated nature of their design.   Initial prints included cats, dogs, sharks and a ferret.   

The designs were all printed as a single print with absolutely minimal or no rafting or PLA as we have mentioned which is one of the positives of using the new printer (as was not the case with the Ultimaker that we had used in the past.

 The next step was to use spray painting on the designs to add to their presentation.   Examples of this can be see by the articulated shark shown on the left had side.   This was one of the early creations, the student involved used their creativity to spray paint the top and base of

the shark with the appropriate colour.     

This affect can be seen in particular detail via the base or bottom of the shark as shown in the photograph on the left.   The student involved in this process is a Y6 student in New Zealand, so they are a ten year old.   It was also important to give the student (and the group that they were working with) the experience of printing using the interface and the downloading and transferring of files, all of which they were easily capable of.   Print time for the shark was three hours which was very reasonable for the size of the print (20mm in total).

The articulated ferret was another animal in the series that was located and printed following an identical format to the shark.   While printed on a black base PLA and looking more than acceptable the student wanted to really 'pop' the design and hence the use of the yellow for the background and the red that was added.   The strength of the joints with the articulation here needs mentioning - there was clear flexibility with the pieces of the ferret and each was/is able to be manipulated to create a movement affect (which in turn made the object something that was constantly played with and handled).     

The first task for the students was to produce the linking for the articulation.   The photograph shown left is the students first attempt to reproduce the linking that was present in the prints downloaded via Thingiverse - once this has been mastered the final step will be taking this linking and applying it to a design of an animal that the students can create or design.    The linking was created using Tinkercad.

In New Zealand it is currently the school holidays.   The student produced the prototype of the articulated chain linking in the photograph shown above on the last day of school and was so happy with the process and the final product that she took it home on the final day.   They will recommence the next stage and completion of the project when they return to school and this project will be updated.   The student involved in the articulation linking project is a capable design student who is eleven years old.