Student Individualised Badge V3.0

Above: Finished print with name details shown

Challenge: Student was new to the classroom and wanted to create a 3D Print for the first time.  He wanted it to be something that he could take ownership of (and produce himself).
Background: Previous we have used a basic block to form the basis of the base of the lettering for a badge/name plate.   This student instead used a 'wheel' as a base from the interface.  This worked better than previous prints as it reduced the amount of filament required, however the lettering still had enough of a base to hold the lettering in place.  It also had another benefit, once the wheel was produced the matter of producing a way to hang the badge without the need for drilling.  As it clearly showed in the photogrpah the gap between the wheel spokes allowed space for it to be hung.
Level of Difficulty: Low - student was able to produce this design the first time with minimal guidence from other students.  The print depended on a basic design from the Tinkercad interface with the added feature of the lettering of his name.
Timeframe: Two hours forty minutes with a 8mm nozzle.  As mentioned this is considerable shorter than previous prints in this series/design on the basis that the student went with a more interesting design instead of a standard block.
Size: A height of 5cm high, 5mm thick (which allowed the print to be particularly robust) and a length of 9cm.  This obviously was flexible depending on the size.  The print was an introduction to 3D Printing and therefore the size was (relatively) limited.
What we would do differently: This was a set up from previous badges/name plates as for the first time the students changed the backing plate from a simple block to a different shape from the main Tinkercad interface, given this circumstance and the sequence of the print (being the students first) there is nothing that would be significantly changed.
Next Step for the Students: Student could target a specific location to produce a sign for, and make a sign or badge for a specific purpose.  Given that it could be suitable for an out door setting.

3D Printed Week One Projects 2018

Left: Introductory print - approximate time - forty minutes.   Student was experimenting with using a 3D Printer for the first time, and the design was straightforward.

This print measured only three cenitmetres across, reflected in its print time.

 Left: Basic name badge- wheel design.  Student crreated a badge featuring their name, using the Tinkercad Interface template.   Student then personalised it by adding the name.   The wheel base allowed the potential for this to be hung or pinned. 

Print time- approx. two hours.  Size as shown in the photograph.   9cm across. 

 Left: A shopkins inspired original created print.  Student used the Tinkercad template interface to create the 'chocolate block effect.   Student used the same template to create the face image on the bottom of the design, and intends to spray paint the design further.

Print time - two hours.   Design was 6cm across 12cm deep and had a width of 1cm

Left: Personalised student desk tidy prototype.  Student was looking at creating an original design to store their stationary, personalised with their name.   The final design is going to be approx four times the size of the shown design.

Print time - four hours (prototype) final product is expected to be in the twelve to sixteen hour range and size of print will reflect this.

3D Printed Gift Badge

Challenge: Student wanted to personalise a gift for a family member for their birthday.
Background: Ten year old student was able to independently produce this print from scratch, including all details and scaling (correctly).   Student presented the finished print to the classroom teacher who printed it.  There was no input what-so-ever from the classroom teacher.
Level of Difficulty: Medium the print consisted of a main base with additional lettering, the number seven and the butterfly that was added to it for depth and details.   The student had a particular design in mind and was focussed on this size.
Timeframe: Twelve house - this was primarily the depth of the base, which was one and a half centimetres in depth.   This could potentially have been altered reduced.

Size: From end to end the design measured 15cm across.   As mentioned it had a depth of 1.5 cm for the main base.   The lettering and other features were raised 5mm from the base. 
What we would do differrently: Nothing - the student was able to execute the entire project from start to finish with no input from the teacher, just about perfect.   
Next step for the students: The print was straightforward and the student as repeatedly mentioned took ownership of the entire project.  The student could challenge themselves with using more variation with this kind of design, looking to include perhaps some inter-locking parts or parts that work in combination with others.

3D Printed 3D Desk Badge

Above: Desk Badge as shown from above

Challenge: Student wanted to design and create a desk reward.  Student had been at a school where the teacher had a 'badge' which moved from desk to desk to to show the best working student of the week.  Student wanted to continue this idea, but instead of using a pre-bought cup or medal however wanted to create a personalised 'badge' for the student to have sitting on their desk.
Background: Student was inspired to combine ideas that he had seen in the classroom, with an idea that had brought from his previous school, but put the spin of producing something original using a 3D Printer.   The student (who was ten year old) was designing essentially for the first time using the 3D Printer, however they had spent time working on joint projects with other members of the classroom who assisted with the design and the addition of features.

Level of Difficulty: Medium.  The design has a number of additional features placed onto the top of the badge, as shown in the photograph - the point of the triangle was angled. 
Timeframe: Ten hours - there are various additions and changes that could be made to the design to make it more workable (see details below).  There could have been some small changes to be made but given the dimensions of the design the print time would not have been significantly altered.
Size: The base of the design was 12cm across.   The main height of the design was 8cm.   The depth of the badge (width) 1.5cm.   The 'auroa star' font was raised 1cm from the base of the design.
What would we do differently: The badge should have been designed with feet or a means of making itself free standing.  The student assumed that the base of the badge would have been enough for it to have stability, however the weight of the base of the design caused it to tip, when it was supported to stand, the 'auroa star' part of the design needed to be raised from the base to ensure that it was the dominant feature.   The addition of the stars on the top of the badge - could have been more refined, as in a sense the design was to fit as many stars onto it as possible.
Next steps for the students: The student had a positive idea here, however the practicality of the design should have been reserached, in particular the base of the design.  There was a potential here for a movable sign that could be placed on the students desks - perhaps a 'do not disturb sign' or a 'assistance' sign (for student to gain the teachers assistance with completing a task).

3D Printed Catamaran Boat V3.0

Challenge: For student to create a working model of a boat that floats and is able to have a small motorised unit attached to it. 
Background: The students from our classroom (and school) from New Zealand have returned to school and are completing projects that were designed and put together at the end of the 2018 School year.  Previous versions of this print run had been designed to include masts, in the first version, detailed on this blog here.  The second version involved the removal of the masts of the ship, to spend time focussing on the balance and hull.  In the first version there was a middle platform which provided stability, but the student concerned wanted to create a realistic catamaran as possible, hence experimenting wtih removing it. 

Level of Difficulty: High - this is an incresing complex print with a number of factors that are increasing difficult to balance.  The student himself would be one of the most technically gofted design students who consistently shows excellent problem solving and adapting of his designs.
Timeframe: This print took twelve hours and the design required significant rafting.  This should not be considered to be additional to the shape and would need to be required to remain with versions of the print.
Size: The hulls shown in the inserted photographs were 15cm long, had a width of 2cm at their largest and were 5cm from bottom to top.   The strengthening cross beams were 10cm acoss.   The masts shown were 9cm high. 
What would we do differently: This version of the boat was not as successful in terms of how robust, and the balance that it has.  In the previous versions of the print the masts were thinner and the base of the design was balanced by the base.   When tested in water, in the school swimming pool, the boat tended to flip easily and was clearly top heavy.   The student has recognised this fault of the design, and already completed testing with this print and as a result has redesigned it, thinking about balance, and started to look at the design of the Americas Cup Boat.

3D Printed Box - Additional Features

Above: Box shown from above

Challenge: To produce a personalised box as a gift that is able to be used as a storage box.
Background: Student had produced a series of basic prints, and was looking at producing a gift for a family member.  She wanted to personalise the box with the name of the person it was intended for. 
Level of Difficulty: Medium.  Tinkercad interface was used to produce the box shape.   Student added additional features to the box to divide it into different areas and experimented with adding the hexagonal featured storage shape shown in the photograph.   The personalisation of the box took the form of lettering that was sunk into two sides of the base of the box - which was not successful. (see below). 
Timeframe: Eight hours.    The width of the sides (see below) should have been increased to provide more strength and depth to the sides of the box.  The student ultimately decided not to produce a lid for this box as they wanted the box to be a stand alone design. 
Size:  8cm long by 9cm high.  The box was 5cm high.  The external wall of the box was 5mm.   The internal walls (shown in illustrations) were thinned to 1-2mm.

Reverse side of the box with filament visible

Above: Front of box was deep lettering

What we would do differently: The internal walls were too thin.  At 2mm they were not strong enough.  While they have not yet broken the strength is clearly not there in basic testing.  In addition at two points the internal wall stops short of touching the main external wall.  This was created by student Tinkering.  The lettering on the external side of the box was not successful.   The name of the gift for the student ('Simone') was sunk deep into the base, when it was removed not all the materail could be successfully taken out, and the lettering itself was damaged.   With the 'Love Georgia' inscription as shown clearly in the photograph above most of the filament rafting was removed easily, however there was filament that could not be removed as requires an additional tool to do so.  The reverse side, shown below, when the rafting was carefully removed by the student resulted in damage to the font and the lettering.   The lettering in this case was sunk too deep into the base of the box and lacked enough robust support for it to be shaped successfully.
Next steps for the student: As mentioned in previous prints the design/ideas and format for boxes has been nearly exhausted by the students/classrooms efforts.   Students (in this case a ten year old) have produced a variety of boxes and details of which have been increasingly detailed and complicated. 

     

3D Printed Gift Box (Advanced) - Xmas Gift

Above: Box with lid and person lettering

Challenge - To produce a Christmas theme gift box with a working lid, personalised for the person that it was intended to be for.
Background: Student was attempting an advanced print for the first time.   They had completed basic designs but this was the first attempt to involve using the 3D Printer to produce an object with parts that related to each other (in this case the lid, with a drop down base and ensuring that both parts worked in unison with each other.
Level of Difficulty: Medium.   The box as shown in the illustration included a lid, with the name of the person that it was gifted for.  It included a handle that is clearly shown above, with rafting removed.   The base of the design included lettering themed with 'merry xmas' as it was intended as a seasonal gift.  The 'box' template that was used came from the Tinkercad main interface.
Timeframe: Fifteen hours for the base and the lid combined.   The width of the lid was 5mm and the handle potentially could have been lower, however redesigning the box would not have been possible to reduce the printing time.  An 8mm nozzle was used for the print, which ensure that the time was probably the minimum that would have been required to produce a print of this size and design.
Size: 10cm by 10cm with a height of 8cm.  The width of the lid and the sides of the box was 5mm.  As noted the size of the box relative to the purpose of it (as a gift box for jewellery etc)
What we would do differently: As shown in the photograph above the lettering in the base of the box was dropped into the design.  In removing the filament around the lettering it is extremely difficult to remove it succesfully without causing part of the font to be removed (such as the middle m stroke in the 'merry' part of the design).  We have tried a variety of tools to remove this successfully and are still searching for the best soultion, it is particularly difficult given the size of the font.  Potentially the font could have been increased in size.
Next Steps of students: Student is now able to confidently produce and make boxes of medium difficulty.   Student will be encouraged to move onto more challenging and varied designs.   Student could mentor others to produce this sort of design and also variations of it.