3D Printing a Key

In today's blog, I wanted to show you something that was a bit off the wall.  One of my students asked me how we could go from taking a photo of an object to printing a duplicate.  So, in this example, we are going to use a key.

Step 1:

One of the first things you will need to do to get this to work is a decent picture of your key.
For the purpose of this, I used PhotoShop.  At first, I had the image of the actual key.  Then I added a layer on top of the key and painted it black.  For some reason, the .gif file looks odd, but in the last step I removed the entire background just leaving me the black image of a key.  From there, I went to http://www.online-convert.com/ and turned my .jpg file into a .svg file. 

Step 2:  

Once you have your .svg file, you then need to turn it into an actual 3D model.  I used www.tinkercad.com for this.  When you open TinkerCad, you will notice an "import" button on the top right.  Once I did this, I simply imported my file.

Step 3:

If there is a tricky step, this is it.  You have to scale your key to the correct size.  I had measured his key beforehand, but you could do the same thing by looking up the key's dimensions online too.  After that, simply print your file.

I was really surprised at how easy this was.  The key worked too.  The only thing I would recommend is that if you were wanting to make a permanent key, you should probably print something besides PLA plastic.  If you are printing something quick though, it does work!

Note:  A video on how we did this is located here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNalicZTGK4

3D Printing Teacher Project - VR Goggles & Printing Keys

In this post, I wanted to show you how we went about creating our own VR Goggles.

To get started, I want to show you how we went about making VR Goggles.

Since VR Goggles seem to be the craze right now, we decided we'd make our own.  The only thing we did not print for this project were the lenses which you can easily find on Amazon.  We bought these for roughly $.30 a set.  So, this was relatively cheap.  The students had to design a case that would fit their phone.  They had to leave their phone in the case, and they also had to do the measurements to get this to work.

I did help the students a little by telling them they could find the dimensions of their phone case online.  Of course, the students could always just measure their case with a ruler too.  The most difficult part of this was determining the space they needed in the middle of their print so they could easily see the entire phone with the lenses.  This was made slightly more difficult, because the Google Cardboard I gave them as a reference had larger lenses than the lenses I purchased.  Regardless, the entire project turned out great.

One thing to consider while you are doing this project is the amount of time it will take to print.  Most of these prints took around 16 hours.  I encouraged the students to make these somewhat hollow too since most of their designs required them to hold their Goggles in the air.  They will want a design that is durable, yet easy to hold.

Last, but not least, I had the students submit their designs onto www.pinshape.com too.  I wanted the students to see how many downloads their print would get.  I think it is important for students to see how popular their designs are.

All in all, I thought this was a very successful project.  The students seemed to enjoy it, and surprisingly, this was pretty new to a lot of the students.  I figured a lot more of them had experienced VR type headsets, but for a few of them, this was their first experience with this.






Here is a video on this project too: Printing Your Own VR Goggles

3D Printing Teacher Project - Working with Clients

In this post, I wanted to explain how we used a Dremel IdeaBuider to print projects for a real client.

This lesson was created for our 3D Printing students as a lesson that went along with filling our TEKS requirements on presenting to a real client.  This project was created with that in mind, and since we are quite a distance from a lot of businesses, we had to take advantage of the employees we did have access to.  This lesson was used as an assessment of putting together some of the skills they have already learned, as well as really listening to a client and discovering what their needs are.

Being able to put a real client in front of the students, and forcing the student to actually build around someone else’s needs has been a great project for everyone involved.  The teachers end up with a product that they like and want to showcase in their classroom, and the student’s learn to adjust their build according to the feedback given by the teacher.

Each student was assigned their own teacher.  In fact, each student had to set up a meeting with their prospective teacher, and the teacher requested the student based on their pitch.  The products varied greatly from student to student.  Some teachers requested objects for their personal children, while others wanted things they could showcase in their classroom.  The main requirements for all students were the same.  They had to meet periodically with their teacher throughout the 6 weeks that were allotted for the project, and they had to keep track of their meetings with the teachers, and how their model had changed from the initial idea.

This really tested the student’s ability to create something that pleased their client.  The beauty of this project was it forced the student’s to really rely on their modeling to show their client what they were thinking, and it allowed the teacher to explain their thoughts right on the spot.  For this project, we also used Tinkercad.com to build our models.  Once the student and teacher had an idea for a model that they liked, the student would then print a ¼ scale model for the teacher.  After this passed the teacher test, the final product was printed.

Short Video Explanation

3D Printing Controllers for Handicapped Students

In this post, I wanted to explain how we used a Dremel Ideabuilder to print casings for a Makey Makey controller.

This lesson was created for our 3D Printing students as a lesson that went along with a contest found on Pinshape.com.  The contest was based around printing an object that worked with electronics.  In my robotics class, we had been working with Makey Makeys to create controllers for handicapped students.  This was used as an introductory lesson to teach students the basics of how controllers work and circuitry.

Combining these projects seemed to be the natural progression of the lesson.  All students, no matter if they have disabilities of not, like to play games.  Having kits like the Makey Makey make it really easy for our students to create controllers that are customizable enough for them to play.

Each student was given a scenario, where they had to design a controller for a student who had a disability.  The scenarios were different for each group.  One group might design a controller for a student who was born with one hand and one leg, another might have a student with no hands, or maybe their student had MS.  Regardless, of the scenario, the students had to design a controller for their student.



Their controller had to be flexible enough to play different types of games on it.  The students tested their controller out on Pacman on Google.  However, they also had to make sure they had at least an A and a B button.

Once they designed their controller, they then had to design a system that could house their controller.  We wanted to make sure this was flexible enough where the parents of these students could print this out and adjust as needed, but we also realized that parents would probably want something to make this easy enough where they would not have to set this up each time.

This project worked really well for us, and I think you'll agree the results turned out great.

3D Printing on the 3D40 compared to the 3D20

As a Dremel Idea Builder Ambassador, my students and I are constantly leveling our build plates.  Last year, between the five printers in my room (not counting 2 Makerbots we used early on), we were averaging 250 print hours between the printers.  In my classroom, I have five Dremel Idea Builder 3D20 models.  To say that we have a fair bit of experience leveling build plates is an understatement to say the least.  As stated, we also have several Makerbot 2 Replicators (which constantly broke down), and an Ultimaker 2+, so believe me when I say that I have appreciated what Dremel has offered in helping us level our build plates.

After all, Dremel at least has had the forethought to send the leveling sheets with their 3D20 models.  Before that, I was constantly scouring business cards to hand out to students to help us level our build plates.  My students and I also found the leveling process on the Idea Builder to be a much easier process, so these are the primary printers we use.

When I first opened the 3D40, I assumed I would be going through the same steps I've gone through countless times with our 3D printers.  Setting up the printer was a pretty fast process, but when I fired the 3D40 up I was scouring the box for the leveling sheet.  I was shocked that Dremel would have forgotten the sheet, but then as I started the leveling process I was very excited.  A small sensor whips out from underneath the extruder to help you level now.  As I have said before, I have seen and used quite a few 3D Printers, but this is first printer I have used that had this feature on it.  What a time saving feature this is.  As you can see, it still gives you a screen to twist knobs to level it, but the sensor tells you when you have tightened or loosened the knob to the right space.  After that, it raises and lowers the bed with the sensor to verify it is in the right spot.  I was very excited to see this feature added to the 3D40.  If you needed another reason to buy this model over the 3D20, or if you were thinking of gambling with a Makerbot, I really encourage you to take a look at this model.  For me personally, I would rather use this over the 3D20 model, which I really like because Dremel has made this product so easy to set up.

 If you are thinking of buying a 3D printer for your class, and you have some questions, feel free to contact me at shagedorn@sabinepass.net . 

Drone Tourism

Over the last few weeks, I've stumbled into a lot of videos taken by drones.  Not only are the videos of great quality, but they have also allowed the viewer to see the sites from angles seldom seen by most people.  This has led to a new type of business that could be very easy for people to set up if they had the right motivation and tools.  That business, of course, is tourism.  Depending on the setup, you could possibly allow others to control the camera where you could control the drone.  This could attract a whole range of new audiences, who either might not be able to travel to the actual location, or it could allow groups like schools to take virtual field trips to a new level.  I have posted several videos where 360° cameras have been mounted on the drones.  The interesting aspect on doing this is it allows the end user to move the camera to see areas they are more interested in.  If you are interested in starting companies that do this, you might want to move fast.  Companies are already starting businesses like this.

Project Soli

What an inventive way to use Radar!  I can definitely see how this would have some advantages over other technologies to track movement.  Not only that, but I can also see a lot of companies start using this with their own devices.