Innovate 3D Competition Project

thingiverse

How can you revolutionize products using 3D printing? Students in the Innovate 3D Competition are challenged to improve existing products in some way using 3D printing. They have the freedom to decide how to enhance a product, whether it's making it more ergonomic, changing its appearance, adding new features, or improving it in another way. The students will work through the design process to develop their ideas. Before printing the products, the class votes on the designs. Each team presents their 3D model and tries to convince the class that their design is the most original and creative. The students decide the top 3 most creative and original designs from each class. These designs will be printed first and will move on to the final round. During the final round, the 10-15 finalists are displayed with their descriptions in the media center. The final round is open for voting to students, teachers, admin, and anyone else who goes through the media center. The finalist designs (not student names) are also shared on a website with a link to the voting page. At the end of the voting period, the winner is announced. The 1st place team earns the title of 3D Innovators of the Year. Major Student Products: * Design process log: Students keep track of each step off the design process that they complete. * 3D computer model and technical drawing: Students create a technical drawing (they have previously learned about these) and a 3D model. Their drawings are assessed on quality and accuracy. The models are assessed on their readiness for 3D printing, and their accuracy. * Presentation to class (students decide how they want to present): Students give a short presentation to "sell" their designs to the class. * Daily log (quick questions at the end of each class about what they accomplished, what challenges they encountered, etc.): This is a quick 3 question form at the end of each period. It further assesses the student's knowledge of the design process and 3D printing. Timeline: * Introduce the Innovate 3D Competition. Show students the website and answer questions about the competition. Explain the preliminary and final rounds of the competition. * Students begin working with their partner to pick a product and determine how they are going to use 3D printing to improve their product. * Students will continue working on their designs. When they have decided on a design, they will create a technical drawing. * When the technical drawing is complete, students will check in with the teacher. The teacher will give feedback on the student designs and make sure they are designing with 3D printing in mind. * Once students have feedback from the teacher, they will begin creating their 3D models. * When 3D models are complete, students will determine how they are going to "sell" their product to the class. They can choose how they will do this. * Students will vote on the top 3 designs in each class. This is the preliminary round. * The top 3 designs from each class will be printed and displayed in the media center and online. Teachers, students, admin, and others online can vote in the final round. * When voting closes, the results will be shared with the students and the people who voted. The top team will earn the title of "3D Innovators of the Year." Duration: This project took about 4-5 47-minute periods for students to design and create their 3D models. Preparation: Students should have some experience with the 3D modeling program that you choose to use. They should also have an understanding of how the 3D printer actually works. Students should have some background knowledge with the engineering design process as well. If they do not have this background knowledge, teach them as a part of this project! Assessment: Major Student Products: * Design process log: Students keep track of each step off the design process that they complete. * 3D computer model and technical drawing: Students create a technical drawing (they have previously learned about these) and a 3D model. Their drawings are assessed on quality and accuracy. The models are assessed on their readiness for 3D printing, and their accuracy. * Presentation to class (students decide how they want to present): Students give a short presentation to "sell" their designs to the class. * Daily log (quick questions at the end of each class about what they accomplished, what challenges they encountered, etc.): This is a quick 3 question form at the end of each period. It further assesses the student's knowledge of the design process and 3D printing. Handouts and Assets: I created a website to go along with this project. This made it easy to share the details and the finalists with the students and other people. The example website is here: http://innovate3d.weebly.com/