Kids Puzzle Sphere

myminifactory

The main goal of this puzzle is to teach kids about 3D printing. Puzzles are an excellent way to introduce young minds to the world of 3D printing, as they are naturally drawn to them as long as they can understand how they work. To create a suitable puzzle for this purpose, I had several requirements in mind: 1. The puzzle should be simple and easy for kids with small hands and limited dexterity to assemble. 2. The print time needed to be relatively short, ideally within 30-45 minutes on a well-tuned printer when used for 3D printing demos. 3. The design must be open to showcase how it was made. 4. It should be easily scalable to different sizes with tolerances that can be adjusted at will. After searching for existing puzzles that met these criteria, I couldn't find one that fit all the requirements. As a result, I decided to create my own puzzle in Solidworks, making sure it's parametric so it can be easily scaled and adjusted by modifying a few key dimensions using an equations table. The puzzle consists of three basic pieces, with two copies of each piece used to build a sphere when assembled. I have included two sets of parts, one with a 0.2mm gap between the parts and the other with a 0.3mm gap. As with all my designs, I keep them open and provide the STEP or source files to promote open design and 3D printing.