Monoculight

thingiverse

This is my entry for the Thingiversity Technology S.T.E.A.M. Challenge: LightItUp. The assembled part is a functional light-up eyeball demonstrator that encourages kids of all ages to think about how basic lens technology works and how the marvelous biological optical systems in our heads (aka our eyes) enable us to see. I've blogged my development progress at http://monoculight.tumblr.com, which is also available as a PDF document in the Thing Files as "Monoculight-Development-Blog.pdf". Abbreviated build instructions are provided under "Instructions" and the full detailed build instructions including figures are available in the Thing Files as "Monoculight-Documentation.pdf". This document also includes a complete description on how Monoculight is especially relevant to the MakerBot Technology Challenge. This was a fun project that required developing a lot of technology, such as printing hemispheres, snap fit features, battery holders, circuits, CAD parameterization, lens fabrication, and more. However, what I'm most proud of is how Monoculight can be used to inspire self-directed technology education. Just put a Monoculight in someone's hands and see what happens: - Experience how basic lens technology works in a very tactile and understandable way. - Press a button to make bright lights, then pop the Monoculight open to see the simple circuit technology at work. - Confused about why the image is upside down on the retina in Monoculight while we don't see things upside in real life? It's easy for our brains, which are better image processors than any technology ever invented. - Light up Monoculight in the dark and observe firsthand additive color mixing, which is the principle behind ubiquitous display technologies we use every day. - Curious about that display technology? Open Monoculight, place it near a display, and see the RGB pixels firsthand. A big thanks to the folks at MakerBot for hosting the Thingiversity Summer S.T.E.A.M. Challenges. This contest provided an inspirational spark for myself and many others to work on developing technology around 3D printing and Light - it's been great fun!