rapman-education's posterous

rapman-education's posterous

Dave White  //  A place for educators, teachers, lecturers and students to find "stuff" about RapMan,BfB3000 and BfB 3DTouch printers... The unofficial Blog by Dave White, Advanced Skills Teacher and Head of D&T in Clevedon School UK.

May 21 / 9:26pm

In need of a windy day

Earlier in this blog you can see my CAD design for the wind turbines project (at least my interpretation of what it could be like). Anyway, I thought you guys might like to see what it looks like in reality. Hence the photos J


You might be interested to know that with an old CPU (486) fan blowing onto the turbine I can generate ONE WHOLE VOLT   .. overwhelmingly unimpressive eh!, so it's perhaps time to print an alternative/more efficient turbine or try to use a different motor as a generator..... ooo, errr, just realised, isn't that what the project is supposed to be about J

 

Dave

 

 

(download)

Filed under  //  Resources   Teaching and Learning  
May 20 / 10:00pm

Pitching RapMan Resources.

On the BfB Forum there was some discussion about the “difficulty” of the resources that I have been producing for RapMan. i.e. How technical? How much detail? Age of students they are aimed at???? Well here is some of my current thinking.... I hope it makes sense and please contact me with any thoughts you may have (via the comments on this blog or the BfB forum) regarding these teaching and learning resources

 

I teach 11 to 18 year olds so.... With many of the resources I have written I am aiming at the younger end of the age group and many of the ideas are intended to be to "spark ideas" with students/teachers rather than being a complete package. In this way the project can be individually modified to suit the curriculum in different countries, the different facilities/resources available in various schools and most importantly so that students/teachers feel that they have some "ownership" of their own learning/teaching. 
My other reason for aiming the resources at the younger students is to "catch them when they are young and enthusiastic". If younger students are equipped with the skills and knowledge early(ish) in their schooling they will in all likelihood carry this with them and develop/grow into young designers/technologists/engineers.... something we really need more of  

Image001
 As the technology of RapMan is still relatively young and few if any schools have had machines for about a year even the older students are starting at a low point (but have a much steeper learning curve)... so simple projects can help them accelerate through the early stages. They are also more likely to develop their own projects and ideas when they become more expert.
Interestingly the results of the survey seem to indicate that at this stage the resources are pitched at a good level for beginners through newbies to those with the confidence to develop their own projects. However there are some indications that the more technically advanced/older students still need some support and/or ideas.... that's why I have started to look into the idea of "How to" videos. (more of these to follow in the summer holidays hopefully) 

So..... Watch this space  

Image002
 who knows where I will go next  
Image003
 

Anyway, that's enough of my educational philosophizing for now, I hope I haven't bored you all  :

Image001

And, once again a huge thanks for the support/ideas/inspiration that all you guys on the forum give me towards developing these resources.... If only a few students learn something new, enjoy what they have found out and are therefore better able to contribute to society then it has all been worthwhile.

 

Dave

 

Filed under  //  Resources   Teaching and Learning  
May 19 / 10:14pm

Wind Turbines... a new project on the wiki

Wind

Design and make Wind Turbines... This resource suggests ways that model turbines can be designed, printed and tested to compare their efficiency. This project will be suitable for Design and Technology, Science and maybe Geography.

http://www.bitsfrombytes.com/wiki/index.php?title=Turbines#Turbines

(note the stl files are included as examples only, most are printable.... but print at your own risk!... better still design your own using 3D design software)

 

Filed under  //  Resources   Teaching and Learning  
May 8 / 7:12pm

How To... Videos

Here are 3 new  videos intended to be "How to" guides for using RapMan. The videos on the blog are low res versions for preview. if you want to use or download them then  they have been posted on YouTube.....  if possible view the videos in HD. see the links at the bottom of this post

This video is about creating designs in Pro/Engineer for use with RapMan

(download)

Converting Pro/Engineer parts to .stl ready for use with Skeinforge or NetFabb

(download)

Generating g-code with Skeinforge

(download)

Links to the videos on YouTube (Hi Res)

creating designs in Pro/Engineer for use with RapMan

Converting Pro/Engineer parts to .stl ready for use with Skeinforge or NetFabb

Generating g-code with Skeinforge

 

They are a bit experimental, if they work well then more will follow sometime soon

 

Filed under  //  Resources   Teaching and Learning   Video  
May 6 / 5:47pm

What software??? Part 2

In the previous post on this subject I temptingly posted a screenshot of a page from this resource. Well i thought I would play a bit more with the blog and post the actual pdf file. (note. ALL resources will still be published on the wiki!).... but i might be tempted to also post new resources on the blog directly, Not certain about this yet so if you have an opinion please leave a comment

Dave

Click here to download:
What_Software.pdf (842 KB)
(download)

 

Filed under  //  Resources   Software   Teaching and Learning  
Apr 25 / 4:19pm

What Software? A new resource.

What_software

What Software?

This resource briefly looks at the different 3D design software packages that can be used in schools to create designs for RapMan. Also mesh (stl) repair and post processing software is compared. The is not exhaustive but includes most of the tried and tested solutions.... others may be available! 

http://www.bitsfrombytes.com/wiki/index.php?title=What_Software

Filed under  //  Resources   Software   Teaching and Learning  
Apr 24 / 1:01pm

Game, Set and Match. Teaching and Learning Resource.

Game_set_match

Game Set and Match, new projects on the BfB wiki

 

You will be in the wrong place if you are expecting to find something about tennis :-) This resource suggests ways of designing toys and games. It includes ideas for chess pieces, checkers (draughts) counters and a ball bearing game.

This project is suitable for students who have some experience designing using Pro/ENGINEER or similar 3D design software.

 

http://www.bitsfrombytes.com/wiki/index.php?title=Game_Set_and_Match

 

 

 

Filed under  //  Resources   Teaching and Learning  
Apr 23 / 9:42pm

NetFabb Engine for RapMan

Netfabb1

So you have designed a part in your 3D CAD program and you want to print it on your RapMan, so you need to convert it to g-code right?

You can of course use Skeinforge. This is a brilliant piece of open source software written by “Enrique” and can be downloaded from http://fabmetheus.blogspot.com/

Although you have a lot of control of how RapMan will print your part using Skeinforge it is a quite complicated program for students to understand. Also some school networks will not allow you to install Python, the “language” that Skeinforge uses.

There is however an alternative.... NetFabb Studio and the “Engine” for RapMan.  This is available in several different versions from the NetFabb site http://www.netfabb.com/  and from BfB  http://bitsfrombytes.com/

The free version of NetFabb will allow you to view scale, move and repair your .stl files but not convert it to g-codeA “paid for” version with the engine for RapMan does the above PLUS conversion to g-code (education prices are available)A professional version (to be released soon) will do ALL the above PLUS more sophisticated editing of stl and mesh file... and more.And.... there is a free version of the NetFabb viewer for iPhone or iPod Touch  http://www.netfabb.com/mobile.php

For details of NetFabb engine see http://www.netfabb.com/rapman_basic.php and for the pro version http://www.netfabb.com/rapman_professional.php

 

Filed under  //  Resources   Software   Teaching and Learning  
Apr 6 / 12:15pm

RapMan Basics- an introduction to RapMan

Basics

Just added some new T&L resources on the BfB Wiki

http://www.bitsfrombytes.com/wiki/index.php?title=RapMan_Basics

RapMan Basics.... an introduction for younger students, it's a very basic introduction to how RapMan prints in 3D. The process is explained in simple terms and RapMan parts identified. 
Suitable for introduction to younger secondary school students

 

Filed under  //  Resources   Teaching and Learning  
Apr 3 / 11:35am

Teaching and Learning resources on the BfB Wiki

These projects and worksheets have been provided by Dave White, Head of D&T at Clevedon School, UK.

Dave has been using a RapMan in school with his students for some time now and has put together these project ideas as a way to get started and make progress in the use of the machine for rapid prototyping. The resources have been written to guide students through a series of projects using Pro/ENGINEER although they can be adapted for Pro/DESKTOP or other 3D software.

Note. For details on RapMan and how to purchase a machine visit Bits from Bytes Website'

 

Design & Technology (STEM) 

Geography

History and Architecture

Mathematics

Science

CAD and Other Software

Open Source

Resources by other contributors

Notes

Sample .stl files are included for some projects. There is no guarantee that these are printable, if you wish to try then this is at your own risk, you may find that you have to scale, re-orientate, move the object to get it to print satisfactorily.

Projects are currently in pdf format. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the files. Adobe Reader Download Powerpoint format may follow (hopefully).



If you find the projects useful then please leave comments on the Education section of the Bits from Bytes Forum . And don’t forget that this is also a great place to share your experiences and photographs of the work done by your students.

Note. For details on RapMan and how to purchase a machine visit Bits from Bytes Website

 

Filed under  //  Resources   Teaching and Learning