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.

Jan 18 / 3:09pm

I've moved!

I have unfortunately had to move my blog to another platform.

But the good news is that I can now be found here... http://3dprintineducation.wordpress.com/

Like the new name, eh?

Why have I moved? Nothing sinister, it's simply because I use the Blogsy iPad app to do most of my blogging and since early December 2012 Blogsy has not been able to access my blog through the Posterous API.

My apologies to those who regularly visit my blog (and there are quite a few of you according to the analytics).
If you are a regular visitor please update any favourites or bookmarks to my new address, and if you are a new visitor please add this link to keep up to date with the news http://3dprintineducation.wordpress.com/

Filed under  //  Teaching and Learning   dt   education   media   printing  
Dec 13 / 6:59pm

@ClevedonDT students visit 3DS / BfB

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As visitors to my blog will probably know/realise I teach Design and Technology at Clevedon School in the UK.... my year 12/13 students study AS/A2 Product Design. Studying this course not only requires students to design and make products but also to know how they would be made in the "real world"... And many students incorporate 3D printing in their designs, so what could be better to combine all of this into a visit to 3D Systems (Bits from Bytes).

So earlier today we took the students to "BfB HQ" to have a look round. The guys from BfB did a fantastic job of making us welcome with Annabelle introducing the students to the factory with a brief history of how the business was set up and it's development from the RepRap project at Bath University. Iain then gave the students a tour of the facilities including the business side of the company, how it fits in as part of the 3D Systems global company, how sales and marketing are managed and of course a tour of the production facilities. The students were able to see both the RapMan and 3D Touch production systems and how these differ due to RapMan being sold as a kit and the 3D Touch being sold as a "ready to print" machine. It was brilliant for the students to see all this happening "for real" and how the things we have studied such as "Quality Control and Quality Assurance" really do make a difference to the manufacture of products.

From a personal point of view it was also great to meet up again with the guys from BfB... Amazing how many were previously students at my school!

And finally a huge "thank you" to Iain, Annabelle and all the others at BfB for making us so welcome and for sparing their precious time especially when they are in the middle of the rush to get machines out to their resellers in time for Christmas.

Here's what my students had to say...

Bits from Bytes visit

      Bits from Bytes are a UK based company owned by 3D Systems. They design and manufacture low cost 3D printers for rapid prototyping. The company was started in a garage, and has now progressed to two warehouses.

     We were first met by Annabel, who told us briefly about the history of the company. After that we met Iain. He first spoke to us about the marketing aspects of the business, and the admin and finance elements.

     We then went through to the board room, and saw how the machines have evolved and some examples of what could be produced on the 3D printer. This included some alternative materials such as ceramics.

     Following on from this we went down to the factory floor, and observed the different processes involved in production of the Touch 3D machines. He spoke about the different methods they have produced for storing materials, and how they buy materials using the “just in time” method. We also saw the jigs they have produced to make the production method more efficient. Iain also told us how they had recently had seasonal workers in due to a high volume of orders. All of the employees at Bits from Bytes who assemble the machines are trained in all aspects of production.  They each have a trolley which they wheel around the factory floor, and they are responsible for the completion of the machines they are working on.

     To show us a contrast to this, we saw how the kits are put together for the RapMan 3D printers. These are produced in batches and the put in shrink wrap. One employee then moves along the shelves and puts the required quantity of each part into a box, ready to be shipped out.

    At the end of the visit we were given the opportunity to ask any questions we had. We learnt about future plans for the business, and how the company plan to expand as the market does.

    Overall it was a valuable trip, and gave all of us the experience to see what we’ve learnt in our theory lessons in a real life situation.

 

Year 13 students

 

Filed under  //  D&T   Education   Product Design   Student  
Dec 9 / 12:57pm

D&T iPad apps

Ok, so not really about 3D printing but my school blog is "locked" for updating to a new platform/hosting service. My school has just launched into a new project for students to bring portable devices into school... Mainly iPads but other devices are allowed. So students setting up new iPads face a bewildering number of apps, here are a few suggested apps that I have tried out over the last year or so. The star rating is based on usefulness, price, etc... But just a guide! There are many other apps available.
Autodesk Forceeffect ... Free *** Study the effect of forces on structures https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/autodesk-forceeffect/id476321600?mt=8

Forceeffect Motion ... Free *** Study the effect of forces in motion https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/autodesk-forceeffect-motion/id512045820?mt=8

123D Make Intro... Free *** Design 3d designs for laser cutting https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/123d-make-intro/id513915986?mt=8
123D Design... Free *** Simple 3D CAD https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/123d-design/id567821620?mt=8

123D Sculpt... Free (model export £6.99 in app purchase) ** 3D sculpting https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/123d-sculpt/id446119510?mt=8

123D Catch... Free *** Scan objects in 3D https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/123d-catch/id513913018?mt=8

Sketchbook Express... Free ** Sketch, draw etc https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/sketchbook-express-for-ipad/id410871280?mt=8

Pixlr-o-matic... Free ** Another photo edit app https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/pixlr-o-matic/id450263811?mt=8

Other apps
D&T app ... 69p per subject or £1.99 for all 6 *** D&T textbook, revision etc https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/design-and-technology/id363449581?mt=8

Moodboard Lite... Free (limited) or £6.99 ** Create design mood boards https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/moodboard-lite/id369796813?mt=8

iDT HD.... Free*** D&T "dictionary" https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/idt-hd/id383058247?mt=8

Neu.Draw... Free *** Vector drawing https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/neu.draw/id392532294?mt=8

iDesign... £5.99 ** Vector drawing https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/idesign/id342790226?mt=8

iDraw...£2.99 ** Vector drawing https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/idraw/id363317633?mt=8

Adobe Photoshop Express by Adobe...free *** Photo editing https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/adobe-photoshop-express/id331975235?mt=8

Magic Plan... Free ** Create scale room plans https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/magicplan/id427424432?mt=8

Creo view mobile... Free *** Viewer for Creo 3D designs https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/creo-view-mobile/id560549930?mt=8

3D CAD Models Engineering by CADENAS GmbH... Free ** 3d cad models (downloads) catalogue https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/3d-cad-models-engineering/id522705054?mt=8

Idea generator...£1.99 * Random ideas generator https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/idea-generator/id293258418?mt=8

Ohm work... Free ** Resistor colour codes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/ohm-work/id406539017?mt=8

Design Museum Collection ... Free *** Iconic designs https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/design-museum-collection-for/id510964197?mt=8

Dexigner... Free *** News of what's going on in the design works https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/dexigner/id319785197?mt=8

Arduino Companion... Free * Arduino reference https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/arduino-companion/id501635254?mt=8

Spacecraft 3D... Free ** Augmented reality 3D spacecraft https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/spacecraft-3d/id541089908?mt=8

Maplin ... Free * Electronics catalogue https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/maplin/id434388627?mt=8

Screwfix catalogue... Free ** Hardware catalogue https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/screwfix-catalogue/id531135973?mt=8

 

Filed under  //  D&T   Resources   iPad   software  
Nov 25 / 10:09pm

VEX robotics and 3D printing ... And new goodies!

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At my school I have a group of year 9 students building a VEX robot... An extra curricular after school club.

In a fit of madness we decided to not build the standard "protobot" and do a hybrid "clawbot/protobot". All very well but part way into the build someone noticed that we don't have the claw in our kit... Beginners mistake!

So, being a bit brave about it I said to the students that I would search the web and see if I can download the 3D CAD files so that we could print the necessary files.... And I found them!

Talk about a steep learning curve... I fired up Autodesk Inventor (I usually use Creo!) opened the .step file and exported the parts as .stl (then discovered that I could have used Creo anyway!.... Dohh)

So now they were printable files. Most of them are a bit challenging as they need support material, but with Axon 3 (alpha) the support generation looks to be superb, so I was up for the challenge.... And the photos show the results.

Having so much fun I printed most of the parts... I'll have to leave a few for the students to do in school. I don't think the PLA plates will be strong enough, maybe a bit of a redesign for these, but that's an extra project for the students to do :)

There can't be many clawbots out there with printed claws, maybe this is a first ... If it works! I'll post some more photos later (if we are successful of course).

Oh, nearly forgot about the new goodies mentioned in the title of this post.... I have just received (and fitted) a new bed and waste bin (commonly known at BfB as a snot box) and a new wiper (snot flicker?) to my 3D Touch.... Wonderful!.... I'll post some more info about these later.

Filed under  //  Robotics   dt   printing  
Jul 4 / 5:23pm

West of England ICT Conference 2012

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Our D&T department got a special mention in the keynote speech by Tim Rylands at the WEICT12 conference?... All about the way we are using our Bits from Bytes 3D printing with students.

Rather than repeating about Tim's fact finding visit or what we actually do with our 3D printers why not scroll down through my department blog and see for yourself.... It really is cutting edge stuff!

http://www.clevedonschool.org.uk/blogs/products/

And of course here on my RapMan Education Posterous blog there is a load of information to browse.

Filed under  //  D&T   Product Design   conference   education   news  
Jun 7 / 1:18pm

To baldly go... (3D Printing)... Part 2

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Following on from a previous post "To baldly go" Tim Rylands who visited D&T a couple of weeks ago has blogged about 3D Printing in the Design & Technology department here at Clevedon School. It makes a really interesting read, so check it out here http://www.timrylands.com/2012/06/07/3d-printing-at-clevedon-school/

Thanks Tim for the brilliant and very complimentary blog post!

Filed under  //  D&T   Product Design   media   news   teachingandlearning  
May 30 / 8:28pm

What's the catch? 3D scan for 3D print.

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There is no catch.... Just feeble attempt at a "catchy" title for this post about Autodesk 123D Catch for pc and iPad.

 

Earlier in the week the 123D Catch app for the Ipad became available from the Apple app store in the UK... So I promptly downloaded and installed it. It was a parent/teacher meeting last night so I had to wait... Grrrr.

But tonight I had my first attempt... A pretty successfully too as you can see in the photos. And even more impressive is that it really is the very first attempt!

 

I did have a go at uploading pictures using the PC program but somehow never really got to grips with it. But the iPad app is a real dream, ok the app takes the photos and uploads them and then shows you a wonderful 3D representation of your object but you still need the PC version to download the mesh file in .obj format.

 

Anyway having downloaded the mesh you do meed to do a bit of editing. The mesh is not "watertight" and has a huge hole in the base. You will need a program to do this, I used netfabb basic but meshlab is another alternative. I found that slicing off the bottom (which looks very like a pizza on my scan) saved a lot of manipulation and triangle editing.

 

Once the mesh was ready (I only downloaded the medium quality by the way) I converted the file into gcode for my 3D Touch and printed a scaled down version as I was too impatient to wait for a big print.

 

Oh, and what is the object I scanned? It's an antique plaster model of a hand borrowed from our Art Department... Thanks guys! Im not entirely certain but I think the hand is holding a borax cone. These cones used to be used by jewellers and the like, they ground the cone in a wet ceramic bowl to make a paste to use as flux for silver soldering. I used to do a bit of silversmithing so I just love this connection!

 

So, my next thoughts are... What do I scan next? How can I use this in school? And.....

 

Filed under  //  3dscanning   dt   education   printing   software  
May 30 / 8:23pm

To baldly go... (3D Printing)

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If you take a look at the pictures in this post you will see what I mean... And I'm not being rude to Tim, I unashamedly "borrowed" some of the title for this post from him... And as you will will also see we are an almost matching pair!

Anyway, to get to the point... On Tuesday (29th May 2012) we were visited in school by Tim Rylands who was on a fact finding mission about 3D printing in schools for his keynote speech at the West of England ICT conference at UWE (University of the West of England) on 4th of July 2012. And where better to go than the D&T department at Clevedon School.

During Tim's visit we were able to get a small group of year 9 (13 years old) students to lead him through the whole process from 3D CAD design through creating the g-code that drives our Bits from Bytes machines to actually printing their products. For a group of students who have only had about 10 hours of experience of Creo Parametric and a couple of hours on 3D printing they were absolutely fantastic. They gave a very clear and concise explanation and some very perceptive insights into the use of this technology in education.... Couldn't have done better myself!

We also managed to squeeze in a bit of time explaining how we are looking at using iPads to create 3D virtual objects for 3D printing and also for laser cutting... There are some wonderful new apps available now, that do 3D scanning so "watch this space", we could be one of the first schools doing this!

And finally...

So, who is Tim? ...With over 25 years of classroom experience, in the UK, and beyond, Tim is now much in demand for training days, conferences and seminars around the world, presenting the results of his work in an inspiring, practical and often humorous way.

“Tim Rylands is an extremely gifted and inspirational teacher, with a love of the creative potential of technology and an excellent rapport with pupils”.

www.timrylands.com/

 

 

Filed under  //  dt   education   printing   student   teachingandlearning  
May 19 / 12:04pm

Unplugged... iPad stand

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Over the last week I have been introducing students to some iPad apps for 3D printing and laser cutting. To do this effectively I have been using our digital projector and a VGA to Apple dock connector cable (unfortunately I don't have access to apple tv) ... But it became more and more frustrating when the iPad moved on the table and the dock connector kept falling out... Note to self, I must get a longer VGA cable! But in the meantime I need another solution. So that's why I've 3D printed a stand for my iPad. Maybe that will give me a more stable platform to work from and help prevent the cable from being pulled out... I'll give it a try next week!

Being in a bit of a rush to get things done I didn't have time to design the stand myself so after a browse on Thingiverse I found this one ... So thanks to "Hobie" whose design can be found at http://www.thingiverse.com/thing23225

 

Filed under  //  dt   hardware   printing  
May 1 / 12:44pm

#3Dprinting video at Clevedon School

A few weeks ago a film crew from UWE (University of the West of England) came into school to make a "Breakfast TV" style program about 3D printing... Of course, where better to go than Clevedon School to interview Mr White and one of the GCSE Product Design students.

The program not only shows 3D Printing at Clevedon School but also some of the research taking place at UWE.... Can you believe that they are actually printing 3D objects with ice cream!

Anyway, here is the video clip... Watch out for Tyler and Mr White about half way through the video.... Enjoy!

And thanks to the guys at UWE for letting me use this clip.

Filed under  //  dt   education   printing   teachingandlearning   video