I uploaded a new OpenSCAD video about Turtle Graphics in OpenSCAD. I used a simplified version of Justin Lin’s Turtle Graphics (openhome.cc) in an effort to create patterns that are flexible when printed with regular 3D printed PLA (similar to laser kerf bent wood).
https://youtu.be/maxFoU27DpI
You’ve inspired me to give this a try! Very cool.
Brook
@Brook_Drumm I’m glad that it was inspiring. I hope that people can come up with new applications for this.
BTW: Talking about inspiration, I love your AdoptABot initiative. It’s much better than the questionable 3D printer projects that I currently see in schools.
Sweet. I did a big update on the adoptabot program today on Printrbot Live… goal: 100% recycled material and the different volunteer groups have their first marching orders! Leaders are being chosen by the various groups and I’ll be shipping parts out soon. Also, the printer model should be done tomorrow for people to put through its paces.
Cheers
Brook
Thanks Brook for the update. What is not clear to me , is AdoptABot a US only initiative or can it be done in Europe too.
Adoptabot is organizing USA first… but I’m open to any country.
We would need to organize local support. I imagine a community leader in any country could help get an adoptabot program off the ground.
This is a shared vision. A community effort to lower the barriers of entry for getting 3d printers into schools. The main barrier is the lack of community members sharing their expertise in schools.
If there is a community of people in your country willing to do this, I will most definitely help make it happen.
The beauty of adoptabot is that removing concerns of profit margins and such is empowering.
I am hoping to engage anyone w a printer who wants to print for a good cause. That’s where it starts… using a passion to make a real difference in the world.
Thoughts?
@Brook_Drumm Sounds good and I would really like to help. I’m not sure if I’m the community leader (I’m more the hands-on tech guy) however I do know people in the local community (Netherlands) that might be willing to participate. These are people from local Fablabs and an importer of 3D printers (another brand). Let me try to convince them to join this initiative and then get back to you.
Great! This is brand-agnostic. Ideally, we can set up a group to receive parts, build, deliver in person and support. The most important part is the in-person support. It goes a long way to cutting through the fear and mystery of 3d printing. If they get hooked, they may seek out new printers from any manufacturer… that’s my hope.
The reprap model I’m designing is small, easy to build and cheap. I think it will be a good start.
@Brook_Drumm We already had some interesting discussions here about Adopt-A-Bot so I want to share some preliminary thoughts. It is clear that the in-person support and the reprap model are strong points but what is lacking is an educational program. Without this the printer will soon gathering dust.
Second thought. Keep it simple. We are aware of initiatives that became top heavy and thus hard or impossible to manage. Also the initial goals tend to get out of focus.
Personally I like the Raspberry Pi educational model. The Raspberry Pi org provides online the blueprint for education including hardware, software, support and educational programs. The rest is bottom-up.
Good feedback! Yes, lesson plans and a course to follow is very important. I have seen so many different approaches out there. We have a small team on adoptabot that will gather what is freely available before writing our own.
One challenge is that different teachers have different styles, approaches, needs and requirements.
The other obvious issue that I don’t hear many discussing: in what subject or class should 3d printing be used?
Personally I think math is a natural. Also art. I took drafting in high school- that’s a perfect match. I also had electronics and machine shop… there is application there. I went to a tech school though, so what about a typical school? The best fit is design I think. It’s a bit scatter-shot when trying to find an approach.
Anyway, what teachers are looking to add 3d printers and what subject would they use it to teach?
These days, I would think almost any teacher could use a 3d printer from time to time as an aid to engage students, but not everyday.
Targeting the low hanging fruit is a first step: build a repository of already available lesson plans and organize by topic, difficulty, etc. I think a simple standardized format would be best.
Makerbot and other businesses in this field may see their lessons as property. A way to make money. If true, we need another option.
Brook
@Brook_Drumm I totally agree, the 3D printer eventually must become a tool in the class room that supports multiple classes much like computers nowadays. The worst idea is to have a new 3D printer class where studies simply print stuff from Thingiverse. This is much like computer class where students learned how to use MS Office (BTW: this still happens).
I very much like the idea of the repository. IMHO there is plenty of good open source material out there but it’s scattered over YouTube, Thingiverse, Instructables and various other websites. To get it into a standardized form that’s acceptable for schools is a major undertaking. But when it’s done right it would be a major breakthrough. Perhaps the reprap approach with the reprapwiki is a good principle to work on. It’s a community approach that probably translates very well to educational material.
Agree completely. So how do we establish a standard format? W that, we can get to work;)
@Brook_Drumm That’s a big one because the open source material is not only plenty but also without much structure. I do have some ideas about how to categorize (or tag) the material namely by discipline (math, art, physics), level of education (primary, high shool, college), difficulty level (easy, intermediate, difficult). The discipline can be sub-categorized further (e.g. for math: trigonometry, topology etc). Next every entry needs at least an eductional goal and short description of what the entry is about. I know it’s just a very rough sketch and nothing fancy but it’s a start.
This is very good. A public website w tools to submit and categorize is essential. I would have an editor sign off on what is submitted - maybe a final pass for clean up
@Brook_Drumm I’m glad I could be of some help. BTW: your latest live stream was not only very informative, it was fun to watch. It seems that you guys only get better when you have to improvise. Keep it up.
Thanks! I’ll chat w the resource/documentation team about their thoughts on standardizing and categorizing lessons.
@Brook_Drumm Another idea would be to have training for teachers to learn how to use the printer for his/her classes. In the end it comes down to inspired teachers willing or even better eager to use the 3D printer for math/art/physics etc. This is, I think, achieved by enabling teachers to get hands on experience with the 3D printer in a supervised way.
Overall for the 3D printer to be succesfull in school four parts are needed: a (good and simple) 3D printer, maintenance of the printer, educational material and trained teachers.
BTW: I like your idea to curate all the submitted material. A problem where Thingverse suffers from is that the education section is a bit of a mess due to the lack of editing.