At the beginning of class I downloaded qlone but quickly realized it wasn’t the best app to use when taking my 3D scan. I was told by other classmates that scandy pro was the better option and we began to mess around with it. We started taking each others scans and I began to realize it was more challenging than it looked. I realized I needed to take it slow and my second scan turned out great. When a classmate took my scan it turned out pretty good but there was constantly a slight deformity in the face but it didn’t show up in the 3D print.
After I had a solid scan I exported it as a .obj and airdropped it to my mac. I moved to .obj into tinkercad and made a few adjustments. After that I exported it as an .stl and then I was ready to print!
In order to create this final model we had to start with creating a 3D scan of ourselves in the classroom. We used the iPad that was provided and scanned each other one by one. It took a lot of trial and error to get a good scan because the subject had to stay completely still the entire time. The person creating the scan had to make sure that they were scanning the person from all possible angles, which again added an element of difficulty to this project.
Once we got our final scan done, we exported it to our phones as a .obj file using Airdrop. I Airdropped the file to my iCloud drive so that I would have it right on my computer. Once I got home from class I imported the .obj file to Tinkercad to look at my scan. At first there was an extra piece that showed up next to my arm, but I used the “hole” tool to cover that up so that the print wouldn’t have a piece hanging off of it.
After fixing any issues in Tinkercad, I exported the file as a .stl and sent it to my Gmail. When I went into the lab I downloaded the file, put it in Cura and printed the file with a layer height of .05, an infill of 20%, and a plate adhesion as raft. I then downloaded it to the SD card from the Lulzbot, inserted that into the Lulzbot, and printed my final print. I was really happy with the way the print turned out, the only problem was the support plate. This didn’t show up in Tinkercad or Cura so I’m not really sure why it printed the way it did.
The first part of this project required me to have a classmate take a 360-degree scan of my bust. A LiDAR camera on an iPad paired with the Monocle Structure Scanner application was used to complete this step. Although the scanning process required a few trials runs, professor Hooker’s comprehensive explanation and demonstration on how to use the software allowed us to complete this step without any major problems.
The Monocle Structure Scanner was able to created a 3D model by compiling multiple photos, which it transformed into an .OBJ file. Below is a picture of what the scanning software’s interface looked like. In the upper left hand corner are the dimensions of the scan. I then proceeded to airdrop the file onto my laptop from the iPad and then transformed it to an .STL file in Tinkercad, in order to make any necessary edits. Thankfully I did not need to make any major transformations to the file. I merely scaled down the bust and used the hole shape to remove extraneous pieces.
All in all, it was not a very complicated process. I was able to gain a much better understanding of how 3D scanned objects can be translated into 3D printing software. After I finished making the necessary edits to my .STL file in Tinkercad, I printed my model with little to no problems!
I created my 3D scan while in class, and while it was challenging at first I think it turned out great. We worked in groups and use the iPad with an attached LiDAR camera to scan. At first, our app / camera wasn’t calibrated. This made our first few scans a little off center, but Professor Hooker stepped in and helped us fix the issue. Afterwards scanning was easy, and the only “hole” in my scan was on the back of my hoodie.
I don’t have any screenshots of the scan off of the app since I used someone else’s iPad and transferred my files immediately to my computer. I airdropped the .OBJ file form the iPad to my computer and then brought it into Tinkercad where I resized it, used the “hole” feature to eliminate random pieces, and then exported it as an .STL to print.
This is an everyday kitchen sink stopper or plug. It is inserted in the drain to prevent water from going down and to help fill the sink. It is an object that I interact with on a daily basis, and I think it could use a little pizzazz.
My design features a hand as the plug’s topper. Since the plug is used to stop up the drain and fill the sink with water, I thought it would be humorous to add a hand at the top that looks as though it is drowning and reaching for help above the water. The design functions similarly to the original, expect when pulling the plug, you are reaching for the “hand” to help pull it out.
Iterations
I used Scandy to take a 3D scan of my friend’s hand for this project. There were some difficulties getting a full scan, but after multiple attempts I got one that worked for me. I put the scan in Tinkercad and added a base to the “plug”. I made sure to take measurements of my current sink plug so that it would fit properly and still serve it’s function. I didn’t find many problems with this print other than the size. However, when I got my hands on this print, another idea came into mind:
A key chain holder.
In my second iteration I flatted the base and added two hole at the top and bottom for screws. I also increased the size of the hand so that it could support the weight of a keychain. Below is my updated Tinkercad file and my final attempt at the print.
Increasing the size of the print (mainly the scan of the hand) allowed for better detail quality and overall finish. I liked the idea of the sink plug, but after hold it in my hands, this idea made more sense to me. The hand reaches out of the wall and acts as the hooks or bowl to support the keychains. Overall I’m very satisfied with my final project and am glad I took it in a different direction.
Conclusion
My second trial ended up being my final print. Considering the finish, I think I couldn’t have asked for a better turnout. There are some rough edges that can be filed down, and one slight crack in the hand. Above you can see what it would look like in use (I did not want to actually screw it into my wall because I live in an apartment complex). The only change I would make would be in the hand size, perhaps make it scale to a life-sized hand. However, I personally enjoy it more at it’s current size and shape.
The process of getting this 3D scan took a lot of trial and error and it was actually quite challenging to get the hang of the 3D scanner. At first, I downloaded the Scandy app to my phone, but quickly realized it was not my best option present. As a class, we all decided that the iPad Monocle Structure Scanner was much more efficient in getting a good enough scan to print. While scanning, the object (my classmate or myself) had to stay still as we moved the scanner around it to get all our angles. I was able to get a lot of decent scans of my classmate, but thought the one done of me was best and should be the one to get printed. For some reason the scanner was having trouble fully scanning the back of my classmates head, so it would always leave a big opening. Even the scan of me had some openings on my head, but I was able to fill them in on Tinkercad.
After I got the scan of myself that I wanted, I saved it and sent the files to my Mac laptop via airdrop. The files were obj. so in order to convert to stl. and to fix the openings on my head, I had to import it into Tinkercad. I used my Tinkercad knowledge and skills to do such adjustments. I even added a little ring to the top of my head to make it into a fun keychain of myself. Once I made the adjustments to my 3D scan, I was finally able to print it!
Most toothbrush holders are very basic looking. They’re either a big cup or a rectangle with a couple holes to separate toothbrushes. They could use more personality that could make it more playful such as incorporating the toothbrush into the design. Even turning the design of the holder into something like a cactus would make it more delightful to look at.
This leads directly into my concept; I wanted to design a toothbrush holder that would have different arms holding the toothbrushes. The inspiration for my design was a cactus I saw online, which inspired me to make two big and tall arms that would be just the right size for a toothbrush to stand up straight. Not only does this look whimsical, but it prevents the heads of toothbrushes from touching each other, making it functional as well. The center cup could either hold a tube of toothpaste or other things like eyebrow razors or normal razors. I also added a funny face to give it more personality.
Iterations
Below is the model I constructed on Tinkercad.
I used shapes for the nose and eyebrows. Holes were used for the arms, cup, mouth, and eyes.
I tried to get my model as close to the concept sketch as I could. I was having a hard time with measurements and I miscalculated the scale of the object by a pretty decent margin. I tried to make a second print of the same model that was significantly larger and sturdier but something went wrong and the entire print was unrecognizable. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get another one done in time.
I think I’m on the right track with this design. Like I stated before, I need to up the scale a good bit so that I can fit toothbrushes in their designated spots. I also need to make the arms connecting the toothbrush holders to the cup thicker and maybe even cylindrical because it doesn’t look so much like a cactus. It doesn’t help that it’s yellow. Otherwise, it’s still accomplishing the goal that a toothbrush holder is supposed to accomplish. I’m able to put the things I use regularly in it but it would be nice if I could put my toothpaste in the center with my toothbrush and maybe my razor in the arms.
Final Print and Reflection
My biggest problem prior to this print was my lack of direction. My previous attempt looked like a robot but was inspired by a cactus and it wasnt pretty. The last one was also tiny. I overcompensated in Tinkercad to the point where I had to scale the whole model down in Cura just to print it.
Thanks to feedback, I decided to make its teeth look more prominent and have the body and arms be squared off. It was a pretty decent struggle for me to make a toothbrush holder that looked like a robot. I didn’t want it to be too boring but I didn’t want it to be too detailed because the point is for it to be whimsical. I increased the size of it by a lot. Instead of the center hole being only for the toothpaste, I made it so that it would fit multiple things. If I didn’t live in a house with four other people, I would probably use this to hold my stuff; it’s pretty convenient.
While trying to think of an object to make more playful while still adding to its functionality, I had a bit of a hard time thinking of something until I started thinking about basic, boring items that one may have around their house. Then the idea struck me to do coasters! Typically coasters tend to be pretty boring and simple, like the coasters pictured above from Wayfair. In order to spice up the design a little bit, I decided to turn the coasters into a different shape and make them fit together seamlessly so they look cool when not in use too.
Pictured above are two of the sketches I came up with for redesigning coasters. When trying to figure out how to make it more whimsical I came up with two different base designs of a sphere and puzzle.
The sphere will turn the coasters on their side like slides and fit together to make a perfect ball with little to no gaps. This will add a slight playful aspect to the design while keeping its functionality. As for the look of the sphere as a whole, I am still debating between turning it into a globe or leaving it as a plain sphere.
As for the puzzle design, the coasters will come together to create an image or phrase that guests can smirk at when reaching for a coaster or play with to finish the puzzle. This will add that slight playfulness act that maintains the functionality of the object.
Iterations:
After reviewing the original drawings of my designs, I decided that I would make the puzzle my final self-expression print. While examining the design and the dimensions of a typical coaster, I soon realized that if I were to make every coaster a piece of a puzzle, as I had originally planned, it would be too big to be a functional puzzle. Instead, I decided to make each individual coaster a puzzle of its own. Not only did this help add more of a playful touch to the object, but it made it an overall better product.
To make the design come to life, I ended up using a mixture of the apps Shapr3D and TinkerCad. I found both of these apps useful in their own ways. Shapr3D was helpful initially in designing the base of the puzzle, but TinkerCad proved useful later on as I began making additional iterations.
After attempting to print my design the first time and witnessing the disaster pictured above, I quickly learned that I needed to print the design without a raft and change the dimensions. I changed the coaster from six by six inches to four by four inches and I increased the height from one millimeter to two and a half millimeters. This made the puzzle print smoother and sturdier. I also made the decision to switch from the Ultimaker Cura Lulzbot mini to an Ultimaker Cura 3, which seemed to make the printing process flow a lot better as well. While tweaking my design I also decided to add JMU| SMAD to the coaster to make it more like a real puzzle with a design on it.
Pictured above is my final print for right now, while there are still a few adjustments I would like to make the model still came out well. A few things I would change would be making the design of JMU|SMAD more prominent and deeper into the coaster since the JMU section didn’t print and the SMAD portion isn’t that noticeable. I would also make the puzzle pieces more compact by changing the arms of the puzzle pieces to be more of a tear-drop shape instead of a circular shape.
Overall, I would say that this was a project that really challenged me. It taught me a lot about incorporating playfulness into everyday objects and puzzle making, as well as that not everything that seems simple to design will be simple to produce.
Final Print:
After reflecting on feedback from my peers I decided to go with my original idea of making the puzzle pieces into individual coasters, instead of making the coasters into puzzle pieces. To make this switch I ended up having to change the dimensions of each puzzle piece to 19.05 mm tall, 122.6 mm long, and 127 mm wide and then print each piece separately. While this was more time-consuming it ended up creating a more functional and playful final print.
Upon changing the dimensions of the model I ended up making other adjustments that some peers had suggested from my original model to make the final print better. Some of those adjustments included changing the holes and knobs of the puzzle pieces so that they would fit together better and making the letters more prominent in the print by embedding them deeper into the model.
Overall, this final print doesn’t have any problems or other adjustments to be made. All of the pieces fit together pretty well and work as both a functioning puzzle and coasters which is why it is my final print.
When thinking of objects that I could incorporate playfulness into I wanted to find an object that was something I could use often and that was part of my everyday life. While looking around my room I found an old incense burner that I had broke. After finding the burner I realized how it was very simple and plain it was so I decided that it would be a good object to inject a little playfulness into. I found more examples of incense burners and came to the realization that most incense burners are either very simple or solely acts as a decoration. Very rarely do the form/function of the object match its playfulness. The burner as a whole is designed as a tray that holds a burning incense while also catching the ash the comes off the incense stick as it continuously burns. There is usually a small hole or indent in the object for an incense stick to be placed in so that it can stand on its own and a tray that accompanies it to catch the ash that falls out. When I saw the form and shape of the incense burner I knew that this was the specific type of burner that I wanted to incorporate a whimsical aspect to.
After looking at the object for a while I realized that the incense stick reminded me of a long tongue that a snake or lizard usually has. The smoke at the end then reminded me of how dragons usually have smoke coming from their mouths. Because of that I plan on making this object whimsical by making it either into the shape of a snake or a dragon with the incense stick coming from its mouth to represent the tongue of the animal. I plan on making the tray that catches the ash into the body to imitate the shape of a snake/dragon with the tail twirling up at the end as well. Below you can find a sketch of the object.
Iterations
Unfortunately, my 3D print is still not finished and has a couple more hours to go before it is complete, but this is what has printed out so far. From what is currently printed, I am pretty happy with the outcome of the incense holder. The object looks very sturdy and the progress of the incense holder is shaping out nicely.
The process of figuring out the correct changes I needed to make for my self expression was slightly difficult. I had trouble honing in on a specific way to incorporate a whimsical and playful aspect to my self expression. I was stuck between a snake-like incense iteration and a dragon type of incense variation. I eventually figured that the function and whimsical aspect made more sense with the elements of a dragon. After finally committing to the idea of a dragon incense I had to figure out what was the most effective way of shaping the dragon so that the function of the incense stick was placed in a way that made the most sense. After receiving back some feedback I played with certain ways to shape the dragon. At first I wanted to make it so that the dragon incense holder was on its back but it was not sturdy enough on its back.
I then wanted to make it circular so that the head and tail touched but I had trouble creating a design that was circular but also effective enough to hold an incense stick in its mouth so that the stick wasn’t poking out awkwardly. After looking at more dragon incense designs on google, I then saw a reoccurring theme of placing the dragon on a mountain or on some rocks. That then gave me an idea of placing the dragon upright while resting on a valley of mountains. I thought that the mountains would be a perfect way to incorporate a tray that most incense burners have to catch the ash from the burning stick. This is how I came up with the final design below.
Below are my model iterations.
The dragon incense on its back with a lower head that is close to its body.
The dragon incense upright with a head that is raised higher.
Overall, I had trouble with coming up with the correct dimensions for certain elements of the incense holder so that it was shaped correctly and under anticipated the amount of time it would take to 3D print. After facing these challenges I now have a better understanding of how to correctly format my object and will better anticipate printing out the holder in a more timely manner.
This is how the print came out altogether. The print took over 24 hours in total but still wasn’t where I wanted it to be as it was too small and very splotchy when it came to the dragon print.
After seeing the outcome of the dragon incense I decided that it would be more effective to do two separate prints that combine into one whole object. I decided on doing one dragon print and one incense base print.
Final Print & Reflection
The is the final print of my dragon incense holder. The incorporation of a dragon shaped incense holder with a mountain-like tray adds a sense of whimsicalness to a normal incense holder. The stick coming out of the dragon replicates smoke and fire coming out of a dragons mouth.
For the final print I decided that it would be more effectual for the entire piece to be two separate objects. This would lessen the print time and also allow for each print to have the ability to be much larger. The incense holder as a whole came together really nicely. It’s functional and has a nice aspect of playfulness within the design. The shape of the dragon is thick enough that it makes the object sturdy and the mouth is wide enough for an incense stick to fit through but small enough for the stick to not fall out. I made the tray have a small square hole within it so that the separate dragon print would be able to fit into the tray and stand on its own. The one aspect that didn’t come out the way I would have 100% liked is the tray of mountains. In my first test print, the layers of the small mountains came out nicely and there were no holes but the next couple of times I printed the tray there were weird holes that showed up in the middle of the print. So if i were to do another round of prints of the tray I would make the mountain points slightly thicker and keep the layer height at 0.15 so that less mistakes would occur.
Overall, I really like the results of the incense holder. I really enjoyed the dragon concept and liked creating the shape of the dragon on illustrator. I think the blending of the two objects could be more seamless but as a whole I still really enjoy my incense holder and can’t wait to use it.
When I first started brainstorming ideas for playful objects, I initially had some trouble thinking of an object where the playfulness didn’t impede on the function. At one point I was thinking about how, since my Airpods are broken, I have been having to use wired headphones and have been frustrated with the wires getting tangled. I wanted to design an earbud cable wrapper in the shape of a person. However, I could not figure out how to make the human shape work well with the function of the object. After thinking further about what I could do with the general shape of a person, I had the idea of a desktop phone stand. There are many times where I am working on my laptop and like to have my phone nearby for easy access, so this object will definitely come in handy.
To add some playfulness to this object, I thought that the best approach would be to add people that are holding up the phone. As I develop this idea further, I will want to make sure that the measurements are broad enough to fit my phone with and without a case, and I will have to play around with the positioning and amount of people needed to create a stable support. I am also considering raising the stand up and adding a hole to allow me to charge my phone and use headphones while it is in the stand.
Iterations
For the modeling process, I began by taking measurements of my phone to make sure the holder would fit it exactly. I went into Tinkercad and placed shapes to create the holder itself, making sure they corresponded with the measurements that I took before. I then rotated it back slightly, and arranged several more shapes to create the people that hold it up. I made sure to have the people connecting to the holder in multiple places, and I positioned them with the hope that they would be sturdy enough to hold my phone. At one point I was considering adding another person that would interact with the phone from the front or side, but I ultimately decided against it because I wanted to be certain that the phone would still be fully usable while on the stand.
After finishing the model, I began my printing process. Because the model needed to be tested at scale and is fairly large, I printed it using the “fast” preset, with 20% infill. However, about an hour into printing, the model started coming off of the plate, which was interfering with how the filament was being placed. I realized that this was happening because I used the “skirt” adhesion, so there was nothing holding the print down and keeping it stable. I cancelled the print and tried again.
For my second attempt I used the same settings, but this time I used the “raft” adhesion to be sure it would remain 100% stable while printing. Once it finished, I really had to work to get off all of the supports, but I was very pleased with how it turned out. The print is perfectly sized for my phone, and the people seem pretty sturdy and have held up well so far.
Final
For the final iteration of my Stickman Phone Stand, I decided to make a few aesthetic changes. The main change that I made was making the people a bit smaller, in order to make it look like the phone was heavier for them and they were struggling more to keep it up. I also rounded the edges of the stand, since the corners were very sharp in the previous iterations. Finally, I added 2 small supports underneath the bottom of the stand itself to make it more stable when holding the phone.
Overall, I am very happy with how the stand turned out. The entire process of sketching, designing, and refining went well, and I always had clear ideas of what to do next throughout the process. I think that the addition of the smoothed edges do a lot to make the product look more refined, and the smaller size of the stickmen do a great job of making the phone look heavier, while still providing enough support and keeping it stable.
