Autodesk keeps going away from its old tradition of expensive desktop software with this free app aimed at kids that not only takes full advantage of a touch interface, but also adds the capability of 3D printing. 

At first [...]]]> Cost: Free
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Age Levels: 6 and up
iPad App Link 

Autodesk keeps going away from its old tradition of expensive desktop software with this free app aimed at kids that not only takes full advantage of a touch interface, but also adds the capability of 3D printing. 

At first I was frustrated by the interface, but I eventually attributed my frustration to being far older than the intedended user who will likely have no problem navigating the 3D space. A little patience paid off and I was drawn in, imagining the possibilities for younger users as they put their imagination and ingenuity to work. Building from scratch or beginning with pre made designs, users can build their own robots from three dimensional stock parts that are modular in nature. Add color, texture, and backgrounds to customize your design. Then, here’s the clincher – you can output your design to a URL and download the set of parts to 3D print them, bringing your design to life in the physical world. The app will even tell you the estimated print time based on your, parts, settings, and popular 3D printers. 

I ended up fiddling around with it some more, output a series of images, then pieced them together in the Stop Motion Studio app to make this little stop motion vid. 

The Crazy Gears app for iPad and iPhone is just outstanding in its simplicity and its ability to introduce young children to simple machines and mechanical motion. Simple elements in gears, chains, connecting rods, racks, and pulleys can be pushed around [...]]]> Cost: $0.99
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Age Levels: 6-8
App Link 
   

The Crazy Gears app for iPad and iPhone is just outstanding in its simplicity and its ability to introduce young children to simple machines and mechanical motion. Simple elements in gears, chains, connecting rods, racks, and pulleys can be pushed around the screen in such a way to meet the challenge to “pull the shade” to reveal the next puzzle. You can almost feel the torque on screen as kids learn that gears need to fit together, or mesh, just right to get the most out of them. Later puzzles help the player understand that there may be multiple ways of doing the same job. Even the youngest player can use their ingenuity to realize that a train of gears can be used to bridge a gap or to get the gear at the end of the line to turn in the direction needed. 

This is great fun for all ages and even those younger than the target age range of 6-8. Don’t miss the handbook in the grown-ups corner for some good materials for teachers and parents that explain some of the concepts and vocabulary. Leaving off one star because we want more puzzles! 

I generally see promise in any app related to technology and engineering, and I saw it here too in a concept to bring a structural design app to the iPad. But, this one misses the mark.

This app seems to [...]]]> Cost: $1.99
Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
Grade Levels: 7-12
iPad App Link

I generally see promise in any app related to technology and engineering, and I saw it here too in a concept to bring a structural design app to the iPad. But, this one misses the mark.

This app seems to try to make a truss structure game too much like Angry Birds in how it scores at the expense of basic understanding of how some of the elements work. I realize there are general explanations in the Help section, but the help should be more prominent and there once you are in the interface. It also lacks certain seemingly obvious user interface elements such as an “undo” button and a tap to take you to the next challenge once you’ve completed the current one. Finally, especially for a younger inexperienced audience, it would be helpful for each challenge level to actually state what exactly the challenge is. It took me, an experienced iPad user, and someone that has used software like this to some amateur extent, way too long to figure out how to manipulate things in the build area. For now, stick to the desktop/laptop and web versions of this type of software.

Perhaps, the developer will take some feedback and incorporate it quickly into a better release.

The 123D Catch app developed by Autodesk demonstrates exciting new possibilities for tablets and smart phones. Use your camera to take 20-30 photos of an object from various angles and 360 degrees around and the app generates a 3D model of [...]]]> Cost: Free
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Grade Levels: 7-12
iPad App Link

The 123D Catch app developed by Autodesk demonstrates exciting new possibilities for tablets and smart phones. Use your camera to take 20-30 photos of an object from various angles and 360 degrees around and the app generates a 3D model of the object. Models can be exported and emailed as .3dp format. Although the app has a simple interface it takes some practice to take effective photos for models, so it may try the patience of younger children.

This would be greater fun with access to a 3D printer to actually print your models, but even without that it can help to provide an outstanding orientation to the exciting new world of 3D imaging and modeling. Just a few years ago software with this type of functionality cost upwards of thousands of dollars and required high end hardware. Now you can have it in your pocket and free!

The CAD Models app provides access to thousands of drawn and rendered parts from more than 300 catalogs of leading global manufacturers. The downloadable 3D CAD models are compliant with the most important international standards and are available for all current [...]]]> Cost: Free
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Grade Levels: 7-12
iPad App Link

The CAD Models app provides access to thousands of drawn and rendered parts from more than 300 catalogs of leading global manufacturers. The downloadable 3D CAD models are compliant with the most important international standards and are available for all current CAD systems, such as: CATIA®, Autodesk® Inventor®, SolidWorks®, Creo/trade; Parametric, NX™, AutoCAD®, Solid Edge®, etc. The preview within the app provides users to rotate 3D parts and zoom.

I see at least a couple of possible classroom applications. First, these files could be used as resources when introducing basic drawing techniques such as isometric and orthographic. A teacher could select a few interesting or challenging parts for students to view and try to draw using the techniques they are learning. Second, these standard parts could become a valuable library or resources for higher level design projects. Students could use a combination of this library of parts in conjunction with their CAD system to model more advanced systems.

The Wind Tunnel app allows you to draw freeform shapes on screen and observe a simulation of how particles and smoke would move over and around the shape in a wind tunnel. This could [...]]]> Cost: $1.99, Free Lite and HD Pro versions available
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Grade Levels: 4-12
iPad App Link

The Wind Tunnel app allows you to draw freeform shapes on screen and observe a simulation of how particles and smoke would move over and around the shape in a wind tunnel. This could be a great enhancement for lessons and activities that deal with flight as well as other transportation types of activities. Have students draw and test their designs and shapes in the Wind Tunnel app first before they build and test physical models. The free version will only give you a basic sense of what the app can do and how it works; it will not allow for the drawing of your own shapes.