App Review: Tinkerplay

janoszd — Sun, 05 Apr 2015 18:04:30 +0000

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.

3D Printer An Instant Resource for Ingenious Ideas

janoszd — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 14:30:15 +0000

When a MakerBot 3D printer arrived in the Technology Education department in Northern Valley Regional High School in January, senior Matt had an instant resource for a project he is working on in his Theory of Production class. Matt is working on a prototype for a device intended to help young children learn to write their letters more carefully and neatly. In December he had sent some designs he created in Google Sketchup, a 3D CAD program, to Belgium to be 3D printed at a relatively low cost. But, when they arrived back in New Jersey the parts were incorrect. Now he can revise those designs and print them up in his own classroom in just an hour or two.

Another senior Jake was instantly intrigued by the new printer. Over a recent school break he had taken a trip to see a factory store where 3D printers are made and the resource also caught his eye when he visited the Mechnaical Engineering department at the University of Michigan. Within only a few days Jake was printing his ingenious idea: a plastic mold for a truffle lollipop for his foods class. Now he and others can draw their ideas in a 3D CAD program like Sketchup and have a physical piece printed up within a matter of minutes or hours.

The new 3D printers are now a valuable resource for all classes in the Technology Education department and are certain to help students connect with some cross-disciplinary project ideas. The printer takes a spool of ABS plastic filament and heats and extrudes it to a platform. The extruder is similar to the print head of an inkjet printer, but the platform slowly raises as the object is being built in order to allow for the thickness of the object to be built up little by little. Although it may take a part the size of a few cubic inches an hour or a few to be printed, it is still an excellent opportunity to be able to rapidly prototype a part for a design project to a printer of a relatively low cost.

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App Review: Tinkerplay

3D Printer An Instant Resource for Ingenious Ideas