One of the ingenious aspects of 3D printing is its ability to manufacture tools and parts in remote areas, such as on ships at sea or on naval vessels. It costs thousands of dollars to send one pound of anything into space, but astronauts need spare tools and parts. Instead of carrying all those extra tools and parts (many of which are never used), you only need a 3D printer with part diagrams to manufacture them as needed, saving weight and space. More importantly, custom parts can be designed on Earth and then 3D printed in space. Commander Barry Wilmore printed the first tool in space, a socket wrench provided by NASA. This wrench actually has a built-in ratchet mechanism, ready to use as soon as it's taken out of the 3D printer.
Teacher Rob, inspired by NASA printing a space wrench, designed a challenge for his fifth-grade students to create their own tools:
I designed a challenge for my fifth-grade students and asked them to design a functional tool. I used a few pieces of wood and drilled holes, then screwed various sizes of screws into them; each student was given a screw and had to design a custom wrench to remove it from the wood.
We used calipers to measure the distance of the screw heads, and students used Tinkercad software to model polygons and hollow them out. If using Tinkercad, make sure to set the snap grid to 0.1 mm, hold down Shift when zooming in or out to scale the entire shape up or down, and you can change the side dimensions of the polygon to make it smooth.
Students came up with various designs for their wrenches; sometimes the caliber was too tight or loose, sometimes the handle was too short and lacked leverage, and sometimes other erroneous variables occurred. When a wrench didn't work, students would redesign and re-prototype it.
At the end of the lesson, we reflect on various aspects of the technology itself, the design and rapid prototyping process, and the more reflective thinking methods we engage in; these processes will inspire students about mechanical principles and structural applications.
We can see these students finding joy in learning through 3D printers, and having more freedom in their thinking space and production methods. This is why many schools are considering 3D printers and related curriculum as part of their future plans. The way of thinking with 3D printing is completely different from the previous limitations of materials and production. If you already have a great idea, you can also contact us for our professional printing services.
We will continue to share any news related to 3D printing technology. First-hand information will be updated on our Facebook page, and we welcome everyone to follow this thriving technology.
Original link: https://ultimaker.com/en/blog/52573-wrench-engineering?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=facebook_page&utm_medium=Ultimaker&utm_content=Wrench%20Engineering%20|%20Ultimaker