Jake and I created this promotional page for our toy, to quickly and effectively show off its most notable features.
project description
During the COVID-19 Pandemic, I wanted to stay active as a maker and continue to design and build interesting and possibly helpful products. My friend Jake and I discovered a contest being held by a 3D printing company that was looking for original designs in three categories: useful medical device, entertaining quarantine toy, or educational design. We decided to merge two categories, and create an educational toy that would showcase the concept of “Flattening the curve” to reduce strain on healthcare systems.
The challenge of designing and prototyping a 3D printable toy remotely was not a trivial one. I had a 3D printer at home with which we could make prototypes, but neither of us could be together in person to sketch out our ideas. Jake and I decided to use OnShape to develop our toy, as we could both work on the CAD document at the same time while chatting on a Zoom meeting. We found it was best to go over our concepts using the digital whiteboard in Zoom, and then split up and sketch out the parts in the part studios in OnShape. We iterated on our concepts quickly, taking advantage of the rapid prototyping capabilities that additive manufacturing offered us.
Over the course of a week and a half we had designed, printed, and revised three different prototypes, finally settling on a design that used print-in-place rollers to guide the “curve'' smoothly through the casing of the part and into a knob that the user could turn.
Our final product was attractive, functional, and educational. It can be downloaded from Thingiverse. We were extremely proud of what we were able to achieve while separated by over 500 miles!
One of Jake’s friends created this awesome assembly view for our submission. Thanks Sean!
The objective of our project was to show through a tactile method how important it is for our communities to slow the spread of COVID-19 and reduce strain on healthcare systems.
The finished product is easy to print, pleasing to look at, and fun!
Turning the knob pulls the belt through the 3D printed rollers. The rollers print as part of the casing and only require a quick twist to get them working.
The “curve” is printed in TPU, allowing it to flex and flatten.
Jake and I went through an extensive rapid prototyping process, eventually settling on the size and design shown on the right.
Here’s a video of the toy in action!