Blog Entry 4 (Practical 5)
Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog! For this entry, I will be documenting about my learning for Practical 5 - Egg Drop Challenge.
Contents of this entry are as follows:
1. Inspiration for first design and why it didn't work out
2. Second design
3. Sketching the design on Fusion360
4. 3D Printing
5. THE FINALE…. THE EGG DROP!
Before I start, let me share my feelings about this practical. When Dr Noel was giving a briefing for Practical 5 in class before our holiday starts, all i felt was fear, and more fear. As a mega technology blur sotong and an almost Fusion360 idiot (even after I sketched the keyring and photo frame), the thought of having to sketch something new without any instructions on Fusion360 just made me so worried. To make things worse, we had to 3D print our own product. It really added on to the fear. Firstly, I haven't used a 3D printer before in my 18 years of existence, and secondly, I was afraid of the technology part the accompanied 3D printing. Well, I still started on my design with fear.
Inspiration for design
Firstly, my group mate, Fion and I decided that our design should fulfil a few criterias, in order of importance:
1. Able to hold the egg
2. Simple to design
3. Easy to assemble
4. Aesthetically pleasing
And I also secretly added one myself - the designing process has to be sookyee-level.
With all the criterias, we embarked on our journey of design. Our very first step was to search online, thanks to the resources available on BrightSpace, it provided us a good headstart. There were so many good designs, and choosing one was so difficult. Finally, we decided on this design
 |
| (https://grabcad.com/library/cuckoo-s-nest-1) |
Just like how a nest keeps the eggs in, we thought that we can do something like a nest pattern as an outer shell. For the inner shell, my inspiration comes from a toy that accompanied me through my childhood, and that's the capsule toy. Like how the casing is able to keep the toy in and prevent breakage, the case can be of a spherical shape to protect the egg. With all these done, we started designing our product. After I don't know how many tries and how much time, I managed to come out with a hemisphere shaped design that can be joined together by a few options:
1. Turning it to close just like the capsule toy
2. Locking it together by making a small hole in one half, and adding a small lock in the other
3 Slotting half of the hemisphere into the other half
The second and third idea required the use of the slot function.
.png)
As I was stuck with what's better, I consulted Dr Noel. After listening to his opinions, I decided to go with creating slots, as the threading function was not very applicable as as I had to modify my design to a little bit of a cylindrical shaped thingy, but as you would have known by now, that modification was not sookyee-level, hence that was sadly scraped (although I really wanted that design).
I then pinned all my hopes on the second and third idea, hoping that one of them will be viable. But reality is reality, those are unfortunately not easy to modify. I guess I have to accept the reality then, if things are not sookyee-level, they are not, I can't force it. With much sadness and despair, I went on to brainstorm for new ideas.
Second Design
When I was consulting Dr Noel, he suggested that I could take reference from XinNi's blog, that was provided for us as reference on BrightSpace, as her design comprises of something like a cover, which might be easier to sketch on fusion. Here's the link to her blog if you want to find out more:
https://cp5070-2021-2b01-group3-xinni.blogspot.com/2021/12/3d-printing.html
After seeing her design of toad (the mushroom from mario), I had another inspiration. That inspiration came from a favourite desert of mine, the hot fudge sundae from McDonald's. I thought about making something that looks like the bottom of the container.
It will be able to hold the egg in, and Dr Noel also mentioned that it will be easier to design.
To combine with the inspiration for the first design, and maybe to also make up for the disappointment, I also had the idea of making threads so that it can be capped just like the capsule toy, simply turning it and it will be secured.
I also decided to add in a shock absorber kind of thing to wrap the egg around. I got my inspiration from flowers, specifically tulips. It looks abit like the outermost layer of tulip, supporting the inner layers.
Fion also suggested to create and outer shell to protect the egg better with much hope, we started the journey of Fusion360 once again. Fion will be doing the outer shell, while I will be doing the container. To find out more about Fion's design of the outer shell, you can visit her blog entry here:
https://cp5065-2022-2a03-sim-jing-lin-fion.blogspot.com/p/blog-entry-4.html
Sketching the design on Fusion360
Before I started on the second design, I reflected on the difficulties I had when I was sketching my first design. The major difficulty I faced was that I was not able to visualise the way the slots work. To prevent the problem of visualising, I decided to do a manual drawing of the design.
Let's get started on the sketching part.
1. The first and most imporatnt step is to sketch out the egg structure
Creating the cover
Step (i): Under the 'solid' section, click on 'create', then select 'sphere'. I specified the diameter of to be of 50mm
Step (ii): I then realised the sphere was a little bigger than expected, hence I decided to scale it down to reduce its size. Under 'modify', select 'scale'. Because I wanted to purely reduce the size of the sphere by scale factor of 0.8, I selected 'uniform' scale type.
Step (iii): At this step, I went into my first problem, which was to change the container to an oval shaped one, from a spherical one. Using the scale function again, I selected 'non-uniform' this time round. I increased the scale function of the Z-scale to sort of pull the sphere into a oval shape.
Step (v): As I mentioned earlier, I wanted to make the container with the concept of a capsule toy, hence I had to split the container into 2. Using the 'Split Body' function under 'Modify', I split the sphere into halves, along the x-axis
Step (iv): Using the 'Shell' function under 'Modify', I managed to create a hole in the container. And half of the container is done
Step (ii): I 'extrude' the to 6mm, which turns the simple sketch of the shock absorber into a three dimensional one
Step (iii): The result from the previous step was unsatisfactory, the shock absorber protruded out of the container. I used the splitting function I used when creating the container to remove the protruded parts.
To achieve the desired result as seen in the picture, I did the following:
Thredding
Step (ii): I then aligned the cylinder to the container created previously, then I made the threads, using the 'thread' function under 'create'
Step (i): Using the 'create copy' function, under 'move', I created a copy of the body, for the other half of the container.
Step (ii): I made the cylinder of 5mm again, for threadding purposes. This time round, instead of just threadding directly as I did previously, I had to thread the inside of the cylinder, in order for the container to close like a toy capsule.
Step (iii): In order to thread, I had to make a hole in the cylinder. The depth of the hole has to be of the same height of the cylinder (5mm). This is so to ensure that I won't cut off the other components in the container, as well as ensure the threads were within the container, for proper closing.
To achieve this, I used the 'thread' function under 'create' as well, similar to the previous part, except that the threads are created inside.
ANDD with the completion of the other half, I AM DONE WITH MY DEISGN YAY. By the time I completed the design, it was already late at night and my eyes were almost closing. But seeing my idea coming into completion, the amount of satisfaction and pride was sufficient to wake me up, just that I didn't start being hyper and jump around like a kid.
Here's the embedded design!!!
From this Fusion360 experience, I learnt so many new functions in Fusion360, they are:
1. Scale (uniform and non-uniform scale factor)
2. Move/Copy
3. Create copy under move function
4. Split
5. Fit point spline
6. Thread
Now that the sketch is done, I hope the 3D Printing part will be successful.
3D Printing
Before 3D Printing, there are some things to be done:
1. Save design in Fusion360 as an stl file
2. Import design into cura
3. Save file in cura as g.code
4. Insert disc and print
When I did 3D Printing, I was slightly worried about it as I have not used a 3D Printer before and I was entirely clueless about the preheating of filament, actually is the entire process that I am confused and clueless about. The moment I went into the chemical product and design lab, I saw that the filament was already nicely preheated by the TE, Ms Serene, and I could start my 3D Printing straightaway. (thank you so much serene 😀).
Let's begin the 3D Printing journey.....
After inserting the disc into the printer, I had to adjust the settings as such:
Then, its just wait, wait and wait
2.5 hours of waiting and waiting for one part, and
there’s one more so that’s 5 hours of waiting….. 😰😰😰
Very sadly, not everything is as smooth as I intended it to be. The threads I wanted to make did not print. When I was feeling very dejected and disappointed, Mr Ting gave me an idea, which was to make joints in one half then drill holes in the other, to close the container. I then decided to give it a try.
When I was using the drill, there were some moments where the drill got stuck. I then approached Mr Ting for help and he very nicely taught me how to remove the melted plastic from the drill bit, and taught me how to clean it by using the wires. He also explained the process of using the soldering machine to me. Allow me to take this opportunity to thank Mr Ting for sharing his knowledge with me so generously, thanks so much heh 😃, it really helped me with my design. Other than imparting me very valuable knowledge, Mr Ting also encouraged me when the printing failed. It also helped remove the sadness a little.
You would think the joints part is a sucess right? I'm sorry to disappoint you, it didn't turn out as expected. I accidentally broke two of the joints on Monday, to make things worse, the other two broke the next day. Maybe I made it too thin that's why.
Hais, hais, hais. I don't think I have the luxury of time to make another one, hence I decided on another solution that Mr Ting also suggested to me that day. He mentioned that I could consider drilling holes in both halves then slot filament in the holes in order to close the container. I guess that's all I could do.
Yay, finally done with the process.
Finally and most importantly, the EGG DROP!!!!!
Egg Drop!!!!
The first thing we did was to assemble the container. Here are the steps:
1. Put the egg into the inner shell and cover it
2. Place the shell into the outer layer and then cover it
And yes, we are ready to go!
Firstly, we measure 2m from the ground
And yes, we drop the container. Thanks to Kallysa for recording for us :)
Well, thankfully the egg didnt break. There was only a small crack, I guess our hard work hais paid off, yay! In case you say I scammed you and cheat your feelings by using a cooked egg, I used a real one, a real egg. Here's the evidence!
To sum up the practical:
Although this practical was not easy and it was filled with a lot of worry and uncertainty. Thankfully, it turned out successful, I will say. The success of this practical was not accomplished by me alone. There are a lot of people who accompanied me on this journey, and helped me in one way or another, really thankful for all of them 😁
1. Dr Noel - He provided me with some solutions and advised me to change my design to something simpler, a round shaped container, which indirectly help the creation of the second design
2. Xin Ni - Her blog indirectly helped in my design, it provided me with a good start. The detailed documentation in her blog was also an encouragement. Seeing that a senior designing a product from start to end successfully really encouraged me and increased my confidence level
3. My father - He stayed with me for the entire duration when I was doing my sketch on Fusion360, even though he was very tired from work. When I encounter problems and failed, he encouraged me to not give up.
4. Mr Ting - He encouraged me when the printing did not turn out the way I intend it to. During the drilling process, he very nicely taught me how to use it, as well as soldering to clean it.
5. Wei Ling and Joelle - They taught me a lot about Fusion360, Cura and 3D Printing. Everytime I ran into problems, they helped me by giving me suggestions on how to solve it.
6. Hui Yi from class 02 - She helped me with the 3D printing process when I was clueless and that really made the printing process smoother.
7. TE Ms Serene - She helped us to preheat the filament, as well as helped me when I encounter problems with the drilling.
and most importantly.... Fion. It's not the first time I worked with her, but this time round it was very different as compared to the previous times. Really thankful to Fion for accomodating to my time when we had to discuss ideas. She also tried her very best to complete her part of the design, not just doing it but also modifying it again and again. The first day we went to print, we only printed my part, really thankful for Fion for staying with me during the entire duration of printing, as well as doing the entire practical with me, from start to end.
In conclusion, I'm very thankful for this practical activity. It has allowed me to learn so much more about Fusion360 and 3D printing, I would also consider this as a milestone in my academic journey in SP, as it was my first time designing somthing from scratch. I guess I managed to unlock some of the creative cells in me heh. 😂
Comments
Post a Comment