3D Modeling

3D Printed Marceline’s Bass Ax from Adventure Time

Posted on by Terry, Annabel

With the resources provided to me through the OPIM Innovate Lab, I created two versions of the bass guitar used by the character Marceline in the show Adventure Time. Innovate provided me with skills related to 3d printing, slicing, modeling, and building which all helped me to create props that were very show authentic. Additionally, the tech tracks offered to me through the Innovate Lab were transferable to other softwares such as SolidWorks and Creality5.0. Their multiple 3d printers also helped me get the parts necessary for this project fast and efficiently, which was a huge help. Overall, the Innovate Lab has helped me learn a great deal about 3d modeling and helped me build extremely intricate props.

Reinvent PT

Posted on by Mariah Donahue

The REINVENT-PT (REhabilitation INnoVations & Emerging Novel Technologies in Physical Therapy) lab (PI: Srinivasan) is interested in understanding developmental trajectories of individuals with neuro-developmental disabilities such as Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down syndrome, and Intellectual Disability across the lifespan.

The study we are currently working on explores the feasibility and efficacy of a home-based training program that uses joystick-operated ride-on-toys to improve arm function in children with cerebral palsy. In this study, we have lots of fun activities that involve children driving the ride-on-toys to complete playful challenges based on themes such as sports, children’s animated movies, favorite holidays, and other exciting themes.

The contribution of OPIM Innovate has been instrumental in supporting the activities of the children, by means of creating, modeling, and printing 3-D printed toys. These toys will significantly aid in motivating the children to participate, providing them with novel textures and shapes to interact with, and facilitating hand movements that are crucial to the study. OPIM Innovate has demonstrated its generosity by creating a diverse range of 3-D printed toys, including fidget, moveable, puzzle, and interactive toys, all of which are thematically aligned with popular children's characters such as Minions, Mickey Mouse, Scooby Doo and many more. OPIM Innovate's valuable contribution to the study will enable us to provide a more engaging and effective learning experience for the children. We extend our sincerest gratitude and appreciation to OPIM Innovate for their support and generosity. We hope to continue working with you all in the future. Thank you again!

reinventpt 3D printed toys

AIAA Rocketry: Propulsive Landing Project

Posted on by Mariah Donahue

For this project, our goal is to successfully drop and land a model rocket on a landing pad using propulsion along with various guidance systems. The OPIM Innovate lab provided super helpful insight regarding 3D printing practices such modifying prototype parts and 3D tech specificities. They also put an emphasis on on getting our prints to us as soon as possible. 

Submitted by Patrick Iannetta, Mechanical Engineering, Rocketry Team

Rocket Engineering Team

Fish Tank Livewell

Posted on by Mariah Donahue

3D Printed Fish Tank Livewell parts

I designed and built a fish tank livewell for fishing. What these three different parts do are they attach onto the side of the tank. The lightweight plastics are extremely good for this, as it’s lightweight and doesn’t add a lot to the tank when moving it around, but allows for the higher well, aerating pump, and battery to be held there with constant pressure and not get splashed.
The employees at OPIM Innovate were extremely nice and helpful to help me slice my project and 3D print on the printer. I am currently at the process of 3D printing it which will help me assemble it to make the final project.
Submitted by: Liam Wilson

3D Printed Catapult ENGR1000 Project

Posted on by Mariah Donahue

In the OPIM Innovate lab, I was able to create a catapult for a project in my ENGR1000 class. OPIM Innovate has all of the resources necessary to prototype, print, and assemble a project such as this. The necessary Solidworks skills I used for this project can be learned through the Tech Tracks that the lab offers. The 3D printers available in the lab are also great to test out your prototype in the real world. While my first design for the project worked out on paper, I was able to make improvements to it by seeing the real physical thing after printing it out on the Prusa MK3. OPIM Innovate is a great space with a lot of tools along with very helpful and informative staff to help increase your knowledge.

Submitted by: Anthony Prior

 

Designing the School of Business

Posted on by Carina Zamudio

I have been using CAD to make different models and designs since I was in high school.  It’s so satisfying to make different parts in a program that you can then bring to life with 3D Printing. In the OPIM Innovation Space, several 3D printers have some really special capabilities and I wanted to put my skills as a designer, and the abilities of the printer, to the test.

The Makerbot Z18 is easily one of the largest consumer grade printers available.  It can print within a 18 by 12 by 12 inch build volume. That’s one and a half square feet!  I challenged myself to build a model of UConn’s School of Business and then 3D print it to the largest size possible.

I started on Google maps and traced out the School of Business onto a template. Then I walked outside the school and took pictures of its notable features.  It took several days for me to capture the details of the building, such as cutting out windows and creating the overhanging roof, in order to make the building an accurate model.  I even hollowed out the model so that it could accomodate a microcontroller or LEDs if we wanted to use some IoT technology to upgrade the project.

Printing the behemoth of a project was a challenge.  The entire design printed on its side so that it could use nearly all of the Z18’s build volume, and even at full efficiency it was estimated to take 114 hours to print. I contemplated cutting it into two pieces and printing them separately, but it would be so much cooler to use the full size of the printer. It took several tries before I was able to print the School of Business in one shot. After several broken filament rolls and failed prints, the entire school was finished.

This project gave me great insight into the manufacturing problems faced by using 3D printing technology to produce exceedingly large parts. This model used about 3 pounds of filament and really pushed the limits of the technology.  A miniature School of Business was not only a great showcase for the OPIM Department and for OPIM Innovate, but it was a testament to the future of technology. Maybe in the future buildings will actually be 3D printed. It will be super exciting to see how this technology, and the CAD softwares that compliment it, evolve moving forward.

By: Evan Gentile, Senior, MEM Major