Cork Pals

Project Description: We were supposed to CAD and 3D print animals that fit snugly on a cork. We need to make two of them, which are both different. The prints must all fit inside a two-by-two-by-two inch box, and they also need to stand on their own.

Brainstorming: I knew from the start that I wanted to make a cat, because I like cats, as mentioned in my Home Page. We needed to make the animals related in some way, and as I was searching through good corks to use, I found one that already kind of looked like a fish. Therefore, I decided to make a very mean fish as my second animal.

Procedure: First, we measured the corks. One of them was very cylindrical, with 21 mm diameter at each side, and the other one was more of a cone-like shape, with 22 mm diameter on one side and 19 mm diameter on the other side.

We then needed to make the "connectors", or the parts that connect the 3D model to the cork. At the start, I used three connectors, but then, I noticed that the connector for the cat actually worked fine for the fish's cork too, so I made it only two connectors.

I started by making the cat:

These are the finished cat prints:

Instead of making two separate things, I made one cat and then sliced it in half. This should make it look better, and less like just a flat picture. 

Then, I started making the fish. It took quite a while to make the tail the right size. The head also had some fins, and they were also hard to design. I then started to print the fish, because there was a printer with silver filament that nobody else wanted to use.

Unfortunately, on the first print (below), I made a mistake on the fish head's connector. I had to reprint it.

These are both Cork Pals assembled and completed:

Reflection: 

Strengths: I think one of my strengths was the 3D modeling of the cat. It looked really good inside Tinkercad, but it didn't really look good in the real world.

Opportunities: The fish could definitely be better.

Understanding: I learned that looking good inside Tinkercad doesn't mean that it will look good in the real world. I think that prototyping could have helped a lot to mitigate this effect.

Limitations: One limitation I encountered was the lack of 3D printers. Each print took maybe 1-2 hours, and with more than 60 students all trying to print, it was 

WISCR:

W: I think I was well-rounded in this project because I was able to manage time well and still make the finished product good.

C: I think I was a clear communicator in this project because I was able to help a lot of people design their Cork Pals and solve technical issues.