Soap Project

Description: In this project, we chose one important person in our lives to express our love and appreciation by creating a beautiful and thoughtful design. It will be made into a small piece of soap using a silicone mold that we will create. We will make two pieces of soap using the mold. There will also be a catchy tagline created along with the design. We will use the Design Thinking technique to research, brainstorm, CAD, prototype, test, and repeat the process to enhance our design. 

Brainstorm: I brainstormed and researched online to think of my design. For my final design, I decided on a bunny, since its my favorite animal and I have two bunnies as pets. I added the Chinese character "爱", meaning love, symbolizing the love my family has for each other. To fill up the empty space on the sides, I decided to add some leaves and flowers. For my research, I searched up cute bunny's and used an image I found as a reference for the bunny I was going to draw. I drew the Chinese character and flowers and leaves myself.  The catchy tagline I came up with is "You hopped into my heart!" This soap is designed for my parents. 

CAD & Prototypes:

I used Fusion360 to CAD my model. 

1. I imported my Procreate sketch through canvas into Fusion360. 

2. I used the Fit-Point Spline tool to trace my Procreate sketch canvas.

3. I extruded my design one by one.

4. I refined my design by moving and refitting certain parts. 

5. I made sure my dimensions were correct; 1.5 inches for the circle part of the soap, and 0.2 inches for the design.

6. I imported my design to Bambu Studios as a STL file.

7. I made sure I had the right printer and setup to 3D print,

8. I 3D printed my project.

Mold-Making Process: 

I made the mold using silicone plastic. I had to work fast to make sure the material didn't dry out. I used the silicone plastic to cover my 3D printed design, spreading out the material and pressing down so it covered all the intricate parts of the design. Then, I blow dried it so it would harden and turn into a flexible mold. 

Reflection:

S - The strength of my work is my complicated design. I added a lot of details in my bunny including the eyes, nose, whiskers, and parts of the ear. The leaves and flowers were also extremely intricate. 

O - Some opportunities I could improve are the fact that I could have worked a bit faster and I think I could have developed my first sketch a bit faster too.

U - During this project, I learned to use Fusion360, specifically the Canvas, Fit-Point Spline, and Extrude. I also learned how to use Bambu Studios to 3D print. I learned more about the 3D printing process as well.

L - I didn't really encounter any limitations execept for the fact that I was absent one day of class because I was sick so I had more to catch up on. This meant that I didn't have time to print multiple prototypes so I could only print it once. 

WISCR:

In this project, I would say I applied the W (Well-Rounded) in WISCR. I sketched a nice and intricate design, I made it well in Fusion360, and I learned how to 3D print it well in Bambu Studios correctly with the supports. I also managed to work faster to overcome my time limits since I had way less time and less knowledge since I was absent one day of class. I also applied the I (Insightful Critical Thinker) because I critically and insightfully though about my project. I was able to think of a way to incorporate my intricate design into Fusion360 and made sure it printed properly.