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The CREATE Education Project would like to thank Joseph Fox, 3D Hub Technician at Chatham & Clarendon Grammar School for sharing this project idea.
The project was developed for the AQA 8552 Design Technology 2017 GCSE Specification, but it would be suitable for any of the KS4 GCSE or Scottish Higher Design Technology qualifications. This project could also be used for relevant FE courses.
The aim of the project is for students to use CAD and 3D printers to design and manufacture a pair of functional glasses.
Download the Project Guide which includes a complete overview of the project, project structure and AQA 8552 Specification links/references.
Project Links
This Project Idea was developed by Joseph Fox, 3D hub Technician at Chatham & Clarendon Grammar School.
The Project was developed for the AQA 8552 GCSE Design Technology qualification.
A Project Brief and additional resources to support this project can also be accessed on the Design It Wright competition page.
Incorporating 3D Printing
Performing this activity or project will have students look at: CAD techniques, ergonomics, and tolerances for mechanisms. This brief allows both creativity and technicality while using 3D printers to create quick and easy prototypes, as well as final products.
Using 3D printing as a tool allows quick accurate prototypes and final products to be created for students. Doing this allows good development as problems which can’t be seen on the computer can be seen in the 3D print. Also, due to the size of glasses not much material is required as well as time to create meaning lots of adjustments/improvements can be produced. On top of this 3D printers can be used to 3D print a template head for students to design for. Heads can be found online which can be downloaded and printed with ease using resources such as GrabCAD or a 3D scanner can be used to 3D print someone’s head there.
About Project Ideas
“Project Ideas” are a series of ideas shared by the CREATE Education Project to provide inspiration and a starting point for students to develop their own projects that utilise 3D printing for prototyping and/or to enhance the final solution.
Many of the ideas shared would provide suitable starting points for students in Further or Higher Education who are undertaking their own personal projects, allowing them to adapt and extend the projects to develop new outcomes. Some of these projects could also be tackled in a similar way by high school students undertaking individual project work.
Alternatively suitable projects could be selected by teachers and assigned to teams of students in a project based learning approach. A series of editable templates and resources have been developed to support the project based learning approach. These include:
- Project Planning Templates – A series of editable templates for course leaders or teachers to use when planning student projects.
- Presentation Templates – A series of editable PowerPoint slides for course leaders or teachers to use for presenting project stages to groups of students.
- Student Project Worksheets – A series of editable worksheets for individuals or groups of students to use for planning and documenting their projects.
These resources can be downloaded by clicking the links in the right column.