TinkerCad NameTag Lesson

Making a Name Keychain in Tinkercad

By Jessy Ratfink March 24, 2020

This is an old tutorial (so some of the tools/buttons look different than now). There are multiple pics, videos, and little descriptions that will show you how to make a VERY small nametag. 

This tutorial teaches you and proves you understand how to do SEVERAL skills on a CAD program to make a 3D-printable object: Sizing and moving objects, Overlapping them, aligning and intersecting a cylinder with another, make the middle one a hole, and grouping them to make a hole through an object.

 

Some hints from Mr. Barber:

• To find the individual letters you need, click on the menu that says basic shapes to get the pull-down menu. Select Design Starters. All the letters are in there, but they are in a weird order.

• Use THICK, BOLD, CHONKY letters. Make your ring and your letters BIGGER than the tutorial says to. (Otherwise the tutorial has you make a VERY small, delicate, fragile name tag.) If you resize, make sure to use  the <SHIFT> button!
  

• Once you have gotten a thumbs-up from Mr. B, you can export as an STL to my BARBERTECHNOLOGYFOLDER in the (S:/) Student Share Drive. Make sure you have named it your username and NAMETAG (ex: jwb2f NAMETAG) first!!!
  
  

When it successfully prints, it will be waiting for you in a nearby orange tray (it MIGHT fail, even if you did everything right ... someone else's could be wrong and "spaghetti", "glob up", or the 3d printer could just mess up). If you pick it up, get a keyring from the purple tray, put it on and get a pic on Mr. B's phone to get your grade before you take it out of the room!

This is an updated, student-made tutorial on what to do.

Potato Circuits and the Universal Systems Model

Mechatronics (Technological Systems 8457 and 8463) Exploring Technological Systems competencies #31-42

I. Potato Circuit (with Universal Systems explanation)

1. Make a circuit that can light an LED on and off (you will need to add an on/off switch), using a potato or several potatoes for power: https://youtu.be/-fvmb4lchnA or this link provides a TON of information you need to know about making a potato circuit: https://sciencenotes.org/potato-battery-experiment/ and this instructables link gave me a lot of information, too.
2. Add more potatoes until it overloads the lightbulb (hover over the lightbulb)
3. Experiment with it. Other fruits? Can it make other items “run?” What can you do that’s different than everyone else?
4. You will have to explain how it applies to the Universal Systems model at the end.
5. Make sure you use a REGULAR raw potato and then a regular boiled potato (you can set the Voltage and the Resistance to make it a REAL potato, not an IMPOSSIBLE potato)

The Universal Systems Model

The Universal Systems model is a way to understand how things work together to achieve a goal. It has four main parts: inputs, processes, outputs, and feedback. Inputs are the things that go into a system, like people, materials, time, energy, and information. Processes are what happens to the inputs to make them into something new or useful. Outputs are the results of the processes, like a finished product or a service. Feedback is information that tells us how well the system is working and helps us make improvements.

In the Universal Systems model, inputs can be things like resources, knowledge, and tools. For example, when a company makes candy bars, the inputs are the cocoa beans, sugar, and the machinery they use to make the bars. Processes are the actions that happen to the inputs to turn them into something new. In the candy bar example, the processes would be mixing the ingredients, shaping the bars, and packaging them. The outputs are the finished candy bars that are then shipped to stores. And feedback could be customer reviews or sales data that tell the company how well its candy bars are doing.

Feedback is important because it helps us make improvements to the system. If we get feedback that something isn't working well, we can make changes to the inputs or processes to get a better output. For example, if people complain that the candy bars are too sweet, the company could adjust the amount of sugar they use in the recipe. Feedback can come from many sources, like customer reviews, surveys, or trends in the market.

So, the Universal Systems model helps us understand how things work together to achieve a goal. It shows us that inputs go through processes to become outputs, and feedback helps us make improvements. It's like a big puzzle where all the pieces fit together to make something great!

Input

7 types of resources provide input: 

1. People
2. Materials - natural, synthetic, raw, industrial
3. Tools and machines - measuring, layout, separating, forming, and combining
4. Energy - inexhaustible, renewable, and nonrenewable (examples - heat, light, sound, chemical, nuclear, mechanical, and electrical)
5. Time
6. Capital - money, land, structures, and equipment
7. Information

Processes

It's what happens to the inputs

• All the activities that need to take place for the system to give the desired result
• A series of actions directed to an end
• The inputs are combined by means of management and production.
• Managing - planning, organizing, and controlling
• Production - the actual making of the product

Outputs

The resulting product of inputs and processes

• Everything that results:
• Intended outputs ... this includes Desirable and Undesirable
• Nonintended - ex. waste (pollution) or changes in society (communicating through e-mails ... this included Undesirable and Unexpected
• Outputs can be:
• Desirable
• Undesirable
• Expected
• Unexpected
• Example: The output of our cleanup system:
• Clean, safe, organized room
• Clouds of dust
• Lost teaching time
• Wear and tear on the equipment

Feedback

The reaction to the inputs, process, and outputs. They serve to reinforce or alter the elements of the system.

• Cleanup example - Feedback - the next class coming into the room, If they complain or trip over equipment left out, the system would have to be improved.
• Feedback becomes an input into the system

Check out these 3 Potato Circuits

Fun Facts 

• A room can be lit for over a month using a potato battery that produces potato energy/electrical energy. 
• A potato battery can power a cell phone and costs about one-tenth of a standard AA battery. 
• Potatoes are rich in phosphoric acids and starch juices, making them a significant source of electrolytes that allow the swift movement of electrolytes.
• Potato battery projects can supply equivalent lighting compared to kerosene lamps, which are used in various underdeveloped parts of the world at one-fifth the cost. Hence, it’s highly efficient. 
• It was also found that a boiled potato for eight minutes produces much higher efficiency than a raw potato. Also, using quarter-sliced potatoes in place of single potatoes reduces cost and increases efficiency for the production of potato batteries.
• A potato battery can produce only about 1.2 volts of energy.
• Boil the potatoes to produce 5 volts of energy.
• 258 boiled potatoes could power an average house for one hour.
• A single potato battery typically produces approximately 0.5 to 0.9 volts and a very low current, usually around 0.2 milliamperes. It cannot power high-voltage devices, but several potatoes wired in series can light a low-voltage LED. 
• Efficiency: While a raw potato might provide a low current, a boiled potato can run a small LED or small electronic devices for hundreds of hours.
• Key Characteristics 
• Voltage: 0.5V – 0.9V per potato.
• Amperage:  .2 mA  (or 200 microamps).
• Power: .0001 Watts
• Voltage Boosting: To increase voltage, wire potatoes in series (positive to negative).
• Amperage Boosting: To increase current, wire potatoes in parallel (positive to positive).
• How it Works- The electricity does not come from the potato itself, but from a chemical reaction between a zinc electrode (such as a galvanized nail) and a copper electrode (such as a penny) inserted into the potato. The potato acts as an electrolyte (a salt bridge) that allows ions to move between the electrodes.
• Optimal Setup-Boiling a potato for about 8 minutes can increase its power output by up to 10 times compared to a raw potato. This occurs because cooking breaks down internal tissue, creating a lower-resistance path for electricity, which helps it to better maintain a consistent, higher-voltage output (up to 5 volts per potato) to power devices. 
• Why Boiling Increases Power
• Reduced Resistance: The heat breaks down cell membranes within the potato, which reduces the internal resistance to electrical current flow.
• Optimal Electrolyte: The boiled structure allows for better ion movement between the zinc (anode) and copper (cathode) electrodes.

Universal Systems

Now, you need to apply the Universal System to our Potato Circuit lesson. Explain each of the 4 parts and what they are in your potato. In the end, what is your feedback, and why did I have you watch the second video?

37. Explore the Universal Systems Model.
Exploration should include:

• inputs (e.g., people, materials, time, capital, energy, information)
• processes (e.g., management, production)
• outputs (e.g., intended, unintended)
• feedback (e.g., open-loop, closed-loop).

Process/Skill Questions:

• What is the difference between open- and closed-loop systems?
• How does feedback change the process?
• What is an example of a production process?

38. Analyze a product, process, or system, using the Universal Systems Model.
Analysis should include:

• inputs
• processes
• outputs
• feedback 

Process/Skill Questions:

• What are the intended and unintended outputs?
• How does one know if the system is open- or closed-loop?
• How does the product, process, or system convert inputs into outputs?

Laptop Checks

 I. Students must bookmark these sites in a "Barber Folder" on their toolbar. (Here's how):

1. Barber Shop Website (YOU NEED THE ONE FROM THIS YEAR, NOT LAST YEAR)
2. Barber of Cville Blog 
3. Henley Homepage 
4. Google Drive 
5. Schoology
6. PowerSchool 
7. TinkerCad (Please don't log-in yet ... we will log in as a class)
8. maker:bit / Microsoft Make Code (Please don't log-in yet ... we will log in as a class)
9. Delicious BBQ (students must find this in Schoology and break it out of Schoology before bookmarking!)
10. Daily Slideshow (students must find the link in Schoology that says "BOOKMARK THIS LINK" and break it out of Schoology before bookmarking!)

II. Your charger has 2 pieces, and, therefore, needs 2 labels, one on each part. You need a flag on your removable cord affixed with clear packing tape (your first and last name!) and you need to tape over your label with clear packing tape:

New Way (this year)- notice the shininess of the packing tape!

Old Way (last year)

III. You also need to pin shortcuts on your taskbar to the 2 apps we download:

• Arduino IDE- We download this from Software Center (quick download)
• Adobe Illustrator- We download Adobe Creative Cloud from Software Center, THEN we download and install Adobe Illustrator from CC. These will both take a LONG TIME! Close as many apps and tabs as you can!

Arduino

Adobe Creative Cloud

Adobe Illustrator

IV. Come show Mr. Barber when you're pretty sure you're going to get a good grade (not when you've done only a little of the Laptop Check ... I don't want to enter in a 4/14 F!!)

Lasercutting a Cell Phone Stand

Laser-cutting a Cell Phone Stand

1. Cell Phone Stand Video 1- Base File Setup
• Call it "Username Cell Stand Back"
• 12x12” workspace size
• Change to RGB
2. Cell Phone Stand Video 2- Setting Up your Back Piece
• Open "Username Cell Stand Back" 
• Increase the size of the bottom hole to put in the cords
• 7” tall, 4” wide
3. Cell Phone Stand Video 3- Bottom Piece
• Call it "Username Cell Stand Base" 
4. You will need to add an Engraved Decoration, could be copied and pasted from your earlier work ...

Henley Picnic Table Service Project

This post is under construction (see what I did there?)

Usually, my engineering classes build doghouses for needy dogs through Houses of Wood and Straw. It's a wonderful service program, provides a LOT of valuable learning in the woodshop, and H.O.W.S. reaches out to local businesses, like Blue Ridge Building, to donate the wood. I typically have Guidance schedule as many Engineering classes in the fall so that they can participate in this and save as many dogs as possible from a freezing winter. This year, H.O.W.S. is holding off with builds, etc. because of the high price of lumber. I have had to pivot to a new project that doesn't have someone donating wood. I immediately focused on helping the school with hall passes and directional signs while I noticed the lack of outdoor seating for all of our outdoor lunches (which are out there, of course, due to Covid). The only drawback is the high cost of lumber and hardware.

I'm currently pricing everything it will take to build 15 doghouses (5 per class) for Henley at both Home Depot and Blue Ridge Building Supply (now called Cardinal Home Center), but I fully expect it to be quite costly.  

My assistant principal Becky Fisher and principal Beth Costa have encouraged me to go ahead with the process. I really do feel like this is both a useful and a worthy service project for my kids in my engineering classes, in addition to providing Henley students with a valuable resource, as we spend so much time outdoors during Covid.

I have found Home Depot's plans: https://www.homedepot.com/c/ah/how-to-build-a-picnic-table/9ba683603be9fa5395fab902da03929  to be HORRIBLE. My class and I are interpreting them and making new plans as we go. The pictures don't match the materials or the directions, so we are even taking pictures. Here is our slideshow, complete with plans and guidelines for excellence:

First TinkerCad Assignment- Name Keychain

Before you work on TinkerCad, your folks at home have to sign and return the TinkerCad Permission Form and the Safety Form.

This is an updated, student-made tutorial on what to do.

This was my first TinkerCad Project this year. I followed along with this blog entry, which has short videos and pictures throughout. In the end, I changed the filename to my username and the words NameKeyChain squished together and capitalized the first letter. (YOUR username is your initials and a number or a letter) .... MIGHT I SUGGEST MAKING YOURS EXTRA CHONKY to make it more durable!

By clicking on the square with 3 dots and 3 lines to the left of my username (if you hover over it, it says "recent designs"), I could find where it's saved in the cloud. After clicking on it, I clicked on more designs and it showed me all the designs that I've ever done, with this, the most recent one, at the top.

We will be taking a ScreenSnip of this and putting it on a Google Doc, along with future CADs. Remember you screenshot on your ACPS-provided laptop by hitting <Windows> <shift> <s> at the same time!

Newly updated Adobe How To (when you want to use it to lasercut)

Click on this video and follow the directions to make a "laser-cuttable" scribble on Adobe Illustrator! This should work for all 2018-2019 ACPS student Lenovos and the desktop computers in the CTE Lab.

Houses of Wood and Straw

Houses of Wood and Straw

My 8th grade Engineer/Build class got to build doghouses for needy dogs this semester. This was bigger than any wood project that I've ever done in my life. I split the class into 5 groups and each group got a small, medium, or large house to build. We planned, designed, and wrote on plywood. We used T-squares, rulers, measured and measured again. I cut the wood on the table saw, but the kids did every other part. My students drilled, screwed in screws, marked angles with pencils, caulked, and waterproofed. They problem-solved when there was a mistake, they stayed late, and they came down during wrapup at the end of the day.

 

 

I'm proud to say that each group used critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity and successfully and proudly came up with a structure for each needy canine.

 

The icing on the cake was when local TV stations came in and reported on this project.  My class was on Cloud 9. I look forward to helping my kids help out their community in the future!

The HOWS Project is run by an animal-loving, tree-hugging, peace-wishing vegan named Stacey Norris. If you need a doghouse, you can contact her through this contact form or by calling this number and leaving a voicemail at this number (434)882-1847.

There are SO many needy dogs out there ... please consider helping ... you can donate your time or your money .... you can donate materials or educate others .... you can report needy dogs .... you can write to your legislature.

NBC29 Story on the Web "Albemarle Students Build, Distribute Free Doghouses"

CBS19 Story on the Web "Walton Students Build Dog Houses For Service Project"

-Jon Barber
CTE Teacher Walton Middle School
hoosjon@blogspot.com
twitter.com/hoosjon

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