3D PRINTED PLESIOSAUR

I made a Plesiosaur using laser cutting techniques. This time, I decided to turn my widely praised 2.5D project into a 3D project. Behold, here comes Hua’s Plesiosaur V2.

Design

I made several design changes to the original 2.5D Plesiosaur. First I removed those humps on its back (because Plesiosaur has no hump). Then, to make this object actually useful, I decided to leave a hole on the Plesiosaur’s back, turning it into a pen holder. This project is required to use at least one of three 3D printing operations: extrusion, revolution, and boolean. I used two of them. Since extrusion could not create spindle shaped objects, I used a variation of it, loft, to create the body of the Plesiosaur. I sketched several circles of different sizes and applied loft operation to connect them (see screenshots). For boolean, I subtracted a cylinder from its body, making the hole for pens.

This project is made with AutoCAD. I used Rhino at the beginning but somehow Rhino kept crashing on my computer, so I switched to AutoCAD, which is also very handy.

Sketching

Learning CAD software is painful. The biggest frustration in this project came from drawing the 3D object. However, I still managed to draw my Plesiosaur in AutoCAD.

I first drew a few circles to make an outline.

Then used the loft operation to convert them into a solid object. I tried to use revolution on an eclipse to make its head but I realized that it did not look like a head at all.

So I abandoned this idea and took a more complicated approach, drawing more detailed circles and lofted them to make a more realistic head.

This was the entire body.

I applied the same technique to make fins.

And that was the Plesiosaur.

The final step was to subtract a cylinder from the Plesiosaur’s back and mesh the whole thing because I knew that the printer was not precise enough to make smooth surfaces so that mesh surfaces would work better.

Printing

Import the file into makerbot app

The printing process was smooth. The only problem was that the supporting raft was annoying.

The pen holder held a pen!

Removing the support raft took a lot more time than I expected.

Eventually it was all good.It even floated in the water, which made it more authentic.

Feedback

I received plenty of comments during the peer review session. I was glad to see that they were mostly positive.

1. Drawing a 3D object was so hard. I did not want to download a file made by someone else so I tried my best learning AutoCAD. I was struggling with 3 dimension views for a while but after playing it for several hours I got used to it;
2. I wish I had known how to avoid having the raft or how to effectively remove them before doing this project. I used all the tools I had, including a knife, a pair of tweezers, a pair of pliers, and a rasp to remove the raft and polish the surface, but it was still really painful. Next time I will definitely flatten the bottom. Or if CoMotion can purchase some of these 3D printers which have water dissoluble raft, my life would be a lot easier.
3. One thing I enjoyed most in this project was seeing the printer making this object. Moreover, although drawing in AutoCAD was difficult, I am really happy about learning a new skill;
4. AutoCAD is very handy. Personally I prefer AutoCAD to Rhino because it is more stable (it did not crash) and its UI is more visually appealing. Most importantly, AutoCAD is free for students so my drawing skill can be useful in the future whereas Rhino expires in 90 days and I will definitely not spend 1600 dollars to purchase the license.
5. One comment said that I could make  the flipper joints wider so they are less fragile. I think that is a reasonable point.

My favorite comment: “I love this! You should make it into a wine holder by making it a lot bigger. Drink it when something you never thought would happen happens.”

LASER CUT PLESIOSAUR

This is a laser cutting practice. I created a plesiosaur using 9 pieces of matte paper.

Design

The initial design consists only 6 pieces, four legs, a body, and a head. I was struggling with connecting those pieces together. Without any background knowledge about laser cutting techniques (without Googling other people’s work), I “invented” a connector: As the sketch paper shows, I planed to punch several holes on one piece and insert a serrated piece in it. However, it did not seem to be durable enough. Then I saw other people doing it and realized that a better way was to clamp pieces together. Well, it is always good to explore a little before copying other people’s techniques, right?

I made one change in the design phase. I thought the back is kind of boring, so I decided to add three humps to it. I know a Plesiosaur does not have humps, but that was before I realized I made a Plesiosaur. When I designed this animal, I just had an image in my head: a swimming dinosaur-like creature with a long neck and four flippers. This image might came from both the myth of the Loch Ness and some dinosaur pictures I saw in my childhood.

Process

I drew the outlines in illustrator because I was more familiar with it. Then I imported the file to Rhino to adjust layers. I added some patterns (etching and rastering) on the back too, and it looked like this in the printer:

Those were pieces I cut from both the thinner and thicker paper.

Although I liked the color of the practice paper (the thinner one), but the first try did not work out since the paper was too thin. Connections between pieces were too loose to make the creature stand. BUT IT LOOKS CUTE just lying there!

After realizing the size of connectors were not right, I adjusted it. Then I found out that the size was actually right for the thicker paper. As a result, I went back to the original dimensions and it worked out well. Here is the final product:

I seriously think my first Plesiosaur was better looking due to the lighter color, but this is fine too.

Feedback

Since this product did not serve any utility purpose, the critique session was relatively casual and most reviews were based on the appearance of the creature.

Likes

1. Some people like the etching and rastering on the back. Some don’t;
2. Most people think this little creature is cute;
3. “This is exactly what a Plesiosaur should have looked like.”
4. “I love how the back looks like a surfboard. It looks like I could ride on it :D”
5. People like the fin design.

Need Improvement

1. One person said rastering makes the back dirty. I had the same feeling. Maybe I used too much rastering;
2. “Cut out the eye next time” Sure. I did cut out the eye on my first try but forgot to do so on the final product;
3. One person suggested to add some etching on the neck.
4. “The eye seems really big and not proportioned” — Hey dude it’s called cute.

Making a 2.5D object is a lot of fun. I hope I will have more opportunities doing this.

GAMEHUB – WEARABLE UI PAPER PROTOTYPE

Design

Wearable technology is popular today. People are enthusiastic for developing smart watch Apps. However, if a smart  watch App gets too complicated or “fancy”, it will defeat the purpose of “wearable”. So, the design of GameHub is fairly simple. The front page shows six most commonly used gaming platforms, including Steam, Uplay, Origin, Battle.net, Xbox, and PlayStation. When the user click on a platform, the App will show messages that the user received from that platform.

GameHub also has quick response feature. When the user receives a friend request or gaming invitation, she can simply click “accept” or “ignore”. If she chooses “accept”, the App will automatically send a message responding to the requester, giving the user time to log in to the platform to manage the request. If the user agrees to let GameHub access APIs from these six platform, GameHub can also provide “one-click purchase” button below a message about a big sale.

The watch App illustrates the idea of minimalist design with no extra interfaces than basic notification and quick response feature. However, the user can view more detailed information on her phone. The smart phone App provides more information, such as details of the game on sale.

Prototype

The prototype is made of paper. There are two paper devices: Apple Watch and iPhone.

Screens for the watch is arranged as tiles. My initial idea is to fix the watch and move the paper below it, but it turned out to be very difficult. So, I decided to fix the paper and move the watch. With camera following the watch, the transition between pages is good.

There are two pages where the content is longer than the screen (PlayStation messages on watch App and platform select bar on the phone App’s bottom). To demonstrate scrolling effect on these two pages, I made longer pieces of paper with a handle that I can use to move the paper.

Feedback

Likes

1. Drawing watch screens on a large piece of paper works well. Compared with sliding the watch through a long piece of paper, this method helps tester to quickly locate the next screen.
2. Idea is great. “I’m not a gamer, but if I am, I would wonder why this App hasn’t existed already.” said one participant.
3. Demonstration video works well, especially the captions that tells what the current page does. Also, my participants like the music.
4. Drawing is great. One participant mentioned that she saw the logo of the game “Civilization” and realized that it was identical to the actual logo!

Need Improvement

1. The design is hard to achieve because gaming platforms would probably not willing to offer third-party access. As far as we know, only Steam has open APIs that allows developers to access user’s information.
2. The scrolling bar on the bottom of the smart phone App does not seem intuitive. One participant mentioned that she prefers a more clear layout of the six options rather than scrolling horizontally.

Overall, this design is innovative and has some potential in the future. The prototype also works well. There are some concerns to the design and layout that needs adjustments, but the design as a whole is very effective.