Industrial - Bachelors
EduPrint is a 3D printing system designed to make maintenance in a school system simple and easy for teachers. It does this through a wear-tracking system that predicts when part wear may be affecting print quality, or parts may be reaching failure.
3D Printer maintenance remains one of the biggest hurdles for the use of 3D Printers in schools and education settings. Teachers lack the time and training to keep their printers running well without failure.
Teachers use printers from a surprising range of price points, with some using more affordable hobbyist printers, and some using expensive professional printers. The problem with this is that neither of these types of printers fulfils the needs of a teacher. The EduPrint aims to fit this gap in the market.
The design process started with an online survey and an interview with a 3D printer and robotics educator. The survey was focused on finding the pain points and positive features of existing printers in use in schools. This survey was aimed at teachers of all skill levels with 3D printers. The interview was used to get more details and examples of how 3D printers are failing in schools.
The survey results showed that a lot of teachers were already trying to use printers in their teaching, and half of the teachers have tried multiple printers. It also showed some pain points including general usability, slicing, maintenance, print speed, ease of use and post-processing.
The survey also revealed that teachers are buying a large variety of 3D printers. Somewhere using standard FDM printers, some where using using. But the biggest surprise was the variety in the cost of printers, with some teachers using very affordable entry level printers like theEnder 3, and some using quite expensive desktop printers, like the Makerbot replicator+. The most interesting part of this is the fact that neither of these printers are really good options for teachers. The Ender 3 is very much a hobbyist printer, with a lot of time and effort needed to get it running well and keep it running well. On the other hand the Makerbot is slightly overkill for what a school needs, with lots of features a teacher will never use, and lacking some general features teachers need. Like an enclosure and heated bed. I plan on creating an option that hopefully fits this gap in the market.
The interview was incredibly helpful in getting a better understanding of how teachers use printers and the problems they face. One of the most telling things I was told was a story about a teacher who had a printer and was using it with his class of around 30 students. He needed to get a print done for each of those students towards the end of the term. But his printer suddenly was printing much worse and failing more often. The solution he was able to come up with in his limited time, was to go buy a new printer. And the “broken” printer was just shelved in a cupboard. It turned out that the only problem with the printer was the nozzle was worn down because the teacher was only printing in glow in the dark filament, which is incredibly abrasive. This abrasion had led the printer nozzle to almost double in size, heavily affecting print quality and success rate.
The teacher just wasn’t aware that nozzles are consumable parts, and that filament abrasion was even a factor when printing. Now this teacher could run a 3D printer just fine but didn’t understand enough about printers to troubleshoot and fix a problem.
To help test the basic dimensions and ergonomics, a cardboard model of the basic printer shape was created.
EduPrint is a 3d printer focused on streamlining the printing and maintenance experience within schools.
The printer is designed to be used on a desk, and sizing wise its pretty standard for a 3d printer.
The biggest feature of the EduPrint is the early warning wear tracker. The wear tracking system is much like the odometer on your car, and aims to provide teachers with reminders and estimations on when to replace consumable parts on the printer.
The three main parts this system will focus on are the nozzle of the printer, and the thermistors responsible for heating the hot end and the bed. The nozzle will be tracked through G-code, which are the commands given to the printer to print an object. The thermistor performance can be tracked by how long it takes to heat up. If at the start of the thermistor life it was taking 4 minutes to heat fully, and now it’s taking 10, a change may be needed
The EduPrint also features a fully enclosed print area, as well as a heated filament storage area to try and help with filament longevity.
Nick is an Industrial Designer with a passion for emerging technologies and using Advanced Manufacturing. He aims to work in product design, specifically designing practical products that make people's everyday lives more enjoyable. In his own time, Nick enjoys building and flying drones and fishing from his kayak.