Making blog
Last week we had our introduction meeting with Yana! It was so great to meet her and learn more about her invention of "Bendy Handies". She explained how her favorite animal, the octopus, was her true inspiration for this invention, created to help humans lift and carry heavy items outside of their capability. She talked about her vision for how it should work, what it could do and the color it should be. It was a very insightful and informative meeting, and our team can't wait to get to work!
It was great to meet Emma today in our meeting! We talked about a lot of things since we both love flowers, butterflies and nature. She is such a brave girl who isn't afraid of bugs or small animals. Through her flower outfit she wants to encourage people to appreciate them more, and that is very inspiring! Her favorite colors are pink and purple, and she likes a lot of different types of flowers!
We are so excited to start building the Squeeze Bump! This special speed bump doesn’t just slow cars down. It also helps animals! Inside the bump is a small tunnel where squirrels and other little animals can safely cross the road without getting hurt. We think this is a fun and creative way to help people and animals share the world more safely. We can’t wait to start working on it!
Hi Milena! Here are pictures of the drafts we had shown you on our call. Zach, the engineer working on the Design, used CATIA, a CAD (computer aided design) tool to create the 3-D model for your invention. We are amazed by your ingenuity and imagination and can't wait to finish your invention! More to come :)
A brilliant 4th grader, Adelina, has created a safe and useful way to make feeding giraffes more comfortable for them. Adelina was inspired by the giraffes at the zoo on a recent field trip and thought that feeding them could be easier if someone invented a way for the food to come up to their mouths, rather than them bending down.
Our team at L&L Products had the first discovery meeting with Adelina, where we discussed exactly how she envisions this invention coming to life.
We look forward to surprising Adeline in May with her idea brought to life!
After sketching and having a solid idea on how it could look, I went into RHINO (a cad modeling software program), and began to make the base, branches, and 'leaves' in different parts. I used different 'commands' in the program, like revolve, and started by drawing in flat 3d then making it a surface then a 3d object (pushing and pulling). After that, we threw it into Keyshot which allows us to apply colors and materials to make it look real, like photography playing with lighting and scenery.
After meeting with Andrew, and thinking through how it could work, I began to sketch out some ideas. Keeping in mind having it look like a tree, I wanted to develop how the solar energy could work and how people can use it. For sketching, I just drew out some ideas then played with form (traced over) on my iPad to keep it working! I then kept in mind the scale , to show size and how people would interact with the concept.
TARUS presents final work on the HammoGlow idea by Ariana from Krause Elementary School of Armada School District. The MISD Little Inventors Event was held at Macomb Community College.
TARUS and Ariana worked on the idea called "HammoGlow" for months. It's a combination swing and hammock that generates electricity as the swing moves. The electricity generated lights up lights on the swing and can charge batteries for mobile phones.
The final reveal came at the Macomb CC event with a full-sized HammoGlow as well as a 3D printed version.
Ariana was joined by her parents and Kellee Witgen, Science & Engineering teacher from Krause Elementary. Also in attendance were the other chosen projects from the MISD Little Inventors Challenge. The event was packed with students, family and teachers to standing-room-only capacity.
I worked in Rhino, a 3D modelling program, to bring Sydney's idea into a 3D space.
I took some of the forms I sketched out in my ideation phase and explored them further in my refinement phase.
From our first meeting, I did some thumbnailing on possible forms for the boot. All of these ideas are very rough, but they help me feel out where the project may go.
Meeting one with Sydney happened on May 8th. We discussed some of her inspirations, as well as her vison for various colors, aesthetics, and a target market! It was helpful to hear her story behind the boots, as well as get some specifics as to how some of the functions of the boot were supposed to look.
Made some cool sketches for the Power Shoe and where the fan of the shoe would be placed in it! I also added some cool pictures of the Black Panther comic book series as inspiration.
It has been an amazing couple of weeks bringing the Pressure Energy to life! From using an engineering software to do a 3D rendering to using electric circuits in a city built out of Legos, the team has done a great job bringing it all together! We are excited to unveil the final product tomorrow at the event.
To begin, Andrew wanted to bring his idea of a tree-like object in parks and cities that can power people, their phones, maybe their EV's and bikes. His concept surrounded a solar powered and 'wind-sucking' leaves that can harvest and keep energy. First, I set guidelines based on what Andrew said and how he envisions his Tree- Winder: for who, how, what and why. Then, I decided to look into how we can make this possible with the technology we have now... taking some notes, looking into some articles, and highlighting key points so we have a scale and understanding of what we would need to make it work before sketching. I found this concept called 'piezolelectricity' which basically does exactly what Andrew said. Particles rub together and create energy- which can be kickstarted by wind, basically. This allowed name to brainstorm how we can make it work and where- a system of leaves, tied onto 'branches' which collect that energy than harvest it into the base and keep it in a reserve in the 'tree'!
I noticed that that you didn’t have a name for your fan! I filled it in with a filler name “SunBloom”. This isn’t the full poster, but I thought it would be nice for you to see the fan in motion before the big day. Had fun working on this!
We were delighted to host Krause Elementary School to showcase the construction of Ariana's idea for HammoGlow! Ariana's parents also joined us for the field trip.
We showed various areas of our operations, from engineering design in CAD (Computer Aided Design), machining, waterjet (which cuts sheet metal into parts using a very high-pressure stream of water), fabrication, paint and more.
The students were given an overview of TARUS and given gift bags as a thank you for their visit. We hope the students gained a better understanding of how a project like HammoGlow is created from an idea, designed, manufactured, and assembled. Thank you for coming!
The 3D model of my fan is still a work in progress, but it's almost finished! I recently adjusted the number of petals to improve its functionality and performance, and the overall structure is coming together really well. The last major step is adding the solar panels to the base pot, which will provide sustainable power to the fan. Once that’s complete, I’ll be ready to move on to rendering and bringing the final design to life.
TARUS is in the first stage of creating Ariana's HammoGlow idea! We are welding a bracket and machining a foot pad. More to come!
Using a program called Rhino 3D, I 3D modeled the panels for the walkway as well as a battery housing design to store energy generated by the walkway during the day. This a screenshot from the program using a rendered view.