Making blog
Steve has laid out all the patterns for the Suction Saver suit and is beginning to sew component pieces together, the suit is coming to life!
Every maker knows the struggle of trying to digitally model an awkward, organic shape from scratch, which was exactly my roadblock for the Giraffe Hat project. Instead of fighting with calipers, I 3D scanned the physical hat to capture an exact, high-resolution digital replica of its quirky geometry. Now that I have successfully imported this precise mesh into my CAD software, I finally have the perfect foundation to start designing my custom modifications!
Our team members Steve and Brian visited our inventor Jaxon at his school to take measurements for the suction suit and talked to Jaxon and his class about the design process!
On April 22nd, I met Mackenzie! MacKenzie told me she was inspired to design this product because she has to time how long she reads for her class' reading log and thought it would be helpful to have both a light and a timer on hand! I think this a great idea, I had the same problems when I had to time myself for reading logs and I love to read when it's dark out. We discussed some different color ideas, and we decided to go with a color palette of purple, orange, and yellow.
This is a first step into my design process to make sure all the components will work as intended. Having these components in hand will also give me the ability to get physical dimensions off the real hardware so i can accurately create a CAD model of the final design.
Steve is working on the initial designs for the Suction Saver Suit, gathering supplies for construction and working out a pattern and measurement plan, stay tuned!
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 Adelina in May with her idea brought to life!
Steve Elliott, Creative Design Director, and the Team at PTI held a kickoff meeting with Little Inventor Jaxon and his teacher Sarah today. Jaxon shared what inspired the design, and the features it has, and how it can help people. Steve created an inspiration board to share with Jaxon and reviewed design features of the suit. Next steps will be to get measurements from Jaxon so that a pattern can be developed for constructing the suit!
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.