While 3D printing tackles a number of challenging design and manufacturing projects, don’t forget the fun projects.

by Tyler Reid
A couple of summers ago, I had the opportunity to build a drone for our company’s roadshow event and, while it was challenging, it was also a ton of fun. Yes, I got paid to design, build, and (sort of) fly a quadcopter.

How did it all come about?

I got an itch to take on another project, so I decided to test my luck and asked management to do another run of the 3D Printing Roadshows. Fully expecting to be denied, I was surprised when I received the go-ahead. As it turns out, our customers liked the roadshow events as much as I did!

All I had to do was come up with a compelling project.

Wanting to keep the remote-control theme, and being nostalgic about the handful of Tyco RC cars I drove into the ground during the ‘90s, the choice was natural—RC Car it is!

 

DIY drones
We focused more on the front-end of the 3D printing process, for example, we walked through a cutting-edge Design for Print workflow that includes reverse engineering, analysis-driven design, parametric CAD, and of course 3D printing.

The product development life cycle has changed over time, and with it, so have the tools we use.

Modern, digital tools such as 3D scanners and morphogenetic CAD systems are playing a more important role in the contemporary engineer’s life. These tools allow us to create lighter, more accurate, more efficient designs at an unprecedented rate.

 

Go Engineer
www.goengineer.com

If you’re interested in learning practical uses of 3D scanning, how simple topology optimization can quickly guide you down the right path on your latest design, or how 3D printing turns all of the above into reality, please feel free to email me directly at treid@goengineer.com.