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Make:able Challenge: Design & 3D Print Assistive Technology for the Disabled

Service bureau PrintLab is partnering with Autodesk for an exciting new competition for schools. The make:able challenge represents what should be a remarkable technological journey for students and teachers as they are invited to use either Tinkercad or Fusion 360 software  (both options are products of Autodesk) and 3D printing to make free, assistive technology with the following directions:

“Design and make a product or prototype that improves the day-to-day life of someone who struggles with mobility in their hands.”

This comprehensive challenge—and learning experience for students—is centered around an online toolkit provided for students, including a teacher’s guide and accompanying lesson plans. Students are expected to team up into smaller groups and use the toolkit as a foundation for increasing their design skills, especially in 3D—with the use of Autodesk products. More importantly, though, the competition is designed to help them find meaning in their communities, whether locally or online, as well as learning about how individuals must cope with disabilities and can use assistive technology for a better quality of life.

Make:able toolkits also offer inspiration through the following:

  • Stories and example solutions
  • Worksheets and a variety of activities designed to encourage a human-centered approach and teach empathy
  • Methods for encouraging design-based thinking for creating concepts and opportunities
  • Directing students to tell their story through their work
  • Designing, 3D printing, testing, and making changes to products

“Having supported hundreds of schools with 3D printing curriculum, we have witnessed firsthand some amazing student talent across the globe,” said Jason Yeung, Co-Founder of PrintLab. “It is our belief that this talent should expand outside of the classroom and be put to use on real-world challenges that have a positive impact on society.”

The key behind PrintLab and Autodesk partnering was to create an integrative program for schools to help encourage students in design and 3D printing, highlighting their work in both digital and AM processes.

“By participating in the make:able challenge, students will experience The Future of Making to help design and make a better world,” said Steven Parkinson, Education Manager at Autodesk.

Students ages 18 and under are eligible to participate in the make:able challenge, to be included in the following types of educational courses:

  • Design and technology classes
  • Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) lessons
  • After-school programs
  • Workshops
  • Distance and remote learning opportunities

Teachers who register for the make:able program will receive challenge toolkits on September 1st. The teacher’s pack includes development resources and guided lesson plans. Entries are to be judged by a panel of experts in April 2021, with prizes including 3D printers for winning teams.

Challenges like make:able stress both the importance of using innovation and 3D printing to do good in the world, as well as the importance of STEM education for the younger generations. Many projects are designed to interest more girls in 3D printing—a powerful tool for STEM—as well as creating workshops and specific STEM apps for kids.  Find out more here.

[Source / Images: PrintLab]

The post Make:able Challenge: Design & 3D Print Assistive Technology for the Disabled appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

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3D Printing in Africa: 3D Printing in Ghana

3D printed hydraulic robot

3D printing in Ghana can be considered to be in transition from the early to middle stage of development. This is in comparison with other active countries such as South Africa or Kenya. Despite the slow development, the West African country has brought quite unique and interesting innovations to the 3D printing ecosystem.

Klaks 3D printer

When one looks at Ghana’s 3D printing landscape, the most outstanding story is the university students who built a 3D printer from electronic waste. The students identified as Klaks 3D took two weeks to build a 3D printer using electronic waste for the bulk of the components. The innovation was intended to enhance teaching and learning basics in schools, particularly in 3D printing. From an African viewpoint, this is encouraging and motivating and even from an environmental worldview, this could be an inspiration. The students approach aligns very well with the principle of zero waste: make a printer from waste and print objects at zero waste.

Student flying 3D printed drone

Another interesting development from Ghana’s 3D printing landscape is the building of a drone by students from a private university. The students at Ashesi University constructed the drone using 3D printed parts and actually posted a video on their Facebook wall showing its flight. The drone is still more of a prototype but is more than good enough to further democratize drone technology. It is not known how long it took the students to build the drone but at least it’s a very positive start.

Little girl with 3D printed arm prosthesis.

A very recent development worth mentioning is the partnership between Tech Era (award winning tech non-profit based in Ghana) and Dextra (Canadian based social enterprise and engineering company) for the creation of an Assistive Technology Makerspace in Ashesi University. The purpose for this development is to create and develop teaching and learning materials for learners with disabilities. Using 3D printing, students working in the Ashesi D-lab will design and develop learning materials for assistive technologies for children with disability. This is a promising development for children with disabilities as they will be able to participate in STEM related programs and make use of the assistive technologies in the future. One can only imagine the joy and relief such an initiative will bring to both the parents and their children with disabilities. The thought of developing learning materials so that they are equipped to be able to participate in the economy is more than blessing if one would put that way. This initiative by Ghana should surely spread to the rest of the continent. I am positive it will make a massive impact not only in Ghana but the continent at large.

Ghana is still treading the journey in utilizing 3D printing technology and with the above mentioned developments they are getting there. The West African country is also on a positive growth phase and so a market based approach would work for Ghana considering the kind of development that it wishes to pursue with 3D printing technology. Delivery of products and services to underprivileged and undeserved markets is very important and required for economic growth and improving standard of living. Funding and resource mobilisation may be important for Ghana in its pursuit to applying 3D printing. The young generation has great interest and are enthusiastic with an eagerness to provide solutions. This is a very healthy condition for 3D printing and an innovative community will emerge as the technology develops.

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Philippines: Researchers Create 3D Printing App for Learning Braille

To lose one of your senses, or to be born without such faculties, means being left out of so much that society and culture have to offer—until your world is opened through another route like sign language or hearing aids or in the case of the visually impaired, Braille. Now, researchers from the Philippines are exploring the world of assistive technology further in ‘Braille3D: using haptic and voice feedback for braille recognition and 3D printing for the blind.’

With the goal of helping the visually impaired to enjoy more access to technology and greater ease in learning Braille, the researchers began working on a mobile educational app to include both haptic and voice feedback. The app, meant for kindergarten students, is designed around learning Braille, but also 3D printing, and it functions with their use of their smart phones. Because the students are so young, most of the lessons are basic in terms of presenting elementary Braille lessons.

Learning module for letter A

The app is made up of modules for learning the Braille characters and spelling, and users can review each character along with following example words—and then if desired, they can 3D print that word in Braille if a model is available. They can also learn to count to nine.

“The user can visit this module to learn and review the pattern for each Braille characters. Each letter shall have example words that the app will read to the student when prompted, as well as an option to 3D print that word example if there is an available 3D model for that word,” state the researchers. “The learning module for the numbers shall be presented in an orderly manner to also teach the user to count from zero to nine.

Teachers are also involved, assessing progress of the students and then assigning new exercises. They can add more example words, along with adding more 3D models into the mix. The students can 3D print through wireless communications or USB, as well as using a 3D printing application developed for this project.

“Since this process might be too complex for a kindergarten student, the teacher, or someone who has knowledge in 3D printing, must handle the 3D printing process,” state the researchers.

The potential for 3D printing in education is already being tapped around the world, with students of all ages enjoying design and printing labs, along with completing many different complex projects—and even items like prosthetics for others in need. But here, 3D printing and the use of educational models are serving as reading comprehension and literacy aids.

“Since blind people have difficulty in gathering/accessing information, 3D printing can be of aid to the visual impaired community,” state the researchers. “Moreover, 3D printed objects give the person the form and structure of the 3D model through the sense of touch. Thus, giving the justification of the relevance of 3D printing in the proposed topic. Other researches were focused on a tactile-based solution to improve touchscreen mobile interface exploration by blind users.”

The educational app, created on Android, consists of five phases, and students can select which exercises they want to do within their assigned work. They can 3D print models by choosing the machine of their choice within the systems that show up in their settings. The researchers used a da Vinci 1.0 AiO 3D printer for testing at the Philippine National School for the Blind (PNSB) and found that fabrication of a model like a rabbit took around four hours. Overall, the success rate for students engaging in this type of learning was found to be high.

In conclusion, the authors stated:

“The proponents have noted that the application is exceedingly beneficial to totally blind students because it helped them understand and gain familiarization to the Braille characters faster than the traditional devices they are using. The proponents recommend looking on more functionalities which can be beneficial to the development of this assistive technology.”

Many different 3D printing innovations have been geared toward the blind, whether in museum paintings that allow them to enjoy the artistic experience, creating campus maps for university students so they can find their own way around, or enjoying other types of educational models, and so much more. What do you think of this news? Let us know your thoughts! Join the discussion of this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com.

Totally blind students’ success rate and then partially blind students’ success rate

[Source / Images: ‘Braille3D: using haptic and voice feedback for braille recognition and 3D printing for the blind’]