I've started with "Should there be 3D printers included in the curriculum of the ARET program"
But there are so many variables to go with this. Are they worth it? 3D printers can get pretty expensive for some, with high quality, or cheap for other with not as high quality. There are many mid range printers as well, with a level of quality that works just fine for our uses.
But the cost is not just the cost of the printer, there is also material and maintenance. From looking around at different companies, the average price of the material is about $45 - $80 per kilogram of that material (for printers that use extrusion deposition). Some companies that print the model for you quote prices in m³, with prices like $2.50/m³ for plastic up to $20.00/m³ for stirling silver. But I doubt we'll be printing with stirling silver.
It also depends on how the printer works. There is a great blog post talking about the 'real' cost of 3D printing, explaining everything you must take into account that is not generally explained to you. There is the waste material, support material (the stuff printed to hold the model together while the rest is printed), and even glue to stick the different parts of your model together. Here is the blog post, I believe it is worth a read: http://www.engineering.com/3DPrinting/3DPrintingArticles/ArticleID/4280/The-Real-Cost-of-Materials.aspx
Yet the models them selves are not all that expensive. This model here is at a scale that I believe we would print our models to, if we had the chance.
The link to the model is here: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:33310
If you don't want to check the link, the model only weighs 65 grams, and appears to maybe 15-20 centimeters across. If we think maybe of how much material went towards support and waste, I imagine the cost of the model to be around 100 to 150 grams. At $50 per kilogram, that model costs about $5.00 to $7.50. And this is just from one type of printer, there are more efficient models coming out each day.
If the ARET program paid for the printer, I feel like we students could pay for our models, seeing as that price is still fairly cheap depending on the printer.
Some other questions I need to think about is the durability of different 3D printers, and how long they last. What does the maintenance cost with them? How often do you have to replace parts? At least with the RepRap if a part is going, you can print out a replacement (provided the printer still works).
And then finally, how would we use the printers in our program? What classes would we use them in? I personally can see uses in almost every class, from statics (imagine just printing out some of the 3D statics questions and actually properly seeing what was going on) to any of our building modeling classes, where we could print the models of our houses. For the building design classes, are the models worth it? Its certainly something cool to keep, and if it prints so that you can take it apart, it shows your model fantastically. It might even be something to show to a future employer to help you stand out.
Maybe with 3D printing the models, we can gain more interest for the program and get more clients for projects, or get more people applying to join the program?
Anyways, those are my thoughts on the topic. I'll probably be researching mostly into how other Universities or classrooms have integrated their 3D printer into their curriculum, all the while thinking of these questions.
I am wondering how the ARET program would incorporate the use of these printers into the program? Would a new course be developed or would the printer be used for all courses and by all years?
ReplyDeleteI figure the 3D printers could be used for quite a few classes already. Like Brandon and Kristyne pointed out, it would not do to get rid of hand building models entirely. I could see the printers being used in conjunction with hand building models though.
DeleteAnd then another interesting class to use them in would be Statics. While we ourselves would probably not use the printer, Mindy could print out examples before class, and bring them to class for examples. We could have small mock ups of beams, trusses, and those fun 3D questions that are tough to wrap your head around off the bat. It'd be nice to show what a moment is like that too.
While I confess I cant really think of many uses for Walter's classes (well, maybe printing out a plumbing system without the building around it, that would be cool), there could be some use there.
Thats what I envision a printer would do in the program, have uses within all classes, and be used by the students for design if they want to.
i think the idea of a 3D printer is interesting. The ability to design something in autocad then print it and then be able to hold it rather then having to look at through a screen is cool. however i also feel that it doesnt have a large enough impact in an architecture program to be utilized for the cost. i think that it would be best suited for a mechanical engineering program where part design is something regularly done. i also think that in this type of program models should be built by hand to learn modeling skills and to include the artistic aspect into the course, although cool, i think the printer would take away from that.
ReplyDeleteThat could be something you could mention in your research project, how 3D printers, as fascinating as they are do take away a bit from the personalized hand crafted models. However, It could also be possible to incorporate both in the mix, a printed 3D model with handcrafted touches. I do think it wouldn't be possible to have some of the large skyscraper models out there without the use of 3D printers, but for the ARET program I must agree with Brandon. I really like how our program incorporates other aspects of design, not just entirely done on a computer. My favorite thing we've done to date, is make the laneway model. Having a 3D printer would most likely raise the price of the program as well, making it impossible for some to even consider taking the ARET program.
ReplyDelete@Brandon @K deFouw
DeleteI personally find myself agreeing with both of you. I think thats what drew me to this program, was the thought of the design of the buildings and then building the model or sketching them. I found that part extremely enjoyable, and would actually like more.
But to bring back the 3d printing aspect of it, the great part about it is that its much faster than hand building a model. So whats to say we wouldn't do both? Hand build a model, and then print a final copy later. One for marks, the other for just looking at it.
You could also print out models throughout stages of your design, and then hand build one at the final stage? It is definitely something I want to think about, and confront with my research.
As for other uses for 3D printers other than just design, I'm going to reply to Teralynn with my ideas on that
Thats an interseting point. The use of a 3D printed model could be used for studing the light flow into a building, a light could be set-up to observe the shadows casted from sky-scrapers as well. I think there could be a lot of uses for it when looking at the aerodynamics of different structures. All this would be taking advantage of the accuracy of the 3D printer for the use in research.
DeleteHey i found this company http://production3dprinters.com/
ReplyDeletethey make various materials for 3d printers. they have data sheets for all their materials.
They have some very interesting plastics including fiber reinforced plastics which are much stronger than a regular plastic and ceramic reinforced plastic, which i found particularily interesting for its thermal proporties.
Thats actually really cool. It allows printers to go beyond just printing models or prototypes, to actually printing cool useable things.
DeleteHeres a video on 3D metal printing... I think it is right in line with your research. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20R9nItDmPY
ReplyDeleteThats pretty interesting, but I see metal printing being more applicable to an industrial environment, instead of an academic environment.
DeleteI believe that although a 3D printer would be really awesome, I don't think it would be beneficial to the program as we honestly don't do a whole lot of modelling. The only real modelling we did was in Dales class in 1st year. Do you know of any other uses they are using 3D printers for other than construction project?
ReplyDeleteI replied to Teralynn with other uses of a 3D printer within our program. While yes, we only do that one building modeling class, I imagine we could bring that more into our other classes, like the autocad and revit ones we took.
DeleteThat, and I see it being a great use for teaching assistance. To be able to print in 3D some statics or physics questions to be able to see it in person, would really help some of the students in the program to better understand the concepts I think.
Wouldn't 3D printers have lots of intangible benefits if used for the ARET programs? Having a model explaining a concept is useful on so many levels.
ReplyDeleteInvestors could get a real understanding and see that there is feasibility behind the work, especially if they are not schooled well in architecture. Male model Derek Zoolander once built a school for kids with learning disabilities after seeing a model for the potential that it could cause.
In terms of educational benefits (with no relation to those provided by Mr. Zoolander) there could be tangible rewards if models were used in the everyday classroom in order to explain new concepts or structural design. Learning takes place in many forms and visualization is one of these channels. With visual skills being a key part of having success with the ARET program visual learning should be maximized as much as possible and it would seem that using models such as those produced by 3D printers would lead to great gains in learning.
Tangible objects that show the fruition of your labour in a small time-frame would also lead to increased active learning in the classroom. We are all monkeys. Looking to reap the rewards of our labour. If 3D printers have the possibility to increase enrollment and help retain those already enrolled the fixed costs would be negligible in the long run.
One argument against the 3D printers is to look at the rate the technological advances have grown over the last 5-7 years. 3D printing has become exponetially cheaper and there have been increased methods of 3D printing which produce similar results. The question should not be "if" 3D printers are worth their costs but rather "when" they will be.
If current trends continue holding out to buy a 3D printer for educational gains would be cheaper, but would it be worth the loss incurred from the benefits being thrown away from not having one?
-Shaq ONeill no relation to John
I see you are as skilled on the basketball court as you are on the internet court, Shaq. I would have to agree with you, the way prices are coming down, it is only a matter of time before printers become common place.
DeleteIncreased enrollment is definitely one of the benifits I was thinking about for our program as well. If we can get people excited about parts of the course, and wanting to come into the program, that means more money goes into the program and we get a higher quality of learning.
While those who are already concrete in their choice of post secondary learning will probably choose this program regardless of if we have a 3D printer or not, having one would help convince those people who are on the fence about the issue.
As many people have mentioned, it would definitely be useful for modelling our buildings and houses. I also think it could be extremely useful in Mindy's first year Materials course. For somebody like who me who had no idea of how a house is framed, I believe it would have been very beneficial if we could 3D print the parts for a house (or small section of a house) in order to get a hands-on visual of the process. Previous years have proved that the program doesn't NEED a 3D printer, but that doesn't mean it can't be beneficial!
ReplyDeleteOh same here, I had no prior experience to the construction industry before this class. Having something like that in 3D would have helped me immensely.
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