Parts and labour

Since 2009, the Seine-Saint-Denis County Council has been backing “la Culture et l’Art au Collège (CAC)”. This project is based to a large extent on the presence in class for several weeks (40 hours) of an artist or scientist whose mission is to engage the students in a process of research and creation.

Contributors: engineers, designers

Objectives:
Engineers, makers and well-informed users – everyone who has appropriated 3D technology – are now seeking to redirect its basic principles to develop machines that are customised and specific as well as reproducible everywhere and by anyone. In this project, the class is invited to follow this philosophy by designing its own printer: custom-made – to be defined (to do what?), drawing, putting together (part by part) and testing and improving the equipment.   

Workshops:
Inside
The contributor brings a “standard” machine into the classroom. The students observe how the equipment works and different tests are carried out. They then study the technical instructions to dismantle the printer: mechanical, electronic and electrical parts, and the roles of the various components in each stage of the printing process. The students then examine the role of IT (control software, design programs, control interfaces).

3D Imagination
The class receives its specifications: maximum printing capacity, materials  (clay, chocolate, plastic), by adding/removing, speed, nature of the components (purchased/made), IT environment, assembling, recycling, etc. The students are given carte blanche for the design of the printer. The class orders the material needed to build its machine.  

Assembly
The students begin to assemble the printer; some parts need to be printed in 3D, others are directly welded or attached. Once the machine has been assembled, the class starts conducting the preliminary tests recommended in the specifications (variety of objects, materials, volumes). Adjustments are made (modifying parts, printing controls, etc.). At this stage, the class may ask advice from the “maker” community to improve the performance of its prototype. The class receives the list of tests that its machine must perform in real time. 

Photos : PIERRE ANTOINE