Abstract:

Even though 3D technologies of design and fabrication have been used in industry for decades, they undoubtedly currently belong among the set of the most rapidly advancing technologies in the past decade, especially in terms of decreasing their cost enabling their wide-spread use and rise of popularity. In line with this trend, many schools have directly or through various national/European financing schemes invested substantial resources in the equipment for in-house simple 3D manufacturing. Some 3D printers, laser cutters, simple CNC machines, and other equipment can be found today in many if not most of the schools in several countries. On the other hand, school and after school labs and clubs managers are now facing a serious challenge: how to integrate these powerful technologies into wider scope of curricula in technical education and informatics. There is a certain availability of free software and tutorials that allow learners to get acquainted with fundamentals. There is almost an unlimited variety of 3D designs of items that can be further tinkered, modified. We have also contributed to this effort with programmable educational robots with 3D printed and/or laser-cut body, and we have successfully used them in several summer camps. However, the potential of the technology goes further. Parametric and configurable designs allow high-flexibility and easy customization of the design for a particular need of the end-user, which is particularly interesting in the age of Industry 4.0. In addition, generative methods allow creative designs with high degree of both esthetic value and functional effectiveness, while keeping a flexible and efficient representation of the design, and utilizing computer power and optimization processes in the process of the design. The aim of our work was to prepare a course module that could be used as part of technical education in technical secondary schools, or in after-school labs and clubs, such as the popular Fablabs. The module focuses on parametric and generative design from the introduction to advanced concepts touching relevant research topics. The output is a wiki site that takes the role of a textbook, set of exercises with materials for students as well as teachers. They all include a set of prepared models that demonstrate the power of parametric and generative design. We have evaluated the course on a pilot study in Fablab Bratislava, and we provide the lessons learned in our article.

Keywords:

3D, parametric design, generative design, course, fablab.