Rapman in Education

From Wiki

Contents 1 Rapman in Education. 2 Rapman. 3 Software. 4 Teaching and Learning Resources 5 Design to Manufacture. 6 Links to CAD/CAM in Education Sites.

Rapman in Education.

The area most likely to use a Rapman in schools is the Design and Technology (D&T) department. In the UK D&T is quite a diverse subject area covering Product Design; Resistant Materials Technology (RMT); Engineering; Systems and Control or Electronics; Manufacturing; Graphic Products and also Textiles Technology and Food Technology. At Key Stage 3 (11 – 14) these areas are usually taught as a foundation style course where the students may experience most of these areas. At KS4 (14-16) students can choose whether to continue with a D&T course usually in one of the specialist areas. Their studies often lead to a GCSE qualification although some schools are now offering Diplomas. At KS5 students can further their studies with a one year AS level or two year A2 level (A’level) qualification. In most courses there is now a requirement for CAD/CAM (Computer aided design/Computer aided manufacture) to be included in the course. This includes the use of design software and outputting the results to a variety of different machines. The hardware adopted by schools is very dependent on the funding available; many schools have CNC (Computer Numerically Controlled) milling machines or routers and increasingly laser cutters are used. In Textiles Technology many schools use computer controlled embroidery machines. Some schools are now investigating the use of Rapid Prototyping (RP) machines but many find the cost of purchase and running costs prohibitive. Some schools and Local Authorities are purchasing machines as a consortium... but this has the disadvantage that the students rarely come into contact with this technology.

Rapman.

With the cost of RP machines still being prohibitively high some schools have been looking for alternatives. This is where Rapman comes into its own. Rapman costing around £750 is within reach of many schools and can be assembled either as a part of a GCSE/AS/A2 or Diploma course or even in an extracurricular club. There is of course the added advantage that the end result is a very useable RP machine.

Software.

Having a Rapman is fine but you need software to create your designs. The software in schools is again quite varied. For 2D design many schools have standardised on Techsoft 2D Design TechsoftUK(not so useful for creating designs for Rapman!). But for 3D design there are several alternatives. Some schools have adopted Autodesk Inventorwhich has free copies available to students, some use Solidworksand many are also using Google Sketchup. In The UK (and other countries) schools have free access to PTC (Parametric Technology Corporation) software provided that the teachers have had training. Until recently the PTC software has been Pro/DESKTOP but since PTC stopped supporting the development of this they have made Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 4 (schools edition) available- again students can use a free copy at home.

Teaching and Learning Resources

There is a range of FREE teaching and learning resources available on this wiki. These resources cover many different aspects of the use of RapMan in education from first 3D prints through to advanced design and make projects. Many of the projects have sample .stl files to get students (and teachers) started. RapMan is obviously very suitable for use in Design & Technology (STEM) but why not consider using it in other subjects too, there are projects that cover a wide range of curriculum areas such as geography, history, science, mathematics etc... a great way to start cross curricular projects and links between different subject areas.

The resources can be found on this page Teaching Resources

And for up to date ideas and information why not visit Dave White's (unofficial) blog RapMan-Education Posterous and of course the BfB Forum Education Board

Design to Manufacture.

The route to manufacture in schools is likely to be as follows (using PTC Software and a Rapman). Initial ideas may be sketched by hand.> Designs produced as parts or assemblies in Pro/ENGINEER (or Pro/DESKTOP)> Pro/E designs are exported as .stl files > .stl files post processed using Skeinforge to produce g-code > G-code saved to SD card > SD card inserted into Rapman and printed .

using Pro/ENGINEER with rapman in schools

Links to CAD/CAM in Education Sites.

• Why not have a look at recent posts on the Education Board on the BfB forum
• CAD/CAM in Schools