Mickey Mouse Telescoping Fidget

Summary Continued: collaboration with @JasonWang_3775776 and @VanyaNar_3771481 

Lesson Plan and Activity: 

Problem Statement: You will create a Print-In-Place telescoping fidget by creating multiple offsets, drafted extrusions, and cuts in Solidworks. You will work with a partner to review your initial designs, provide feedback to each other, and troubleshoot any issues that arise. Both partners must end up with matching designs. 

Constraints:

• The sketch must begin with a centered rectangle at the origin to serve as a constraint box 
• Design either a large-handled model or a nested/tessellation layout
• Your design should not exceed the 18x18cm constraint box. 
• Dimensions and geometric relations should be applied efficiently 
• Fully defining your sketch is not required, but recommended
• The sketch should be free of errors
• Efficient application of “Offset Entities” must be demonstrated
• Apply different color schemes using different filament colors
• Check for small errors in sketches or features that could affect the final print
• Recording design decisions, changes, and reasoning to explain the design process more clearly

Design Process:

1. Initial Inspiration 

For this project, we chose Mickey Mouse because it was simpler compared to the rest of our silhouette ideas, and we thought it would have a cool telescoping effect. 
 

2. Tracing 

After choosing our silhouette, we imported our image into Solidworks and set an 18x18cm constraint box.  We shrunk our image to ensure it does not exceed the size limit. After that, we started tracing the figure using the circle tool and the ellipse tool. Then we fully defined the sketch. 

3. Offsets 

We started off by offsetting the sketch as a whole, alternating the distances of 0.08cm and 0.24cm. The wall thickness was 0.08cm, while the spacing for the walls was 0.24cm. We continued this until we ran into a couple of problems.

3-1. Ellipses

Once we applied the offsets of the outer ring, we reached a point where the offsets were overlapping each other at the ears. So instead of stopping there and having a bunch of dead space, we decided to create an ellipse on the left ear and offset that. We then mirrored the ellipses so there was an ellipse in each ear. Each offset for the ring thickness was 0.08cm, and each offset for the ring spacing was 0.24cm. 

3-2. Circle 

Since we stopped the offsets at a certain point, the middle of the Mickey Mouse figure was empty. We decided to add a circle to the center and offset that. This way, we are maximizing the space to add as many offsets as possible. We continued the offsets until we no longer had the space to continue. As previously stated, each offset for the ring thickness was 0.08cm, and each offset for the ring spacing was 0.24cm. 

4. Extruding 

After setting all our offsets, we were ready to extrude. We first extruded our outer ring by 0.75cm at a 32.37-degree angle. Then we selected the next offset and did a cut. However, instead of typing in the height again, we did up to surface in case we wanted to change the height. We repeated these steps until we reached the last offset. 

5. Mirroring

Once we were done extruding, we mirrored the extrude.

 

6. Fillets 

After extruding and mirroring, we realized the sides of the Mickey Mouse were sharp, which could potentially play a factor in how it telescoped upwards. To prevent this from happening, we added fillets to the outer edge and the inside of the first ring. This gave the final result a cleaner and smoother look. 

Design Choices: 

1. Outer Ring

When we printed our first version, we noticed that the walls were way too flexible than they should have been. This caused the whole fidget to be squishy and have a higher chance of breaking. To fix this, we changed the outer offset from 0.08cm to 0.2cm. This made the outer ring thicker, and the rest of the offsets remained the same. 

2. Center Circle

In our initial version, we had a cut and extrude in the center circle until we could no longer perform more cuts and extrudes. This caused a very small circle in the center, and this small circle was holding the entire telescope. This caused the print to fail and have a hole in the center. To fix this, we got rid of the last cut and extrude, making the last circle bigger. 

3. Colors

Vanya’s Colors 

After finishing the design of our final version, we all decided to use different colors. Vanya decided to do a sandwich where the top and bottom layers are blue and the middle is black. Since the first print was printed in the wrong color, we decided to print it again. 

Jason’s Colors

Instead of doing the sandwich with two colors, Jason did it with three. He had the top layer grey, the bottom layer yellow, and the middle layer red. This gave a cool effect when telescoping because there are multiple different colors in the middle.

My Colors

I did a similar color design to mine. I had the bottom and top layer lavender and the middle layer as black. I thought this looked nice because the lavender was bright compared to the black, which gave it a nice contrast.