CDIO design education collaboration using 3D-desktop printers

Abstract

Desktop 3D-printers are now a low-cost commodity product, and have been increasingly used in engineering education. The ability for students to print a prototype of their design is naturally a step forward in the education of engineering design. This paper describes a new approach for using 3D-printers where the students shall collaborate on a design of a compounded product, consisting of different parts. Functional requirements, distribution of tolerances, design envelopes etc. must be handled. QA measures, 3D-printed material properties, variation management etc. need to be addressed. The paper describes the pedagogical methods used and the results from interviews among the students in the class. The education is based on the CDIO educational framework.