Its been a very short week in my new world. Lots of things have come but luckily I come out with a smile on my face. When weeks like this come up, my brain starts churning and really cool ideas start to bubble up. The winner among it all is a new project taking up my work bench, if I can make this work (let me rephrase, WHEN I get this to work,) I hope to have an artistic and engineering masterpiece. 

Think you know what Im attempting? Take a good long guess…

A working freehanded 3D printed model of a keyboard!

I’ve been trying for a long while to figure out how else to integrate this 3D Doodler Pen that I acquired a few weeks ago into a more musical setting, what better way to do so than print an instrument? I’m integrating STEM and the Arts seamlessly into one giant project that will hopefully impress when finished.

I’ve drawn up my plans, I hope to make this 14 X 6 not sure of the exact height yet but will know more when I create the inner workings. What I have planned is to freehand the actual parts of the keyboard using my Pen and that way it is mostly drawn and formed plastic, the only piece that will not be plastic  is the spring system I am designing in order for the keys to snap back into place like a real keyboard when played.

Did I mention this keyboard will be functional? Using my Makey Makey kit, the Alligator clips will be wired to the keys and will have aluminum foil pieces attached to the base, so when the clip touches the foil, the piano sounds will come to life!

When it all comes together, it should be a 5 key working keyboard. I might even go a step further and try to use Scratch to program my own sounds, but we’ll see about that!

All the materials and equipment I am using so far:

•  3D Doodler Pen
• Makey Makey
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Pen
• iPad (Drawing app for design)
• dowel
• springs
• laptop

That’s all I have right now on my equipment list. I don’t think I’ll be using any more. Trying to keep it as simple as possible!

   This project will integrate:Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Music, and Math into one amazing project. 

    I’ll post pics along the way, the more feedback I get on this, the more I’ll consider creating a project workbook and assessment for actual classroom use. So pass this along and let me know if I should put some time into those pieces.

     Right now the base is hardening and I am starting work on the keys. Next step is to complete the 3D form of the keyboard and finish the keys!

What do you think of my crazy idea? Would this be a possible class project you would try?