Lesson video

Hi there, everyone.

My name is Mr. Booth.

And welcome to your design and technology lesson for today.

It's brilliant that you could join me.

Today we are gonna be designing and simulating in Tinkercad.

That means once you've designed some models, you can actually test them with real physics to see if they are stable, but also things like simulating movement.

This is part of your Prototypes with mechanisms: robotics and automation unit.

By the end of today's lesson, I want you to be able to design and simulate a complex robot using Tinkercad.

We're gonna make your robots move.

We have four keywords for today.

The first one is simulation, and in this context of Tinkercad, this means physics-based digital testing of CAD models.

What that means is that means we're gonna take your models, we're gonna put them into a physics-based world in Tinkercad, and then we're gonna apply things like gravity to them to then see how they react.

To make this work, we need connectors.

That's our next keyword and this is how we join parts together that allow movement in Tinkercad.

We also have another very important aspect of our designs, that is stability.

You've got to be able to create stable designs to be able to use Tinkercad Simulate.

This is the extent to which a model is likely to fall over if a force is applied.

And then finally material because we can modify the materials we use in Tinkercad to see how they behave.

And in this context, the material is, of course, is what the object is made from.

We have two learning cycles today.

The first is all about Sim Lab, Tinkercad's simulation area.

So let's go and take a look.

Tinkercad Sim Lab allows physics-based digital testing of computer aided design models and there's lots of different ways we can test our models.

One of them is that you could conduct drop tests on an object to see if it falls, to see if it breaks, and also to see what happens when you maybe change the materials and see the differences between those.

You can do stability checks to see if models balance or fall.

Very important if you are designing things like robots or buildings for example.

You can simulate motion so we can make our robots move.

We could also change the materials of that as well to see if it moves in different ways.

And again, yes, there we go.

We can use lots of different materials in our models to see the difference in how they behave.

There are several editable variables that you can change in Sim Lab to make your designs and your simulations far more realistic.

So we're gonna have a look at a few of these now.

And by harnessing these different variables, you will be able to create more realistic simulations for your testing.

Now the first one is, of course, the throwables.

Now once you click on your Sim Lab icon, which is the little apple falling, you then get some options and the first option is to change throwable objects.

Now throwable objects are good fun.

It means when you click your left mouse button, you get to throw something at your model.

But there is actually a real reason behind this.

For example, if you had designed something that moves, you might want to throw something at it to simulate it being moved.

Or you might have designed a game and you might want to use a ball to actually use that game.

A bit like an animation.

So the first thing we need to do is we need to click on the throwables icon.

And then what you do is you get your menu of the different throwables.

And in this case we're gonna select the anvil and then we run that simulation either by pressing the space bar or the play button.

You'll see that the only throwable we have available is the anvil.

So this can actually make your testing a little bit more robust.

Quick check for understanding.

Tinkercad Sim Lab allows what based digital testing of CAD models? Pause the video now, have a go at it and come back to me when you've got your answer.

It is, of course, physics.

Tinkercad Sim Lab allows physics-based digital testing of computer aided design models.

There are lots of other different variables you can change in Tinkercad, and one of those is within the scene.

Now the scene in computer aided design is where you place a design to test it or possibly to take photo real renders of a design to make it look like it's in the real world.

For example, if you designed a kettle and you wanted to place it in the scene of a kitchen, you could do that, not in Tinkercad, but that is where the term comes from.

In Tinkercad though, we get lots of options to be able to change.

So first of all, once again, to get to the scene variables, we need to be in Sim Lab.

So you need to click on your little falling apple logo and then click on that lovely little icon of the mountains with the sun rising in the distance.

What a nice scene that is.

Then what we get is we get lots of variables.

Now you can change all sorts of things, like the gravity magnitude if you want to do some physics.

And you can see you've got some presets, you've got the Moon, you've got Mars, you've got the Earth and you've got Jupiter in there.

So you can change those, and that is something that you might want to change.

But you can also change the model and the ground materials as well.

And again, this might be because you wanna simulate a very specific set of materials when you are testing.

So again, select the part or or part or the model.

And then what you can do is you can click on the materials in the dialogue box and you'll be able to select from a range of those and your model will then act as if it's made out of that material.

Quick check for understanding.

What is the area called where a simulation happens in Tinkercad? Is it A: scene, B: location or C: workspace? Pause the video now, have a go at this and come back to me when you've answered.

It is, of course, A, scene.

Well done with that.

We can also simulate model paths.

What that means is we can trace the path that a product will take once we start our simulation.

And you might wanna do that because you might want to see the performance of some of a model compared to another.

So once again, we obviously need to be in our Sim Lab.

So we can click on that little apple icon and then we're gonna select the object that we want to trace.

What we then do is click trace shape and then run the simulation.

And in our bouncing ball example here, you can see what happens is, is all those lines appear which trace the movement of the shape.

And what I've done here is I've obviously hit them with the anvil just to show you that they trace them all the way to the end, even when they fall off the work plane.

We're now onto your first task and you're gonna get a bit of time to play around with this.

So the first thing I want you to do is create a new 3D design in Tinkercad.

Once you've done that, I want you to add four boxes with four spheres sat above and away from the boxes, just like you can see in the image.

Keep them standard.

You don't need to change the size of them or scale them in any way.

Selecting each box and sphere as a pair, I want you to change the materials.

So you can see I've kind of color coded it on my screen.

I then want you to run the simulation and observe the results.

Are they what you expected for the materials that you changed it to? Once you've done that, I then want you to experiment with some different materials and you can even use some throwables in there as well.

Have a go at this task, pause the video, come back to me when you've completed it.

So how did you get on? Well, I'm sure you've got something similar to me and you might have traced your shapes as well.

And I'm sure you've realized that the different materials obviously make your models act in different ways.

Well done with that.

We're now onto your second learning cycle, which is mechanisms in Tinkercad.

Sim Lab connectors control how parts move to help create more realistic motion in your models.

Shapes can also be used to create different movements using those same connectors.

And that's what we're gonna have a go at now.

Now we have three different types of connectors in Tinkercad that we're gonna focus on.

The first one is a slider connector.

We have an axle connector and we have a pivot connector.

Now what I want you to do is just pause the video now and have a little think about each of those connectors and what they're called and maybe have a little discussion about what you think they will actually do when we simulate in Tinkercad.

So pause the video now, have a little discussion or have a think if you are on your own and then come back to me with your answers in a moment.

So what did you think? Well, we've got some obvious ones in there, haven't we? We've got axle, so maybe that's gonna make things rotate round like a wheel.

We've got a pivot connector, which obviously, yes, we might make things pivot.

And then we've got a slider connector.

It's gonna be interesting to see what that does as well.

So let's have a closer look.

So here we have an example of a little robotic buggy.

Now this design uses the same box and four axle connectors, but the wheels or the feet that we could use differ.

This results in a very different motion.

So obviously, on the left hand side, we have the vehicle, it kind of rolls very smoothly until it falls off the work plane.

And on the right hand side, there's a bit more of a clunky, almost comical way in which it moves.

But that shows you by using the same connectors and slightly different wheels or feet, you can actually create very different movements.

Quick check for understanding.

I would like you identify out of these three images the slide connector symbol.

Is it A, is it B or is it C? Pause the video now, have a go at this.

Come back to me when you've got your answer.

And the answer is, of course, A, it is the slide.

That is the slide connector.

Well done.

So we're now gonna look at connector variables and how you can adapt these and change these in your models.

Now, once you've assigned your connectors, variables can be changed in the dialog boxes.

So in this case, we're gonna click on motor type.

We get a dropdown, we're gonna change it to Continuous.

That means that the motor will run forever until you stop the simulation.

There are other variables in there as well.

So for example, motor torque, which is, of course, the turning force that the motor will have.

We have the speed and we have a maximum speed that we can enter as well.

Now it's really important that when you start changing variables, keep simulating after each change.

Otherwise you might not know which of the changes has actually had the effect on your model.

That's a good habit to get into.

Quick check for understanding.

What variables can be changed on an axle connector continuous motor? Is it A: torque, B: speed, C: sound, D: distance? Pause the video now, select all the options you think are correct.

Come back to me when you've done that.

It is, of course, torque and speed.

Well done.

Now, by changing the shape of the wheel, which we've seen on some previous slides, the motion can be changed.

This concept is very similar to a cam and a follower mechanism, which I'm sure you've come across before.

The follower moves according to the shape of the cam, and it's exactly the same with a vehicle or a robot that you design.

It will change its movements based on what you've designed.

Now of course we've talked about stability.

That was one of our keywords.

And it's really important that you design stable designs before you simulate them.

And there's a few kind of golden rules that you can follow to make sure your designs are stable.

So first of all, you might need to add supports.

Use connectors, wheels, or other parts to hold up the front sections of bodies or vehicles to prevent them from tipping forwards or falling over.

Follow basic stability rules.

Use a wider base, correct wheel placement and some symmetrical design to help keep the structure balanced and functional.

Make sure you're utilizing that aligned tool as much as you can.

Otherwise, quite often, your designs do just fall over or topple over as soon as you add gravity into your simulation.

And of course, change the materials.

You've got those materials, all those different ones at your disposal.

So use heavy materials for the base and add stability with lighter materials at the top.

For better grip or traction, try using rubber parts, especially on things like wheels.

So we're now onto your final task for today, Task B.

And again, you're gonna get quite a bit of time to do this task.

So first of all, I want you to open your robot head model.

I then want you to design and create a body for your robot.

You then need to make sure your robot is stable.

So you are gonna click on the little Sim Lab icon.

You're gonna run it, so you're gonna press the space bar or the play button and just see what happens to your robot.

The first time you do this, you might find it falls apart or topples over.

How are you gonna solve that then? You're gonna have to go back into the designing area and you're gonna have to try and make it more stable.

Once you've got it stable, I want you then to use connectors with wheels or legs and make your robot move forwards and backwards.

I'd also like you then to add more control to your simulation using the interaction tool so you can control your robot using the keys on your keyboard.

Have a lot of fun doing this task.

I'm sure you will.

Pause the video now and come back to me when you've completed it.

So how did you get on? Well, here is my robot with the slightly strange legs, and you can imagine it moves in an awkward way.

I'm sure yours is absolutely fantastic as well.

So that brings us to the end of today's lesson.

Let's have a quick summary.

In Tinkercad Sim Lab, you can test designs using simulations that include gravity collisions and material properties.

Simulating is physics-based digital testing of CAD models.

Several editable variables can be changed in Sim Lab to produce more realistic simulations.

Model paths can be traced to compare the performance of different materials when simulating.

And finally, basic stability rules should be followed when modeling to ensure parts can be simulated correctly in Tinkercad Sim Lab.

Well done today.

You've been absolutely fantastic.

I'll see you all again very soon.

Bye-bye.