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A collaborative project-based lesson sequence to design 3D printed puzzles. A very nice resource.

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This example uses a printer that uses a powder with amazing results.

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Z Corp 3D Scanner and 3D Printer on National Geographic Channel

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This video shows how to 3D scan and 3D Print a wrench that could be used in space.

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3D printer used by David Grover during the MacICT course. Some printers can be assembled from a kit. Website contains some educational resources. One great idea they have is print your school!

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Printrbot | Affordable high resolution 3D printers

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This amazing book was produced by a student. It is an origami book which includes 3D and augmented reality to create an immersive experience. Origami creatures come to live with AR technology and has to be seen, simply stunning.

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Books shouldn't just be read. They should be experienced. Unfolding Adventure is a fun unique book that brings Origami to life using 3D and AR.

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Use this to help teach coordinates.

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The supplier of 3D printed gear as used by David Grover.

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Buy desktop 3D Printer Australia | 3D Printers for Sale

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Bilby 3D specialises in delivering high quality sales and support for 3D Printers, 3D Scanners, Filament to Australia. Shops in Sydney and Brisbane

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This 3D printed optical illusion has to be seen to be believed. How did they do it?

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Jul 4, 2016 | By Alec

It was almost impossible to miss. A few days ago, the internet became mesmerized by a remarkable optical puzzle by Japanese illusionist Kokichi Sugihara. Called the 'Ambiguous Cylinder Illusion', it featuring sets of plastic squares that turn into circles when reflected in front of a mirror. Even more mind-boggling, the effect is reversed when the model is reversed by hand. Fortunately, the mystery was quickly solved by 3D printing specialist Devon from Make Anything, who reverse-engineered the model to reveal that the shapes were neither circles or squares: but simply a shape that was right in between. Combined with the engrained perception conventions of our brains, the fantastic illusion is created.

It was one of those videos that showed the power of the internet. A video of Kokichi Sugihara's illusion (visible below) was posted on Reddit a few days ago, after which it quickly reached the far corners of the web. "The direct views of the objects and their mirror images generate quite different interpretations of the 3D shapes. They look like vertical cylinders, but their sections appear to be rectangles, while in the other view they appear to be circles," Sugihara said.

The video's impact was huge. Collectively, the world wondered how on earth the shapes can transform through simple reflection. Engineer and artist Kokichi Sugihara created the installation for the Illusion of the Year contest, in which he ultimately won the second prize. But of course there's more to it than simple amazement. The Illusion competition emphasizes that they are seeking to expand our understanding of how our brains process information. "How we see the outside world - our perception - is generated indirectly by brain mechanisms, and so all perception is illusory to some extent. The study of illusions is critical to how we understand sensory perception, and many ophthalmic and neurological diseases," they state.

Ultimately, the solution could therefore be found in how our brain processes visual information. In fact, the solution came within hours of the first clip coming online. Devon from 3D printing specialists Make Anything quickly posted a video called 'Ambiguous Cylinder Illusion/How It Works', which explained the trick.

As it turned out, the objects in question are neither circles or squares, but simply right between the two. What's more, the square sides curve upwards, while he circle sides slop downwards, completing the illusion. As a result, it can appear as a circle or a square depending on the angle you're viewing it in. The different heights correct the geometric differences that are created. As a result, our brains - which are used to distinguishing between circles and squares - see what they expect to see.

It's a very clever trick that underlines the 'limitations' of our own sensors. "We cannot correct our interpretations although we logically know that they come from the same objects," Kokichi Sugihara explained. "Even if the object is rotated in front of a viewer, it is difficult to understand the true shape of the object, and thus the illusion does not disappear." If you want to try it for yourself, you can download the STL file for Devon's 3D printable cylinder on Thingiverse here.

Posted in 3D Printing Application

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Jul 4, 2016 | By Alec It was almost impossible to miss. A few days ago, the internet became mesmerized by a remarkable optical puzzle by Japanese illusionist Kokichi Sugihara. Called the 'Ambiguous Cylinder Illusion', it featuring sets of plastic squares that turn into circles when reflected in front of a mirror.

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Has the "Impossible Triangle" Been Made Possible with 3D Printing?

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Has the "Impossible Triangle" Been Made Possible with 3D Printing?

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This article looks at printing the impossible, illusions such as Escher pictures like the impossible triangle.

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3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing

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Have you ever stared at an M.C. Escher picture until you grew dizzy or simply marveled at the way Escher configured angles and drew objects to trick the eye? Well, there's no question Escher is a master of illusion, beckoning us to an imaginary world of complexity and perspective that teaches the lesson that not everything is "as it seems." Or, better yet, things can appear as more than one thing at different times depending on how you look at it. The lesson of the optical illusion is a tough one: things aren't what you think they are. Or, more specifically, things can be more than one thing at the same time, and your mind and sight can be tricked by something rather simple in the end.

I am pretty sure that my first encounter with an optical illusion was the picture of the old woman/young woman illusion. If you take a neck for a chin, a young Victorian looking woman, glancing sideways, becomes an old woman with a very distinctive nose and face. Mastering the feat of designing images that can literally look different than what they are is the point of optical illusions, and it now appears that someone has achieved the impossible and printed an "impo ssible triangle" that has one of the bases of Escher's work and a great challenge for mathematicians and physicists alike.

One interesting aspect of Escher's optical illusions involves the mathematical conundrum of the "impossible" or "Penrose" triangle - an object that appears in Escher's work, like his famous print "Waterfall" (see right). Recently the same illusion has been 3D printed, too. In 1934, the Swedish artist Oscar Reutersvärd created the first "impossible" or "Penrose" triangle and it was popularized in the 1950s by the mathematician Roger Penrose who explained that it is "impossibility in its purest form."

Why is it impossible? Because it is a two-dimensional object made to look three dimensional - depending on the angle you perceive it at. An object of much fascination for science nerds, the impossible triangle presents itself as an object that seamlessly conjoins different sides of a triangle, but that depends on the angle you look at it.

The verdict is still out on whether this 3D printer succeeded in achieving the impossible. One "spoiler" in the post comments suggests that this is, of course, an optical illusion and if it was photographed at a different angle it would look quite different. The "spoiler" even claims that the original poster of the impossible triangle provided different photos on reddit (see below). Okay. But if the impossible triangle has always been impossible, doesn't the original poster deserve some credit for 3D printing an illusion?

If you want to figure this out for yourself, you can download an STL file of an impossible triangle from Thingiverse. As one person commented, "you can see the mark of where it ends. Good illusion though." And that appears true. There's another version of an impossible triangle, also on Thingiverse, that relies more obviously on the viewing angle to preserve the illusion.

The creator of the 3D printed impossible triangle gets credit from me for an imaginative take on a illusory conundrum that has baffled some of the great artistic and scientific minds.

Have you 3D printed an optical illusion? Let us know how your impossible triangle - or other illusion - turns out! Tell us what you think over at the Impossible Triangle forum thread at 3DPB.com.

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Have you ever stared at an M.C. Escher picture until you grew dizzy or simply marveled at the way Escher configured angles and drew objects to trick the eye? Well, there's no question Escher is a master of illusion, beckoning us to an imaginary world of complexity and perspective that teaches the le...

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Buy 3D models or design and make your own with this website. Includes a gift guide with a vast array of creative and original models to purchase.

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