The Making of the Bottle Rocket
The Bottle Rocket was a Team Activity with each team member splitting up to make fins, a nose cone, and a ping pong ball holder.
Ball Holder
I was assigned the ping pong ball holder. The process began in AutoCAD, a building design program that is perfect if you need ideal measurements. Here is the beginning AutoCAD design:
AutoCAD is in the same program family as 3Ds Max, so files can be imported between the two. The next part of the process was importing the design into 3Ds Max, and lathing it to take on a tubular shape. It was set on the minimum alignment to achieve the optimal size. Here is a brief slideshow depicting the process in 3Ds Max.
A screenshot showing the lathe asset used, as well as the minimum alignment.
Four views of the lathed ball holder.
Lathed, Aligned, and ready to 3D print.
A screenshot showing the lathe asset used, as well as the minimum alignment.
Fins and Nose Cone
Created by another team member, the fins were created entirely on AutoCAD and laser printed as a 2D object. They were design with Aerodynamics in mind. The Nose Cone (also created by another team member) was entirely done in AutoCAD and laser printed as a 2D object.
