Assembling a Submarine

The following information is a single lesson in a larger Tinkercad project. Check out this and more projects on Tinkercad.

Welcome to the world of Deep Sea Exploration. Humans have not been exploring ocean depths for very long. Only four years ago, we were able to reach the deepest known part, which is 35,000 feet. We will take a similar trip ourselves, but first we will need to assemble our submarine.

Instructions

1. Continue to the next step to start learning how to move objects.

The following information is a single lesson in a larger Tinkercad project. Check out this and more projects on Tinkercad.

The ballasts cause the submarine to sink. They are normally filled with air, which allow the submarine to float. When the pilot wants the submarine to dive deeper, the ballasts are filled with water. Below is what the ballast looks like. Follow the instructions to attach the ballast to our submarine so it can go deeper.

Instructions

1. Select the ballast. To select an object, move the mouse cursor over it and left clicking once.

2. To move the ballast, while it is selected, left click the ballast again, but keep holding the mouse button down. With the button held, move the mouse, the ballast will move with it. If you want to move an object in a straight line, hold SHIFT while also holding the mouse button down. Move the ballast so that it is attached to the bottom of the submarine.

3. Continue to the next step.

The following information is a single lesson in a larger Tinkercad project. Check out this and more projects on Tinkercad.

The hatch is a very important part of our submarine. It not only a door to get inside, but it helps keep the submarine pressurized, keeping the water out.

Another way to move an object is using the arrow keys. Using the arrow keys will only move the object on one axis. Hold SHIFT before using the arrow keys to move the object more with each press of the arrow key. Holding the CTRL key and the up or down arrow will move the object up or down.

Instructions

1. Select the hatch and use the arrow keys to move it to the opening on the top of the submarine. Make sure it is a tight fight!

2. Continue to the next step.

The following information is a single lesson in a larger Tinkercad project. Check out this and more projects on Tinkercad.

The oxygen canister will allow us to breath while under water. As we breath inside the submarine, our lungs will use oxygen that is in the air. Oxygen canisters replace the oxygen we use so we won't run out.

Instructions

1. As you learned in the previous sections, select and move the oxygen canister to attach it to the top of the submarine.

2. Position the camera so that you are looking down on the oxygen canister. With the canister selected, a curved pair of arrows will appear near the corners of the object. There are three of these arrows, one for each axis.

3. Left click the icon and hold. Moving the mouse will rotate the object. Rotate the object so that its centerline is parallel to the edge on the submarine.

4. Continue to the next step.

The following information is a single lesson in a larger Tinkercad project. Check out this and more projects on Tinkercad.

Having a balanced submarine is important because we won't need to use as much energy to move. We need to make copies of the ballast and oxygen canister and move them to the other side.

Instructions

1. Position the camera so that you are looking at the front of the submarine and ballast.
2. One way to make a copy of an object is to hold ALT before you move it. The ballast should also move in a straight light to the other side. To do this all at the same time select the ballast, hold down ALT, hold down SHIFT, and then click and drag the ballast to the other side of the submarine.

The following information is a single lesson in a larger Tinkercad project. Check out this and more projects on Tinkercad.

Apply the instructions in Step 1 to the oxygen canister.

Instructions

1. Select the oxygen canister. Hold ALT+SHIFT+left click and drag a copy to the other side.

2. Rotate the canister so that it's center line is parallel to the opposite edge. The arrow keys can also be used to move objects. After you have rotated the canister, use the arrow keys to nudge it towards the submarine. Holding SHIFT while using the arrows keys will move the object more per tap.

3. Continue to the next step.

The following information is a single lesson in a larger Tinkercad project. Check out this and more projects on Tinkercad.

Our submarine needs chairs for the crew to sit in. This time, instead of moving the chair inside, lets learn about the Align Tool. The Align Tool will move 2 or more objects together so they share the center line.

Instructions

1. Position the camera so you can see both the chair and the blue peg inside the submarine. Select the blue peg and the chair. Holding SHIFT while selecting objects will add the objects to your selection.

2. Go to the Adjust menu and choose Adjust>Align. Before clicking on the black tabs, go to the next step.

3. Without deselecting the objects, click once on the blue peg. The black grid should only be around the blue peg. This will cause the chair to move towards the peg, and the peg won't move. Now select the center tabs on the X and Y axis, and the lowest tab on the Z axis. The orange outline shows how it will look when you are done.

4. To keep the submarine balanced, make a copy of the chair and move it to the other peg.

The following information is a single lesson in a larger Tinkercad project. Check out this and more projects on Tinkercad.

Our submarine is coming together! However, it is still missing an important piece. Adding engines will allow us to steer the submarine. Lets align the engines in place.

Instructions

1. Like before, move the camera so you can see both the engine and the cross beam at the rear of the submarine.

2. Choose Adjust>Align. Select the cross beam and click the tabs.

3. Rotate the engine 90 degrees.

4. This submarine needs three more engines. Make copies of the engine and move them using the mouse, arrow keys, or the align tool.

The following information is a single lesson in a larger Tinkercad project. Check out this and more projects on Tinkercad.

The headlights will allow us to see. Light is only able to reach 660 feet below the ocean surface. After that, it is pitch black with having our own source of light. If we want to make it 32,000 feet, we will definitely need these!

Instructions

1. Align the left headlight to the black box at the front of the submarine.

2. Repeat for the right headlights.

The following information is a single lesson in a larger Tinkercad project. Check out this and more projects on Tinkercad.

The window for our submarine is made of glass and is several inches thick. Being made out of glass and having a spherical shape will allow our submarine to reach 35,000 feet and see all around us.

Instructions

1. Move the camera to see the steering handle and the window. Select them both and choose Adjust>Align

2. Align the window toward the steering handle.

3. Oops! The window is too small! That's ok. In Tinkercad we can change the size of an object, called scaling. With only the window selected, click and hold the white box, called a "handle". Hold SHIFT and drag so that the window becomes bigger. Scale the window up to about 50mm.

4. Move the window so that it fits tightly to our submarine.

5. Congratulations! You're all done. Now lets go explore the deep sea! Go to the next lesson to begin.