Piggy Bank Project: a Creative Mash Up With Endless Possibilities

Because of the covid-19 outbreak, students this year have missed so many educational opportunities. And let's face it, the school system doesn't promote creativity as well as they should, let alone online schooling. A huge part of building creativity is making your very own idea and bringing it to real life. Now that schools are closed, students have missed these chances to start or even finish these school projects. However, where there is a will there is a way. An easy way to create without the physical interaction is with solid modeling softwares that allow you to virtually design your idea.

My mom happens to have an engineering degree and knows what it takes to be an engineer. When I was sent home from school I told her about all the cool things that my school's rocket club was going to make and show me how to design them. She asked me why I couldn't still do it myself? I responded saying that I don't have a 3D modeling software. She then Googled "Best web based CAD" and TinkerCAD showed up. She then told me how she wished there was this kind of technology back when she was in college. I checked it out and asked her what I should do to get started.

This assignment is one that my mom created for me and my engineering friends, that put our creativity to work while also give us a good background to TinkerCAD software.

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The Assignment:

Use TinkerCAD to make a piggy bank, but not a normal piggy bank. It must be a creative piggy bank mash up. What do I mean by this? What are you passionate about? Sports? Games? Nature? Electronics? Culture? Whatever it is create a piggy bank out of it. It is recommended to watch some youtube tutorials before you start and TinkerCad has its own classes on the website.

Objectives:

• Get experience with the TinkerCAD software
• Bring an idea in your head to life
• Understand that things won't always work out and this will take problem solving
• Be Creative

Guidlines:

• Must be able to house pennies, nickels, dimes, an quarters
• Must have a way to retrieve the coins from the bank
• Must have a creative title and include a writeup of your idea is with dimensions. (Sell it to me)

That is it, the rest is up to your mind and the possibilities are limited to your creativity. The more creative the idea the better!

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*Notes:

• Under each Submission is a model that you can move around and see in 3D
• I have expressed permission of use from the creators as stated in the description of each TinkerCAD Model

• Computer
• TinkerCAD account

Piggy Banks are lame, why take the time to even put my change in a piggy bank? What is fun about a fat pig that stores your worthless coins? Absolutely nothing. That is why I designed the Piggy Bank-Shot. A piggy bank that you will actually enjoy using. The Piggy Bank-Shot will do everything your old piggy bank did, but much much better.

Let's take a look at the features:

• A coin sorting system derived from a tilted slope once you make the basket
• Has a compartment for coins and for electronics that actually count your balance with use of IR sensors and display on a screen
• A lever arm that you can adjust with tooth picks (Yes, I used CAD to make toothpicks and used the right dimensions)
• A Catapult base that will fit pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters
• A real looking BasketBall hoop and court
• An easy screw on/off latch to withdraw your coins.

Dimensions:

• 36cm X 24cm with height of 15 cm without Top court or 30cm with Top Court

Who remembers their first time playing a video game? Maybe it was Pong on the Atari, Pokemon Red on the a GameBoy, Halo on the Xbox or Crash Bandicoot on the Playstation. For me it was Super Mario World on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). Whatever it was it was probably the point of your life where you figured out if video games were for you. In tribute to the SNES I designed a Piggy bank that replicates its iconic remote. This is the SNES Cointroller.

What makes this different than any other piggy bank?

The SNES Cointroller not only brings nostalgia to the snes fandom, but also has working buttons!

Dimensions:

• Length: 35 cm
• Width: 15 cm
• Height: 16.5 cm"

My passion is photography. It is the best way for me to express myself and capture my emotions and surroundings all at once. When I look around with my eyes, I always try to "switch my lens" or try to think about a new perspective and imagine all the possible photos inside my head. Swapping lenses has become a philosophy of my life at this point. Some people will not understand what I am trying to say. Those are the people who still store their money in a ceramic pig. Why not switch lenses on your piggy bank and switch to the Cannon Len$.

Features:

• Zooming the lens is an open/close mechanism
• Replica of Cannon EF 24-70mm lens
• See your savings through the transparent lens (Does not show in 3D model, but it is transparent

Dimensions: 10x10x15cm

This assignment was an excellent first project not only to get to know TinkerCAD, but to be creative and spur some ingenuity for students during the pandemic. Each student showed all the objectives and combined something simple like a piggy bank with something they love. Try out the Piggy Bank Mash Up Project for yourself.

Here are the links to each project:

• Piggy-BankShot: https://www.tinkercad.com/things/kfAMjlXnGVQ
• SNES Cointroller: https://www.tinkercad.com/things/gAVuL1FIhvZ
• Cannon Len$: https://www.tinkercad.com/things/3T8SvGKW9pI