The maker shop — 3D printing and self-taught CAD
Before robotics, I had a 3D printer. Since the summer of 2023 I've printed armor, school science projects, Halloween toys, robot mechanisms and trophies for a modeling school — most of them designed myself, in CAD I taught myself.
Before robotics
Before learning about robotics, I had a 3D printer. Since the summer of 2023, I have printed full suits of armor, school science projects, trophies for a modeling school, Halloween toys, robotics mechanisms and much more. Most of these — notably the mechanisms and the trophies — I designed myself. All my CAD is self-taught, through success, failure and a little bit of YouTube.
Early prints, painted · June 2023
School science project: a cell model · Oct 2023
Halloween toys · Oct 2023
Why it matters
I've owned one of my printers since 2023, and I have gone through many failed attempts, even broken parts — and every time, I fix them myself. I do my own troubleshooting and repairs so that I can teach myself more about engineering.
Kitchen-table build · May 2024
On the print bed
At the printer, at home
My own suit of armor
I'm a big fan of Star Wars, and The Mandalorian was putting out new content. I was inspired by people I saw online making their own Mandalorian cosplays, and decided to make my own. So, for Halloween in 2023, I made my very own suit of armor.
I brought the armor from a rough 3D print to a finished product. I made the helmet look like real metal while still keeping it lightweight enough to wear comfortably on my head.
The finished suit · Oct 2023
Wearing it at school · Oct 2023
Still printing: a newer helmet · Oct 2026
Designing a trophy
When I joined Apollo in 2024, I expected to print a variety of pieces for our robot, and I did. I helped design and print arm pieces, lift mechanisms and so much more. What I didn't expect to design myself was a trophy.
So when I was told that I was in charge of designing a trophy for models that our robot could hold, I was surprised. Not only did the trophy have to be visually appealing and have multiple features — it also had to be something our robot could hold. I was challenged to make this design fully on my own, and eventually the trophies were handed out on stage to models graduating from model school.
From CAD model to printer to finished trophies
An early print of the trophy · Nov 2024
On stage: our robot holds out a trophy to a graduating model · Dec 2024
Prints on display · Oct 2023
A batch of parts on the printer · Nov 2024
Still printing · Oct 2026