Attention, Music Lovers: Kitronik Offers Free Downloads for 3D Printing Your Own Amplifier & Case
If you have a passion for music, design, and 3D printing, Kitronik has a fun way for you to get your groove on all around. It’s not surprising to see this innovation coming from the UK company committed to empowering the younger generations with electronics and resources, generally in the form of fun and educational DIY projects.
While most of us enjoy jamming out to some tunes, music is usually something that students appreciate in a fairly constant fashion—and tricking out an amplifier is definitely the perfect project for engaging the younger generation in an educational project that brings together integrated learning as it combines both electronics and 3D printing.
Being introduced as the latest project in their free 3D printing resources for schools and home users, the 3D printed amplifier and case are available online. Both the free files and instructions are available for download, also working with the Kitronik Mono and Stereo Amplifier module kits. This allows for students to enjoy all the benefits to be derived from 3D printing, including enormous opportunity for customization, the ability to make an item on their own from the desktop, and of course—affordability.
This project is designed to offer more challenge than some of Kitronik’s previous project offerings, allowing young designers to expand their skillsets further.
“We wanted to provide free resources for design and technology teachers and home users who were looking to develop their 3D printing and CAD software skills,” says Kitronik co-founder Kevin Spurr. “We thought that our amplifier and speaker kits were perfectly suited to 3D printing and provided an ideal ‘next step’ project following on from the 3D printed memory stick cases.”
“The project will enable people to produce something they can use every day and enable them to integrate electronics in their 3D printing projects. This will be particularly relevant for design and technology teachers, as it has the potential to really grab the attention of students.”
The full range of resources can be found at Kitronik, and include the following downloadable files.
- STL files
- STEP files
- Stereo laser cutting files
- Mono amplifier Autodesk inventor files
- Mono amplifier STL files
- Stereo amplifier Autodesk inventor files
- Stereo amplifier STL files
“Speaker cases are a great size to still print relatively quickly, but also allow for more detailed exploration in the design and assembly of multiple parts,” Spurr commented. “The project mainly focuses on demonstrating a variety of methods of fixing cases together, as well as experimenting with form and mixing materials, such as combining laser cutting and 3D printing. The designs have been kept relatively simple consisting of just a few parts each. Some cases are more experimental with electronics, using mechanical aspects of the design to control volume and even the brightness of LEDs.”
They offer great visuals and explanations on their site, where you can download files for a selection of cases, to include the:
- Square Mono Case
- Stereo Speaker Case
- Cylindrical Mono Case
- Speaker Cone Holder
According to the Kitronik team, these resources have been designed using Autodesk Inventor and Autodesk 3DS Max. This software is free for educational users and has been test printed on a Robox 3D Printer. It’s important to keep in mind that designs may need to be adjusted somewhat depending on your hardware. Check out Kitronik for other tutorials and designs.
Kitronik is owned and managed by Kevin Spurr and Geoff Hampson, two electronics graduates devoted to seeing everyone have access to electronics. They founded this unique company in 2005, and we’ve been following them as they partnered with Robox, working to benefit many schools in the UK, and then offered free resources for students to 3D print their own memory stick cases. They are also a partner in the BBC micro:bit project, which provides UK middle-schoolers with pocket-sized codeable computers. Each Kitronik kit comes with a teaching resource pack that offers detailed instructions and explanation. What do you think of these free resources for students? Discuss in the 3D Printed Amplifier & Case forum over at 3DPB.com.
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