Let the 3D Printing Sparks Fly! Pinshape Announces ‘Design for Electronics’ Challenge

Get into gear and power up, makers! With so many different mediums and materials being combined today in the world of 3D technology, the field is ripe for exciting and challenging contests. Often it seems as soon as one ends, several more are beginning.

With the latest from Pinshape, however, many creative individuals are going to have the chance to flex their conductive muscles also in the ‘Design for Electronics’ contest—also being sponsored by Adafruit, Robo3D, M3D and MatterHackers. The whole idea is to ‘bring your design to life’ with electronics. This doesn’t have to be a costly venture either, as the challenge states that your design should just keep electronics in mind. You do not have to actually buy any type of electronics. For example, you could create a lamp shade, a Raspberry Pi case, light switch cover, or even a toy car that relies on some type of power.

And the rewards for your brilliance? Look forward to vying for the following prizes:

1st Place

• Robo C2 3D Printer
• $200 Adafruit Gift Card
• One Spool of MH PRO Filament (any color)
• One Spool of Nylon X Filament

2nd Place

• Micro3D 3D Printer
• Two Spools of MH PRO Filament (any color)

3rd Place

• Crafty 3D Printing Pen from MatterHackers

Already open for entries, the contest ends on October 15, 2016 at 23:59:59 PST. Entering could not be more simple:

1. Design something that could integrate with electronics or can be used with electronics.
2. Upload your invention to Pinshape, checking the “Submit this model to the Design for Electronics Contest” box on the upload form.

Judges for the contest have been announced as Noe and Pedro Ruiz from the Adafruit 3D Hangout YouTube show, Robo3D CEO Braydon Moreno, and the Explore Making team.

“We’re excited to challenge 3D designers to think outside the box and create something that can be brought to life with electronics. There are so many opportunities here and we can’t wait to see what the community comes up with!” Robo3D CEO Moreno tells 3DPrint.com about the contest.

Designs will be judged on the following criteria, with allotted points as so:

40 points – Technical excellence and ease of printing

20 points – Design functionality and application

20 points – Design creativity and uniqueness

20 points – Presentation: Image quality, print settings, assembly instructions (if required)

“We were really inspired and impressed by Adafruit’s projects and there are already a lot of makers in our community experimenting with using their 3D designs with electronics. We hope everyone who enters has fun with it and we are really excited to see what the community creates,” Lauren Watkins, Pinshape Team Lead, tells 3DPrint.com.

Are you a maker who is interested in entering but without current access to a 3D printer? As the contest team points out, it is beneficial to be able to print your model to show that it’s printable and easily so, and also to give a good idea of image quality. The Pinshape team recommends reaching out to a maker in their community who would be able to print your design for you if necessary. Click here to access their forum.

You can submit your designs in .STL, .OBJ, .FORM, .PDF, .DOCX, .TXT and .ZIP files, with a maximum of 150 files and 25 photos, with 100MB as the maximum total file size. The contest winners will be announced in the week after the end of the contest, to be posted on the Pinshape blog. Expect to be contacted directly by Pinshape if you are a winner! And if you are needing a bit of inspiration or a little spark just to get started, check out some of these cool designs by Adafruit.