Introduction: DAHORA KIT

DAHORA is a low cost education maker kit for developing social and emotional skills. The goal of the kit is to expand access to mass education and support the implementation of BNCC. The kits are composed of modular parts that allow infinite possibilities of combinations. The production is carried out through the digital manufacturing, guaranteeing high capacity of personalization, scale and reduction of costs. The kits are produced based on the skills and abilities provided by BNCC, ensuring greater adaptability to the curriculum. In addition, the kit has an open license, so that anyone can edit or produce new kits, allowing adaptation to different educational and regional contexts and facilitating their direct use by students and educators.

Step 1: Expandable Claw

The expandable claw is ideal for teaching on flexible structures, it has a simple system of single points of support between parts that allows the movement of expansion. To finish, just use creativity and various materials to build a clamp compatible with the structure and have fun.

Parts you will need:
  • 12 9-hole sticks

  • 2 barbecue swekers

Tools you will need:

  • Cutting Pliers
  • Scissor
  • Transparent adhesive tape

  • Cardboard

STEPS:

Although the assembly is relatively easy, it's important to validate aspects such as stability, usability and performance during the building process.


1 - The first step is to make X connections with the holed sticks. Connect them with the barbecue skewers. That being done, cut the skewer leaving only enough to keep the sticks connected.

2- After finalizing all the Xs, we will connect them. At this moment it is important to pay attention to the patterns of connection. The sticks must respect the direction based on the layers. Image number 2, for example, shows that the sticks that are underneath are following the same direction, as well as the upper ones. This allows the mechanism to work well.

3- After this you only need to prepare the claws. Before drawing them you can draw some models on cardboard. Think about with purpose your claw will fulfill and how the drawn model can be aligned with it.

4- In order to finalize the assembly, you only need to glue the cardboard claw to one of the ends of the expandable structure, by utilizing masking tape.

Step 2: Elastic Platform

The elastic platform consists of a system utilizing coupled elastic propulsion attached to a flexible structure. It's an evolution of expandable claw design!

Parts you will need:

  • 5 | 9 holes sticks
  • 4 | poked sticks
  • 8 | fixating plugs
  • 7 | barbecue skewers

Tools you will need:

  • Cutting Pliers
  • Rubber bands


STEPS:

Assembling the platform demands special attention, because both sides of the structure should present a specific pattern - this will ensure the stability of the platform.

1 | The first step is making X connections with the sticks. Connect them with the barbecue sticks but don't remove the excess - we should standardize the distance between the Xs after we connect all of them.

2 | After finalizing all the Xs, we will connect them. This is an important moment to be aware of the pattern of the connections. The sticks ought to respect the way based on the layer on both sides of the structure.

3 | After connecting all the Xs, adjust the distance between the sides of the structure. For this we will utilize the 9 holes stick that is left, for it will be the base for the distance between the sides in X shape. That being done, remove the excess of the barbecue skewers using cutting pliers.

4 | Lastly, put together the poked sticks in all extremities of the structure, upper as well as lower sides, and attach them with the fixating plugs. It is necessary to leave a small amount of space between the structure and the poked stick so we can apply the rubber bands. Fold the same one once and apply it to both upper sides of the platform.

Step 3: Pulley and the Crank Elevator

The lift crank is a simple level construction, that consists of building a set of pulleys, using DaHora kit, string and barbecue skewers.

Downloads:

https://goo.gl/jrsXCT

Parts you will need:

  • 2 L shaped sticks

  • 2 9-hole sticks

  • 2 J -shaped sticks

  • 1 5-hole stick

  • 2 big pulley

  • 1 small pulley

  • 1 barbecue skewer

Tools you will need:

  • Reel of string
  • Twine

Steps:

1- Cut the barbecue skewer in half, insert the big pulley, tie a piece of twine to the smaller pulley and then put it in. To finalize this step, insert the third pulley, closing the pulley mechanism. PS.: The size of the twine can be measured by the distance between the desk and the floor, so that after class the students can test in their own environment.

2- On the side of each pulley, insert a J-shaped stick.

3- Now we will assemble the base. For this we will put together two 9-hole sticks on the side of each one of the J-shaped sticks previously connected. It is important to remember to connect the 9-hole sticks between them using its ends, as the picture above shows.

4- Now we need to put together the two parts previously constructed, always connecting them on the fifth hole of the 9 hole sticks, in order to keep the balance between them.

5- Now is the moment to connect the L-shaped sticks. By taking advantage of the connecting parts between the far ends of the 9-holes sticks, insert one L-shaped stick in each one of the sides. This will ensure precision and balance to your assembly, as well as greatly fitting together.

6- On the elevator's construction, it is necessary only to create connections between the holes on the far ends, utilizing the barbecue skewers. After that, tie the twine onto the elevator's ceiling.

7- Lastly, connect the 5-holes stick on the far ends of the barbecue skewers, in order to facilitate the role by reducing the effort and increasing the balance.

Step 4: Artificial Arm

Artificial arm is an intermediate level assembly. That can be used to address rigid and flexible structures, as well as levers. It consists of the construction of a structure between rigid and flexible that simulates a tendon using string, when throttled closes and opens the end of the assembly.

Downloads:

https://goo.gl/Q4nXRQ

Parts you will need:

  • 5 | L shaped sticks
  • 5 | 9-hole sticks
  • 2 | J -shaped sticks
  • 1 | 5-hole stick
  • 3 | barbecue skewers

Tools you will need:

  • Reel of string
  • Twine

  • Elastic

STEPS:

1 - The first step is to connect the upper fingers to the arm. For this, the student must add one L-shaped stick and 1 9-hole stick, one L-shape stick, one 9-hole stick and then one last L-shaped stick. In this first step, it is important to highlight that the type of connection determines whether or not there will be movement or steadiness between the different pieces. Fingers, for example, should stay put and are held by two support points (holes) - that guarantees its stiffness.
2- The second step is to utilize the fitting system for fixating between a J-shaped stick and a 9-hole stick.

3- The third step requires lots of attention. We will connect 4 sticks, two L-shapes at the far ends and two 9-hole sticks in the middle. However the lower stick needs to be tied by the rubber band, it will be responsible for keeping the artificial hand permanently open.

4- Now all we need to do is put together the two parts previously assembled, always making the connections on the fifth hole of the 9-hole stick, in order to keep the balance between them.

5- After this we will connect the other J-shaped stick to the small 5-hole stick, leaving an extra piece of the barbecue skewer so we can hold the tip of the rubber band that is momentaneously loose.

6 - Now we will connect all the parts we built during the steps above, fixating the hand structure to the J-shaped sticks. Remember to connect the rubber band to the extra barbecue skewer, fastening it between the two sticks.

7- Lastly we'll connect the ends of the trigger to the two 9-hole sticks that articulate the lower fingers. AT this moment the twine should be tied as tighten as possible - this will improve the performance of the actions made by the artificial arm.

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