As part of our pre-engineering program at Middletown High School in Middletown, Rhode Island we were presented with a challenge from our administration to create a sign for an area in the lobby where new screens had been installed over the previous summer. I wanted my students to create something that we could produce in school using the available equipment and to have the design be informed by their surroundings. I had been looking for an opportunity for my Computer Integrated Manufacturing section to work together to produce an object that called on the skills they had learned in their previous engineering design class to make something for the school community and this opportunity proved to be an excellent project.

sign

Supplies

Softwear:

Fusion360

CorelDraw

Universal laser driver

Tools:

Universal laser cutter

Brad nailer

Screw gun

Various woodshop saws

Materials:

¼” plywood

½” plywood

Gesso

Paints

Wood glue

Wood putty

Sandpaper

Brushes

Step 1: Design Overview

My students first needed to gather all the relevant information for producing a sign for the space. The students measured the overall space, televisions, and their placement on the wall. With that information they were able to make a rough scale sketch of the space so they could have a better understanding of the area they needed to address.

Next, students looked at our available machinery to decide how they would produce a thing that was as large as it needed to be. We looked at the area of our Router and our Laser cutter as possibilities. The Router we have in our lab has a machineable area of 21”X 21” and our Laser has a capacity of 18”X32” so we planned for the possibility of using either for the project.

Once the scale of the sign and the capacity of our equipment was established my class broke into teams to design possible ideas for the sign. Together we identified some of the possibilities for what this sign should say. After some discussion we produced a list of possibilities to work around. The top contenders were Middletown, Middletown High School, and Islanders; which is our sports identity, as we are located on Aquidneck Island. We also considered incorporating one of the existing images or icons from our team logos. Student groups brainstormed and sketched in their notebooks. Once they had working ideas they began to model the space and their ideas in Fusion 360.

Groups shared their designs for evaluation with the class as a whole. After discussing feasibility and method given our limited machine processes, the class quickly settled on a design that took advantage of the scale of our equipment and made reference back to our island identity. We are an island community here in Middletown and there is a deep connection to the beaches and the ocean that surrounds us. The concept was a stylized image of the words in the wake of a wave on the beach. The class discussed the wording extensively and modeled the possibilities in Fusion360. It was decided that Middletown High School was too large to fit in the area given legibly, and that functionally anyone who was there would already be aware that they were in Middletown High School. So our Sport team name of “Islanders” was chosen.

Step 2: Refining a Design

Students were broken into 3 teams to refine the design. The first team who had produced the basic design was responsible for refining the image. Through discussion it was decided that the lettering should be integrated into the overall image rather than being on top of the color blocking. It was suggested that this should happen by separating the color blocks with white as foam and reflection appear in the wake on the beach. It was a wonderful suggestion but required an extensive reworking of the original image.

The second team had to decide what colors we were using. Our overall colors are light blue, dark blue, and white. This combination has existed in many variations over time for our team jerseys, publications put out by the district, and our website. Inconsistencies within the building due to repairs, additions, and redecoration made selection of colors a challenge. I had previously collected all the blue and relevant white paint swatches at the local big box hardware store. Using this library of swatches that group investigated the colors in the surrounding area and on the school website to select the appropriate available colors. Using a combination of digital color matching and visual confirmation based on the background and lighting of the space, colors were carefully selected. Having cross referenced between our digital and physical color schemes we were able to identify a pallet for us to use in the future for projects and publications for our school.

The third team had the job of deciding on the font that was to be used on the sign. Similarly to our color study, we had a lot of different fonts used in our print and signage over the years at our school. Their additional factor was the style intent of the sign we were making and how the font worked with the overall image and was it legible within the swirling surface. It was decided that a simple uppercase somewhat blocky font was appropriate. It stood out well on the amorphous background and with fewer floating objects it was simpler to look at as well as construct. The Collegiate M is often used for our school and it was an easy adaptation to the project.

Step 3: Finalizing a Design

Available space above the televisions and the length of their spacing over the wall. Given that our laser cutter has a bed 18” in width the students decided that they would engrave the image on a background substrate for stability and ease placing lettering. To create the sign they would need to separate it into 6 sections for engraving on our machine and then join them together. The advantage of modeling in Fusion360 for my students is the ability to make quick changes and take risks in their designs. Rapid iteration of ideas and mastery of the tool from the previous year allowed my students to alter their original idea of simply having lettering over the surface of the background color, but by extruding the text through the background the students made it possible to create the lettering from the negative space of the surrounding swirl of blues and incorporate it directly into the white substrate of the background. As a teacher I felt that this was a huge leap for the students in their understanding of the benefits of iteration of a project and their thinking for digital fabrication. Having to start with the limitation of our lab equipment forced the students into thinking of the large area as smaller pieces. Once it was decided to cut the lettering into the surface rather than laying it on top, combining that with the white spacing created by the division of the color and incorporating that into the substrate became the most logical way to produce the sign, and a plan was devised.

Step 4: Production of Parts

Once the students had created a fully realized model of their sign in Fusion360 and colors were selected, they needed to arrange and optimize the design into sheets for cutting with the laser. In a sketch, students projected the varying levels of the model into a single plane that could be exported into CorelDraw as a DXF for arrangement and color coding for the Universal Laser.

One team of students arranged the 16’ sign into 32” segments and prepared them for engraving across their surfaces. Using ¾” plywood, they engraved the signs in lines across each piece. Using a biscuit joiner in our shop they joined each piece together so when assembled they would lay flat and have some structure when glued.

Another team of students arranged the somewhat amorphous blobs into 18”X32” sheets of ¼” plywood for cutting with the laser. Students arranged sheets to reduce waste and arrange large areas that were needed to span the divisions in the sign to make it appear as unified as possible and adding strength to the structure once fully assembled. Using the Universal Laser in our lab the students cut out the shapes and arranged them on the image below to check that they had not forgotten anything and that everything was scaled appropriately.

Step 5: Painting

Prior to adding color to the parts as a group students gessoed and sanded all the parts to give them an even surface quality. For ease of assembly the students decided to connect the 6 background sections into 3, 64” sections for installation. The background was painted gloss Gallery White. The color sections of the sign were separated into two piles. One to be painted (light blue), and the other (Dark blue), the colors chosen by the color Team earlier in the project. At this point students needed to keep track of what color each part was to be and what was the top and bottom. As the text was a product of the negative space, this was tricky for the students. The objects that had been cut out were oddly shaped and the signs puzzle like construction made it challenging for them to keep track. This quality had the added benefit of making its ultimate design an open secret in the workspace. As students painted and prepared all the elements of the sign, it was not instantly recognizable to anyone outside the project how it would ultimately come together.

Step 6: Assembly

After all the elements were prepared Students attached the colored sections in place on the background as indicated by the engraving below, leaving areas that spanned breaks in the background free for attachment once the sign was in place. Using a 18 gauge brad nailer and wood glue the sections were affixed to the surface with the nail holes puttied and painted over.

Step 7: Installation

Once everything had been prepared the class worked together to hang the sign. Due to an obstruction on the wall behind where the sign was to be hung we made a frame lf ½” plywood for the sign to sit on. The students identified the center of the array of televisions and the appropriate spacing between the ceiling and the top of the televisions. Hanging from right to left the sections were screwed to the frame that had been leveled on the wall and the remaining color sections were glued and attached. Once everything was mounted we touched up the nail and screw holes and paint.

Step 8: Project Reflection

This was an excellent project based learning experience for my computer integrated manufacturing section. It gave them an opportunity to create something that will outlast them as students in the building, work together to solve problems, and truly gave them a deep understanding of how to think through design iteration and the value of limits on a given project. I feel like they grew as design engineers by working together on a public facing project where their cooperation and decision making skills were tested given the scale of the project and the limitations of our lab equipment in our highschool. The product of allowing their concept to drive, and the technology aid their design allowed them to create a thing as a group than none had imagined was possibly individually.