Team:Queens Canada/Pacifier
Computer Aided Design of Pacifier and 3D Printing (Joel Tod)
Attempt 1
Results:
The first iteration of the pacifier body (pictured above) consisted of 4 parts: A faceplate, a backplate, a Cherry Baglet shaped nipple, and a fastener for connecting the pacifier to the nipple. All computer aided design was performed by Joel Tod. The nipple was printed out of formlabs Flexible Photoreactive Resin on a FormLabs Form 2 3-D printer. All other components were printed out of Polylactic Acid filament on an Ultimaker 2 3-D printer. The results of the first print attempt provided large insights into our future designs. The first issue that we faced was cracking in the nipple, due to the difficulty of the 3D printer to produce a hollow and spherical object. Any external pressure on the hollow nipple resulted in cracking on the nipples sides. Additionally, the junction between the faceplate and the backplate was much too tight, and required sanding down of the edges to fit the two components together. Additionally, upon consultation with Healthcare Professionals, and Autism Ontario, we were provided with invaluable feedback on our first design. One issue raised was that the current design was too large, and that the pacifier would need to be very light weight in order to not cause any strain on the babies necks. Additionally, of greatest concern was that the fastener piece might come apart from the nipple and the body, and could serve as a choking hazard to babies sucking on the pacifier. They therefore suggested a direct junction between the nipple and the pacifier body without any small pieces that are potential choking hazards
Attempt 2
Results:
In our second attempt at constructing the pacifier. We implemented structural design changes and resolved issues pointed out to us by healthcare experts and Autism Ontario. To resolve cracking of the nipple due to being hollow, we utilized a non hollow, and non spherical orthodontic nipple shape instead. This design produced no cracking upon printing. To ameliorate concerns surrounding choking hazards, the nipple fastening bit was removed. The nipple now connects directly to the pacifier body through a tight fit without intervening pieces. To reduced the weight of the pacifier, the new design was printed with a smaller face plate with decreased infill density and, lower wall thickness and infill density on the backplate.