Picture of the month: 3D Printed Nutcracker From the Institute for Electrical Measurement Science and Fundamental Electrical Engineering

Called back into action: nut tongs, screw nutcrackers, “Nusschleuders” and also nut biters – grim-looking wooden figures that crack walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds with their mouths using leverage. Somewhat different nutcrackers were created in the summer semester 2019 at the Institute for Electrical Measurement Science and Fundamental Electrical Engineering (EMG), which we show in our picture of the month.

It’s very Christmassy at the Institute for Electrical Measurement Science and Fundamental Electrical Engineering: Students made something different nutcrackers with 3D printing. Picture credits: Kristina Rottig/TU Braunschweig

Students designed and produced a total of eight different models in their semester project for the lecture “Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing)”. They were free to let their creativity run wild. The only requirement was that all printing processes available at the institute had to be used and that the object should be able to really crack peanuts, walnuts or hazelnuts at the end of the final presentation. “That actually worked for most of them, although some designs had to surrender  hazelnuts, at the latest, and occasionally broke,” says Dr. Benedikt Hampel, who gives the lecture and has already dealt with the topic of 3D printing in his doctorate.

In the course, the students first learned the basics of construction on the computer, so that they could later use it to design objects for 3D printing. Subsequently, the details of different printing processes with their advantages and disadvantages were discussed. Of course, the practice in 3D printing was not to be missed.

Some groups focused on attractive design: for example, a dinosaur and a nut-cracking helicopter were created. Other students implemented additional functions in their objects so that different adapters were developed for the different nuts or collection containers for collecting the nutshells. In one project, electronics were even implemented to display the nutcracking force using both LEDs and a computer.

There will be a new task during the lecture next summer semester. It will be interesting to see which creative ideas the students will implement.