Clicky

MakerBot Print is our newest print-prepration software, which supports native CAD files and STL assemblies,
allows you to interact with all your printers via the Cloud, and many other exciting new features.

Download Now

Challenge Closed

Deadline: Dec 6, 2015 11:59 PM EST

Total Entries: 214

Thingiversity Fall STEAM Challenge: Make It Loud!

Create an amazing design that makes sound. Entries must be 100% 3D printed and require no additional parts. Winning designs can receive assistance (i.e. hands, breath), but the sound must be generated by the printed object. Designs that amplify existing sounds (i.e., bullhorns) are ineligible. Be inventive, test and iterate, and make it loud!

Prizes

First Place

The first-place winner of this Challenge will receive a MakerBot Replicator Desktop 3D Printer.

In addition, the first-place winner will have the opportunity to choose one of ten MakerBot-selected schools to receive a 3D printer package of its own.

Runner-Up Winners

Four runner-up winners will receive one roll of MakerBot Filament in PLA or ABS and a Bleep Labs Pico Paso. The runner-up categories are designed to encourage beginner and student entries: Best Simple Design, Best Silly Design, Best Artistic Design, and Best Documented Design.

How to Enter

  • Design something! You can participate in this Challenge whether you're a 3D-modeling expert or an absolute beginner. In fact, we especially encourage entries from people that are beginners! See the 3D Design Tips below for information about how you can get started with a few free, easy 3D-design programs.
  • Post your design to Thingiverse. You can modify your design anytime up until the December 16 deadline. See the Challenge Entry Tips for ideas on making your entry as effective as possible.
  • Include the challenge tag. To be considered for this Challenge, your Thing must include the tag #MakeItLoud.
  • Test how loud your design is! Winners will be chosen largely based on our tests of their actual loudness, and we'll choose which finalists to test partially based on how loud we think your designs will be. Test your own design with a decibel meter and record your results in your entry. (There are many low-cost decibel meter apps to choose from, for example logSPL for iPhone and Sound Meter for Android.)
  • Get your school involved. In addition to receiving a printer of their own, the first-place Challenge winner will choose one of ten MakerBot-selected schools to receive a printer, as well. Encourage your school to post to the Our School Needs a 3D Printer! Thingiverse Group to be in the running.
  • Challenge Entry Tips: Increase your chances of winning!

  • Design iteratively. Use all of the time available to you. Don’t be afraid to upload new and different versions of your work.
  • Tell the story of your design. Take time to write a good Description and Instructions for your model on Thingiverse. How did you design your model? What did you have to redesign along the way? What does your model do, and why is it cool? What settings do you recommend for 3D printing your model?
  • 3D print your model if you can. While owning a 3D printer is not a requirement for entry, printing and documenting printability will go a long way toward winning. You might consider getting your design 3D printed locally at a service such as 3DHubs so you can test it and take photos.
  • Take good photos to show off your work. Photograph your design from every angle and upload all of your best, most informative pics. Show us how your pieces interact with the original ThinkFun kits! When you upload your model, be sure to reorder the images in your Gallery so that your photos come first, before the blue model images.
  • Consider a video. Sometimes a video speaks louder than a photo, especially if your design moves or interacts with things. You can upload a video clip to the Thing page for your model by posting the model to YouTube and then including the link to that video in the Description. The video will then automatically be included in the Gallery for your Thing.
  • 3D Design Tips: How to get started...

  • New to design? Get jumpstarted! Use Thingiverse's new Jumpstart design resource pages to learn how to get started with simple 3D design using Thingiverse, MakerBot Printshop, Tinkercad, Sculptris, and OpenSCAD. Making your own 3D designs is easier than you might think, and we welcome people of all levels to participate in this Challenge.
  • Or use any program you like. To enter this Challenge you can design with any program that can export an .stl file. Some of the many other free design programs that you might like to try are MeshMixer, 123D Design, Sketchup, and Blender.
  • Make it easy for other people to print or modify your design. Thingiverse is all about people sharing and enjoying each other's 3D-printable designs. We will attempt to 3D print finalist designs to help us determine Challenge winners, and special consideration will be given to models that are easy for the rest of the community to 3D print and enjoy.
  • Using this Challenge in your classroom

  • Make this Challenge a class project. This Challenge is for the entire Thingiverse community, but we've designed it to be friendly for use in classrooms, clubs, libraries, or makerspaces as a fun 3D printing project, and scheduled to end before the winter break.
  • Lesson suggestions for this Challenge. Different schools and teachers will have their own ways of incorporating this Challenge into the curriculum, but we can offer a few suggestions:

    • Suggestion #1: Focus on iterative design and "design thinking", helping students to develop, test, and then redesign their work as they try to create the loudest 3D-printable object they can.
    • Suggestion #2: Incorporate loudness testing into a mathematical discussion of decibel levels and logarithmic scales. Print student noisemaker designs and plot their loudness on a graph to investigate the meaning of a logarithmic scale of measurement.
    • Suggestion #3: Encourage your students to explore new design programs by using this Challenge as motivation. What kinds of noisemakers are easiest to make with Tinkercad? What about Sculptris or Sketchup?
  • Make a collection. To keep track of student designs, we encourage teachers/schools to create a Thingiverse account and then create a Collection of the designs submitted in their students' accounts.

  • Official Rules

    OFFICIAL RULES as defined by MakerBot Industries, LLC ( “Sponsor”).

    CONTEST ENTRY DATES: Contest start date & time and end date & time as outlined on website is Wednesday, 9/16/2015 at 12:00AM EST to Sunday, 12/6/2015 at 11:59PM EST. All entries must be received no later than 12/6/2015 at 11:59PM EST.

    WHO MAY ENTER: Contest is only open to Thingiverse.com (“Thingiverse”) account holders who are 13 and over at the time of entry (“Contestant” or “Contestants”). Contestants are subject to all notices posted online, including but not limited to, the Terms of Use for Thingiverse.com. Employees and their immediate families (spouse, parent, child, sibling and their respective spouses, regardless of where they reside) or those living in the same household (whether or not related) of Sponsor, and their respective parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, prize suppliers, distributors and advertising and promotion agencies (collectively, “Contest Parties”) are not eligible to enter or win. Contestants under 18 years old must obtain written consent of a parent or legal guardian in order to be eligible to receive any prizes. Please see “ACKNOWLEDGMENT” in these Official Rules for details. Contest is subject to all federal, state and local laws and regulations and is void where is prohibited, taxed, or restricted by law. Residents of the province of Quebec in Canada, Cuba, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Sudan, Myanmar (Burma), or other individuals restricted by U.S. export controls and sanctions are ineligible to participate. The Contest is void in these countries and where prohibited or restricted by U.S. or local law.

    CONTEST OBJECTIVE: The objective of the Contest is to invite Thingiverse Account Holders to create and upload a design (“Design”) based on the noisemaking objectives of the Contest. The Design must fit within a build volume of 10.0L x 10.0w x 12.5h cm.

    CONTEST ENTRY: To enter, click “Enter Challenge” on the Contest’s click-through landing page and upload the Design with the hashtag: #MakeItLoud. For purposes of these Official Rules, “receipt” of entry occurs when Thingiverse’s server records the entry information resulting from Contestants’ entry being received. Any automated computer receipt (such as one confirming delivery of entry) does not constitute proof of actual receipt by Sponsor for purposes of these Official Rules. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any entry for any reason, in its sole and absolute discretion.

    JUDGING: The Sponsor will select a first-place winner and four runner-up winners (“Winner” or “Winners”) based on the following criteria: creativity, printability, and loudness. The odds of winning depend upon the number of entries received. In the event of any ties, Winners will be determined based in the Sponsor’s sole discretion. In all cases, Sponsor’s decision is final and binding.

    WINNER NOTIFICATION: Winners will be determined after the Contest’s end date and announced on Thingiverse (http://www.thingiverse.com) by December 18, 2015.

    PRIZE(S): The first place Winner will: (a) receive a MakerBot Replicator Desktop 3D Printer (Fifth Generation Model) valued at $2,899.00 + tax USD, (b) one (1) Bleep Labs Pico Paso with a retail value of up to $25.00 + tax, and (c) have his or her Design featured on www.thingiverse.com. The four runner-up Winners will: (a) receive one (1) spool of MakerBot PLA filament, with a retail value of up to $100.00 + tax, (b) one (1) Bleep Labs Pico Paso with a retail value of up to $25.00 + tax, and (c) have his or her Design featured on www.thingiverse.com. Winners are solely responsible for all expenses, costs or fees associated with acceptance and/or use of the prize, including without limitation, all taxes (if any). A Winner is not a recipient of a prize until Sponsor has verified him or her as a Winner. Sponsor will be deemed to have awarded the prize to a Winner after it has been formally transferred and such Winner will then assume full responsibility for the prize(s). When shipping overseas, Winners are responsible for any and all fees associated with value added tax (VAT), taxes or customs. All prize selections are at Sponsor’s sole discretion.

    ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: By entering in this Contest: - Contestants agree and accept these Official Rules. - Entry must be the creative work of the Contestant and must not infringe upon the copyrights, trademarks, rights of privacy, publicity or other intellectual property or other rights of any person and must not violate any law. Contestant assumes all responsibilities and consequences if submission is found to be otherwise. Sponsor will not be held responsible if legal action results from public exhibition. - Contestant acknowledges that MakerBot will use 3D-printed prints of the winning MakerBot Vinyl Designs and images of the winning 3D-printed prints of the winning MakerBot Vinyl Designs for promotional and commercial purposes, including, but not limited to, events, marketing material, retail store displays, and use by distributors and resellers of products of Sponsor. - Contestant waives any right to inspect or approve finished photographs, audio, video, multimedia, or advertising recordings and copy or printed matter or computer generated scanned image and other electronic media that may be used in conjunction therewith or to approve the eventual use that it might be applied. - Winning constitutes permission (except where prohibited by law) to use Winner’s name, images, hometown, likeness, prizes won, stories, audio, video and photograph (all at Sponsor’s discretion) for future advertising, exhibition, publicity in any and all media including, without limitation, cable and broadcast television and the Internet, now or hereafter devised throughout the world in perpetuity, without additional compensation, notification or permission. - After the winning notifications, written consent of acceptance of these Official Rules for any Winner under the age of 18 must be given via electronic mail to legal@makerbot.com or via regular mail to Sponsor’s address listed in these official rules (“Sponsor Address”) within fifteen (15) business days, after which consent will be confirmed by Sponsor. The written consent must contain: (a) name, (b) regular mailing address, (c) telephone number, and (d) email address for the parent or guardian granting consent for the minor. Except where prohibited by law, parent or guardian of a Winner may be required to sign and return an Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability and Publicity Release and provide any additional information that may be required by Sponsor. If required, parent or guardian of a Winner must return all such required documents via fax (or as otherwise instructed) within forty-eight (48) hours and via U.S. Mail within seven (7) days following attempted notification or such Winner will be deemed to have forfeited the prize and another Contestant may be selected based on the judging criteria described herein.

    SUBMISSION PROBLEMS: Sponsor is not responsible for lost, misdirected, damaged, altered, garbled, incorrect, incomplete or delayed entries; all of which will be void. Additionally, Sponsor is not responsible for problems related to technical malfunctions of electronic equipment, computer online systems, computer hardware or software failures, or failure of any entry to be received by Sponsor on account of any technical problems, including miscommunication or connection failure, which may limit a Contestant’s ability to participate in this Contest. Sponsor reserves the right to modify or terminate the Contest in the event it becomes technically impaired, and to cancel or suspend the Contest in its entirety should unauthorized intervention corrupt the administration of the Contest and, if terminated, at Sponsor’s discretion, determine the Winner using all non-suspect, eligible entries received up to time of cancellation using the judging procedure outlined above. In the event of a dispute regarding entries received from multiple users having the same email account, the authorized subscriber of the email account at the time of entry will be deemed to be the Contestant and must comply with these Official Rules. Authorized subscriber is the natural person who is assigned the email address by the online service provider. Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the operation of this Contest.

    DATA PRIVACY: Data privacy and protection is very important to Sponsor. The privacy practices of this Contest are governed by the Thingiverse.com Privacy Policy and the privacy provision in the MakerBot.com Terms of Service.

    INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ASSIGNMENT OF RIGHTS: Each design shall be ascribed a Secondary License as stipulated in the Thingiverse Terms of Use to allow for Sponsor’s use for marketing and promotional purposes. Sponsor shall have the exclusive authority to remove or retain entries and to repost on any of Sponsor’s websites or social media sites. By submitting an entry, Contestant acknowledges and agrees that Sponsor may obtain many submissions under this Contest and that such entries may be similar or identical in format to others submitted under this Contest and/or other contests staged and/or sponsored by Sponsor, and waive any and all claims Contestant may have had, may have, and/or may have in the future, and that any composition or design accepted, reviewed and/or used by Sponsor (or its respective designees) may be similar to his/her entry. Contestant acknowledges and agrees that Sponsor does not have now, nor shall have in the future, any duty or liability, direct or indirect, vicarious, contributory, or otherwise, with respect to the infringement or protection of any copyright in and to Contestant’s entry.

    LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: By entering and/or accepting prize, Contestants and Winners agree to hold and assign Sponsor and its promotional partners, directors, officers, and employees harmless for liability, damages, or claims for injury or loss to any person or property, relating to, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, participation in this Contest, the acceptance and/or subsequent use or misuse or condition of any of the prizes awarded, or claims based on publicity rights, defamation, or invasion of privacy. Under no circumstances will Contestants be permitted to obtain awards for, and Contestants hereby waives all rights to claim, punitive, incidental or consequential damages, or any other damages, including attorneys’ fees, and Contestant (or, if an eligible minor, his/her parent or legal guardian) further waives all rights to have damages multiplied or increased.

    CHOICE OF LAW: All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of Contestants and Sponsor in connection with this Contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the substantive laws of the State of New York, USA without regard to New York choice of law rules.

    SEVERABILITY: If any provision of these Official Rules is found to be invalid or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction or appointed arbitrator, such determination shall in no way affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision herein.

    WINNERS LIST: Winners will be announced on Thingiverse on or before Friday, December 18, 2015.

    SPONSOR ADDRESS: MakerBot Industries, LLC, One MetroTech Center, 21st Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201