Pass first. Then weigh in.
Structural qualification is pass/fail. Among the structures that pass every requirement, the lowest total assembled mass wins.
POE Unit 0 • Lesson 0.7
Additive Manufacturing
Focus question: How can print settings and frame geometry reduce mass without sacrificing the strength needed to qualify?
Challenge Rules
CubeSat Lightweight Structure Challenge
Every team works inside the same architecture and material limits. Your engineering advantage comes from how efficiently you use them.
- Maximum assembled envelope: 4 in × 4 in × 4 in, including hardware.
- Top and bottom: laser cut from the team’s single 4 in × 12 in × 1/8 in acrylic sheet.
- Sides: remain open; no side panels.
- Primary frame: 3D printed using the same teacher-selected filament material for every team.
- Assembly: M3 screws for all primary structural connections; structural glue is not permitted.
- Serviceability: the structure must be able to be disassembled and reassembled with normal hand tools.
- Competition: the lightest structure that passes every qualification requirement wins.
Lesson Targets
What You Will Be Able to Do
I can prepare the 3D-printed CubeSat frame for manufacturing and justify print settings as engineering variables.
3D Printer Certification verification + print settings record + print-ready frame files
The frame is printable, uses the class-standard filament, and all required slicing settings are documented before production.
Activity Flow
How Today Advances the CubeSat
1. Identify the load path
Decide where the printed frame actually needs material.
2. Choose slicing variables
Set walls, infill, pattern, orientation, and layer height intentionally.
3. Verify and release the print
Complete certification verification and document settings before starting the final frame.
Optimization Variables
The Filament Is Standardized; Your Print Strategy Is Not
Walls vs. Infill
Additional walls may strengthen thin structural members more efficiently than simply increasing infill. Your team must justify the balance it chooses.
Print Orientation
Layer direction changes how the frame responds to tension, bending, and connection loads.
Geometry
Ribs, gussets, hollow sections, and cross-sectional shape can create stiffness without filling the entire member with material.
Project Milestone
Today’s Required Deliverable
Additive Manufacturing Release
Submit or record:
- 3D Printer Certification evidence or instructor verification if already certified.
- Layer height.
- Wall/perimeter count.
- Infill percentage.
- Infill pattern.
- Print orientation.
- Estimated print time.
- Estimated filament use.
- Print-ready frame file(s).
- Short justification explaining how the settings balance mass, strength, and reliability.
Engineering Decision
Document the Reasoning
What did your team decide today?
What measurements, requirements, comparisons, calculations, or manufacturing information support that decision?
Why does that evidence make the decision appropriate for a lightweight structure that still has to qualify?
Resources
Lesson Resources
Lesson 0.7 — Additive Manufacturing
Download the class presentation covering additive manufacturing processes, FDM design considerations, slicers and print settings, and the Bambu P1S, Bambu A1 Mini, and Robo E4 printers used in our FabLab.
3D Printing Certification
Verify the additive-manufacturing certification before releasing the official frame print.
CubeSat Unit 0 Overview
Review the complete challenge sequence, project rules, deliverables, and competition objective.
Principles of Engineering
Return to the POE hub for units, course resources, and certifications.