Constellation Projector

Want to teach your littles about stargazing? Teach kids constellation recognition and astronomy, 3D printing and simple electronics with this star projector.

Great starter project for 3D printing. Simple shapes and cutaways make this ideal for teaching kids how to print useful items on the printer (not that toys aren't cool.) Kids will need a little supervision on this one as there's electricity involved, albeit, low voltage.

This is the tricky part of this tutorial but stick with me here. You need to find an image of a constellation that you want to make a cover for and pass it through an SVG convertor. There are numerous sites that will convert files in this way for you. I prefer Convertio. Once you have converted your file to the proper format, import it into your scene with the import function. When you have it imported you need to resize it according to the cover. Start placing "hole" cylinders about 2x2x20 and place them over the larger stars in the field so the light will shine through them. You can then delete the imported picture from your frame. Add some text for the constellation name and select "Hole" on it. Press Ctrl+A to select everything in the scene and flip all the objects 180 degrees so it will print upside down.

Glue the switch into the hole we made in the main box.

When choosing a light source, a smaller bright bulb is generally best as this projects a tiny, bright, crisp point on the ceiling. The larger the bulb, the larger the point it will project.

Wiring the project is SUPER simple. Bring in the two wires from your power source through the small round hole we made in the projector box. Break one wire (doesn't matter which) and route it through the switch and then to the light source.

And you're all done! Enjoy teaching your kids about how to identify different constellations. A couple of teaching ideas: Maybe explain a few constellations that you can only see at certain times of the year. Also, learn a couple of different ones that you can't see from the Northern/Southern hemisphere. A quick bit of research will reveal several suggestions on this point. Hope you all enjoy your star gazing and keep on making!