Mayan Temple Fountain

I got the idea to make a Mayan temple fountain when I visited the ancient Mayan civilization, Chichen Itza. It was a humid summer day when I saw El Castillo, a giant stone temple where the Mayans sacrificed people and held treasures. My project is a 3D printed temple fountain where water is pumped up through the middle on top of the temple. The water runs down the steps into a container where the water cycles back to the pump. LEDs are layed around the temple which light up the water and the plastic container. My friends were very confused when I told them about my project, they told to me to either make a temple or a fountain. I knew my project was unique and I was determined to get it done. The hardest part of the project was the 3D designing, at that time I wasn't very experienced in using the software so I ran into many problems. I learned the necessary skills and got the required resources/materials in Ms. Berbawy's Intro to Engineering Design class. In the end, my hard work and perseverance payed off by making my project unique and cool!

For water to pass through the temple I had to hot glue a tube inside the hole of the temple. Hot gluing the bottom was easy as I had enough space to fit the nozzle of the glue gun. The top of the hole was underneath the archways which was far to small to fit the glue gun so, I used a straw to force the hot glue underneath the archway.

To make the temple look more realistic I attempted to cover the top with clay, this quickly failed as the clay couldn't grab onto the smooth exterior. After letting the clay dry for two hours I saw that it had fallen off the temple, leaving a light-brown residue on every corner and step on the temple.

Materials:

15 inch diameter Plastic bowl

Watts SVIG10 Pre-Cut 1/2-Inch Diameter by 3/8-Inch Clear Vinyl Tubing, 10-Foot Length

Pure Water Pebbles Aquarium Gravel, 5-Pound, Turquoise

Led Strip Lights 5M/16.4 Ft SMD 3528 RGB 300 LEDs Color Changing Kit Waterproof, LED Ribbon for Home/Kitchen Lighting Strips Power Adapter Included

Uniclife 80-550GPH Submersible Water Pump with 6ft Power Cord for Fountain Aquarium Pond Fish Tank Hydroponic

10x10inches plastic mesh

850 grams 3D printing filament (non-color specific)

Tools:

Hot Glue Gun

Scissors

Duct tape

3D printer: Lulzbot Taz 6

Start a part file on Autodesk Inventor

Create a square with a width of 8 inches and a length of 8 inches in the XY plane

Extrude the square 1 inch upwards

Start a 2d sketch on the top of the 6x6 and create a 4x4 rectangle dimension the top and left 1 inch from the 6x6 to center it

Extrude it 1inch upwards

Start a sketch on the top of the 8x8 rectangular prism and project geometry. Create a 6x6inch square and center it by dimensioning the top and bottom 1 inch from the 8x8inch square.

Extrude the 6x6 square 1 inch upward 8. Start a 2d sketch on the top of the 6x6 and create a 4x4 rectangle dimension the top and left 1 inch from the 6x6 to center it

Extrude it 1inch upwards

Start a 2d sketch on top of the 4x4 and create a 2x2 inch square

Center it by dimensioning the top and left from the 4x4 by 1inch

Extrude it 1inch upwards

Start a sketch on top of the 2x2 square and create a square that is 1x1 inch and center it 0.5 inches from the top and left of the 2x2

Extrude it 0.5 inches upwards

Start a 2d sketch on top of the 1x1 and create a 0.5x0.5inch square

Center it by dimensioning it 0.250 inches from the top and left of the 1x1

Extrude it 1 inch upwards

Start a 2d sketch on top of the 0.5x0.5

Create a rectangle that is 0.25x0.25 inches

Dimension it 0.125 from the top and left to center it

Start a sketch on the fourth layer’s side
Project geometry, and create a rectangle that is 0.5 inches in length and 0.3 inches in height.

Center it by dimensioning 0.25 inches from each side

Do this exact rectangle and dimensions on the left side and extrude both all the way through. 24. Fillet the top left and right corners by 0.25 inches

Start a sketch on top of the fourth layer and create a rectangle on the edge that is 2 inches in length and 0.1 inches in width, do this on every side of the square and extrude it upwards 0.1 inches

Start a sketch on the side of the newly extruded 0.1 inch rectangular prism

Create a rectangle that is aligned with the upper layer which is 0.1 inches in width and 1inch in length.

Extrude it through and do this on every side

(This creates a small lip for the water to be guided down the stairs)

The last step in designing the temple is making a hole in the bottom for the pipe and water to pass through.

Start a 2d sketch on the bottom of the temple and project geometry create a point and dimension it 4 inches from each side to center the point.

Finish the sketch and use the hole tool and make the hole a drill hole and have an angle tip.

Make the hole have a width of 0.87503 in an extrusion length of 4.1825 in.

These dimensions will let the hole go through the four layers but not straight through the top.

(That is how you 3D design the temple)

Hot glue a plastic tube inside the hole of the temple (The tube should be level with the top of the temple and stick out based on how high your container is).

Use a scissor to cut a slit in the middle of the netting

Put the water pump nozzle inside the slit

Place the temple tube on top of the aquarium pump

Lay the LEDs around the temple on the base of the container

Then lay the pebbles around and top of the netting and led’s.

Plug in the led’s and fill the container with water just above the height of the pump.

The last step, turn the pump setting from “-” to “+” and…. Enjoy!!!