Tinkercad Modeling - "Big Bang Theory" Meets Mini Holmdel Horn

Student Entry: I am a 18 year old freshman student at Virginia Tech.

This is a true story of "Big vs. Small." The Holmdel Horn has always been an interesting object to me in my local community. In this project, I wanted to not only scale something big into something small but I wanted to learn the various ways I could model something within Tinkercad. The Holmdel Horn I think 100% captures this idea and shows how we are such a tiny part of our huge cosmic solar system.

Tiny History Lesson: As the story is told, two radio astronomers, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson in 1965 discovered the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) that permeates the universe. The Horn was constructed on Crawford Hill in early 1959 to support a NASA project called Project Echo. Project Echo was the first passive communication satellite experiment that used metal balloons to send communication signals that were transmitted from one location on Earth and bounced off the surface of the satellite to another Earth location. In the process of testing an amazing discovery revealed the cosmic radiation coming from a central location. This was an important discovery demonstrating that the universe was expanding. It provided the evidence that confirmed George Gamow's and Georges Lemaitre's "Big Bang" theory of the creation of the universe.

To wrap up this small history lesson, one would ask what the "Big Bang" theory is? The thought is that 13.7 billion years ago, everything in the entire universe was condensed in an infinitesimally small small universe and for some reason, a huge explosion occurred thus thrusting and expanding our universe out faster than the speed of light. The Holmdel horn was believed to capture the single source of where this explosion occurred based on heat signatures in one core area.

There is a great article in our town that is available here: https://holmdel-cilu.org/holmdel-horn-antenna.

Below are all of the 3D printed files required to create the project.

Everything was modeled and designed using Tinkercad thus 100% proving complex modeling can certainly be done using Tinkercad.

1. General 3d Printer Supplies
2. Supper Glue: https://a.co/d/3CE4XVT
3. Small angle or straight pliers

MODELING 3D TINKERCAD TIPS:

1. Design in metric - 3d printers are set by default to use metric and are more precisely calibrated to do so. When you design and print I have found metric to work the best.
2. 3 MM Rule - Be sure to try and keep all part thicknesses no thinner then 3 mm. Modern printers are great but if you use line lines smaller then 3 mm they tend to bend or break off.
3. Ensure Fitment - I recommend that you build your items all at once and then separating the parts into components. You can use other parts that connect as holes and toggle between using them as a solid and a hole as you design. See the above example.
4. Print Flat - If you can always try to have your parts designed in such a way that requires minim supports and are able to be printed laying flat on the build plane. This is great because smaller parts are hard to remove supports and tend to break.
5. Print and Fit - I recommend starting by printing the base parts first and then build off of that. Many times you want a quick win and start to print your tiny parts first. This tends to be a hard way to build a model because adjusting larger items later take longer to print. Start with big parts first and then gradually work your way to the smaller parts.

• Dry fit the Horn Ring (P6) around the Horn and gently mark the spot with a pencil.
• Remove the ring and apply a small amount of glue on all four sides of the pencil marks.
• Slide the ring to its final resting point ensuring that it is resting on the glue bed as shown.

• Using the Horn-Holder (P5) and the Small-Buildings (P4), attach them using a small amount of glue on the base of each building to the locations marked in green.

• Using the same Horn-Holder (P5) line up the Base-Plate (P1) as shown in the picture and let dry thoroughly.
• Following a solid dry time attach Back Building-Hold (P11) to the end of the baseplate as shown in the picture above. You might need to support the Back Building-Hold (P11) until it dries.

• Once the back (Building Hold) is dry you can then glue (P8) to the bars as shown. Apply a bit of glue to both the back side of the plate and supports and ensure they rest on the small extension plates coming out from the bottom of the bar.
• Next you can then attach the second small building to the project using a bit of glue on the circle shown in green above and additional glue on the bottom of the building. Line up the building to the back plate far end.

• Dry fit part (P10) into the base. This should not required additional glue. Be sure to clean off any excess plastic within the fitted hole in the back of the base plate and alongside the small tab. If everything is square using a small set of pliers you should be able to gentle push the plate into its hole as shown.

• Once everything has dried it is now time to attach the stairs (P9) located from the top building to the lower deck. Apply a bit of glue to the stairs and to the deck plate.
• Install the horn by adding a small amount of glue to the back of the horn and the wheels located next to the two support pillars and install the horn. Be sure to hold it in place until it dries thoroughly.

Note: Dry time depends on the type of supper glue used.

• Add a small amount of glue to the wheels located within the picture above and position the Horn Assembly on the Base-Turret (P3) ensure that everything is balanced and over the center of the base. This will act as your display holder.
• Success!