Mariokart Tape Dispenser

SUMMARY SECTION (CONTINUED):

Do you love cars? Are you an avid video game player? If you answered yes to both of these questions, this 7 cm × 10.5 cm × 4 cm Mariokart-themed tape dispenser is for you! With a compact and customized build, this office decoration can sit—or roll—anywhere and will dispense your adhesive rolls with ease. 

I created this tape dispenser with the help of my partner, Jack, as a project for my Introduction to Engineering Class. Throughout multiple weeks, we took turns working on this project and assisted each other to troubleshoot problems. You can find Jack’s page here. Thank you Jack for helping me create such a fun and amazing build!
 

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LESSON PLAN AND ACTIVITY:

In this project, I used multiple tools such as extrudes, fillets, lofts, revolves, and cuts to create my own version of a Mariokart tape dispenser, customized with a “W” on the hood for my first name. In addition to this project, Jack and I created another office decoration, the Mariokart Mystery Cube Post-It Notes Dispenser, which will be posted on my page soon.

Specific constraints for all of the builds included:

• Constructing an actual size model of the build in Solidworks
• Limiting the models to a 1000 cm³ volume
• Being 3D printable with little to no supports
• Using all of the following features throughout the project:
  • Extrusion
  • Revolve
  • Sweep
  • Revolve
  • And one of: Mirror Feature or Circular, Linear, and Sketch Pattern

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ASSEMBLY/CONSTRUCTION INSTRUCTIONS SECTION:

1. To create the Mariokart Tape Dispenser, we first started with a basic sketch on the Top Plane and extruded that sketch to create the basic outline of the vehicle. Our first sketch is seen in the screenshot below. We then extruded that sketch by roughly 1 cm to set a base structure for our design.

2. In order to create a movable tape dispenser with wheels that actually rolled, we needed to create holes throughout the car as well as axles for the wheels. To create the hole in the Mariokart, we used the Extruded Cut feature to cut a hole through the extruded boss structure from Step 1, as seen in the image below.

3. After creating the main outline, we used the Boss Extrude feature to create the walls, hood, and backseat for the Mariokart. The images below, from left to right, are: 

1. The original sketch for the hood (3.50 cm × 2.50 cm)
2. The extrude of the hood sketch in two directions
3. The draft of the sketch of the backseat that would be lofted using the Loft Feature
4. The draft of the sketches of the walls of the Mariokart that will hold the tape peg, before they were extruded 1.5 cm directly up

4. After creating these structures, our team added cut extrudes onto the side of the walls to hold the pegs that would keep the tape rolls in place when someone used them. The sketch for these cut extrudes is shown in the picture below.

5. Lastly, we used the Loft Tool to add the boosters to the back of the Mariokart. Below are the two pictures of the original sketches used for the Loft; the picture on the left shows the sketch for the base of the booster, while the picture on the right is the sketch for the back of the boosters. To create the sketch for the end of the boosters, we had to use the Reference Geometry Tool to create a new plane (Plane 1), shown in the second picture. 

6. Our last part to create were the wheels and the axles. We created two pairs of wheels, the Front Wheels and Back Wheels. Each pair had a very similar but different design for treads. To create the wheels, we started off with a sketch and revolved the sketches 360 degrees to create wheels. Then, we angled a cut into the wheels and added treads. A diagram with each step step is shown below; the specific steps of adding in cut extrudes and treads for the wheels is more thoroughly explained in the Design Choices section. 

For the axles, we used the Boss Extrude Feature to create a cylinder that was measured to fit into the wheels and spin around in the holes in the body of the Mariokart. 

Putting it together: After all the parts of the Mariokart is printed out, you just need to take two axles, stick them through the holes on the sides of the Mariokart body, and attach wheels to each side of the axles. After, your Mariokart Tape Dispenser is complete and ready for use! 

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DESIGN CHOICES:

Creating this Mariokart Tape Dispenser was genuinely one of the most difficult projects I’ve had to do, but it was also the most rewarding after I saw the results of my hard work. This section will be about the inspiration for the tape dispenser and changes I had to make along the design process. 

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INSPIRATION

First, this Mariokart Tape Dispenser was inspired by Mario’s vehicle in Mariokart, a game that I played at a very young age and always felt a close connection with. For the engraving on the hood of the tape dispenser, I decided to add my very own touch to it with a “W” engraving for my first name, William. Throughout the planning stage of this project, my partner and I based off the tape dispenser on the picture of Mario’s car below.

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CHANGES

It took multiple weeks for my partner and me to create this project; as a result, many changes had to be made as we brought our sketches to Solidworks and adjusted our plans based on errors we encountered. Listed and explained below are the changes I made to my original plan after I designed this Mariokart. 

LOWERING HEIGHT OF BOOSTERS

As shown in the picture above, the original height for the base of the boosters was set to 1 cm above the base of the backseat, and the boosters extruded directly out from there with a Loft. However, my partner and I quickly realized that these boosters would be hard to structurally support if they extended straight out, so we moved the base of the boosters 0.8 cm down; this way, the bottom of the Mariokart could help support the structure. We made sure to keep the edge of the boosters in the same spot. The changes we made to the boosters are shown in the “Before” and “After” diagram above.

ADDING FILLETS

Another change my partner and I made to the Mariokart Tape Dispenser was the addition of fillets. The Mariokart before and after adding fillets on the edge is shown in the diagram above; adding fillets to almost all the sides of the build helped make the edges of the Mariokart smoother, more realistic, and aesthetically pleasing. 

MAKING SPACE FOR TAPE ROLL

Next, our team also added an extruded cut down into the actual tape holder; the first picture above shows the sketch for the extruded cut, and the second picture depicts what the Mariokart looked like after the cut. We believed that adding a slot for the tape roll would minimize the space the roll took and make it easier for users to roll out the tape. However, this tape roll engraving had to be eventually shifted and enlarged to take into account the actual shape of tape rolls. Our final engraving for the tape roll is shown in the third image. 

ADDING TREADS TO TIRES

Our initial plan for the wheels of the Mariokart was a basic, smooth tire without any treads. However, as the design progressed, our team decided to add in treads to further the appearance of our project. To do this, we used the Cut Extrude tool to create a sketch slightly above the wheel, and cut it directly down to create one single tread. Then, we used the Circular Pattern Feature to create multiple identical treads along the same wheel. The first picture above shows the sketch for the front wheels; the second picture shows the sketch for the back wheels. As can be seen from these two pictures, the tread designs for the front and back wheels are slightly different.

CHANGING AXLES

As we printed out our prototypes for the Mariokart tape dispenser, we encountered one major obstacle; at first, we created the wheels to have a built in axle that we could just slide into the holes on the side of the Mariokart to spin (shown in the first picture above). However, once our team actually printed out the wheels, we realized that the mini axles were too small and fragile and easily broke off the wheel (shown in second image above). As a result, we fixed this problem by using the Boss Extrude Feature to create one big axle and cut holes in the middle of the wheels to attach the axles to and keep them spinning. Our final version of the wheels and axles are shown in the third image above.
 

ANGLING ENGRAVING FOR TAPE PEG

Another improvement we made to our initial design was adjusting the engravings for the tape peg. As shown in the diagram above, at first we created the engraving for the peg in an “L” shape (shown in first column in picture above). However, as our team progressed through the design of the Mariokart, we angled the “L” shape so the peg could not easily fall out when someone rolled the tape (shown in second column in picture above).

RESIZING HOOD

During the design process for this build, my partner and I made some minor tweaks to the size of the hood of the Mariokart. As shown in the image above in the “Before” section, the hood for the Mariokart was at first too big and did not fit the overall design. Because of this, we reduced both the width and height of the sketch for the hood by 0.5 cm. 
 

ENGRAVING “W” ON HOOD

Lastly, this project took inspiration from the original Mariokart; therefore, the tape dispenser needed an engraving of a letter on it. To provide a more personal feel, I added my own “W” (for my first name) to the hood of the vehicle instead of Mario’s “M”. To create this engraving, I used the Cut Extrude Tool, with a direction to Offset From Surface, to engrave a sketch 0.1 cm into the hood. The Cut Extrude and specific steps I used to create the “W” can be seen in the 2 pictures above.