Meguru Ito sensei and Michihiro Hayashi sensei, who are in charge of Physics and Engineering Design classes, would like to introduce the ICT 3D Modeling Contest 2024.

 The ICT 3D Modeling Contest is a 3D CAD-themed contest for 1st and 2nd year students at the Hakusanroku Campus. ICT students begin using Autodesk Fusion 3D CAD software in their 1st year, and use 3D CAD modeling and 3D printers to output parts for use in classes and projects to improve student 3D CAD modeling skills. ICT holds a yearly competition called the ICT 3D Modeling Contest.
 The theme of this year's contest was “What You Want to Bring to an Evacuation Shelter.” Many victims of the Noto Peninsula Earthquake on January 1st, 2024 were forced to live in evacuation centers for a long time. We chose this theme because we wanted students to think about what they need while imagining such a situation and creating their models. Students at Hakusanroku Campus completed and submitted their models as their summer vacation homework. After being reviewed by several judges, four students were selected as Excellence Award winners.
The following are the comments of the four students.

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2nd year student, Hiroko Takeda
Title: Hardtack and Sugar Shimaenaga (a bird called Long-Tailed Tit) Candies

Production time: about 4 hours for the package, about 8 hours for modeling
Points of particularity: package
I created a shimaenaga version of the packaging to resemble the hardtack packaging that I remember from when I was a child. (The product information on the back of the package was faithfully reproduced down to the line breaks.)
Another key point is that I drew the Striped Shimaenaga to resemble the color scheme of the character on the original hardtack.

Modeling:
・When I creating the lid part of the can, I utilized both surface(*1) modeling and sheet metal(*2) techniques. (I didn't know how to do this, so I asked a question on the forum where I learned about it during the Fusion workshop last year, and they gave me detailed instructions.)
・I created the design for the hardtack package pattern myself and applied it to achieve a more realistic texture, striving to make it as authentic as possible.
・I tried to apply the decals to the package, but the image was cut off because of the curved surface. As a solution, I enclosed the solid (*3) with a surface, and then applied the package in two parts on top of the solid.

Judges’ Comments:
The modeling closely resembles the actual can shape, including how the lid bends when opened. The textures have also been meticulously created, making the overall work very impressive. The contents, the hardtack, have been designed in the style of Shimaenaga, showcasing creative attention to detail. However, the arrangement of the hardtack appears somewhat unnatural. Next time, you could try using features like physics simulations to calculate a more realistic stacking arrangement.

(*1) Surfaces: Function to make objects without thickness exist and express shapes in software.
(*2) Sheet metal: Function to bend, cut and change the thickness of plate-like objects.
(*3) Solid: Function to express a three-dimensional object as if it were packed inside.

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2nd year student, Rinse Okiyama
Title: Bag

Production time: 2 days
Points of particularity:
The theme of this modeling contest was “What You Want to Bring to an Evacuation Shelter,” so I aimed to create a backpack that would be fun to prepare in everyday life. Therefore, I decided to add a unique face design to the front of the backpack while keeping in mind its need for a simple structure and portability. I spent about two days in the production process, paying particular attention to the backpack's three-dimensional shape, cloth-like texture, and easy-to-use zipper. I carefully adjusted the thickness and roundness of each part to give it a three-dimensional feel and to pursue realism. Since, I am a Fusion beginner, I faced many challenges during the production. Each time, I utilized the well-known forum function and quickly solved the problems that I did not understand. By referring to the advice of other users, I was able to learn as I went along. I am very happy that my work won an award for my persistence.

Judges’ Comments:
I think the soft impression of curved surfaces, which is a weakness of mechanical CAD, was well modeled. The fasteners are modeled a little larger than usual, but this may have contributed to the prettier impression. Whenever there was something unclear in the operation, she was able to ask a question to the forum and solve the problem, and I felt that it showed her willingness to learn independently. It would have been even better if the zipper was slightly opened to show the inside.

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2nd year student, Ruuna Nakazawa
Title: Slim Compact Fan

Production time: about 5 hours
Points of particularity: The focus of my work is the shape of the internal propeller. I adjusted the direction, angle, and length of the propeller from a three-dimensional perspective in order to express the propeller's unique bend. I also tried to make the design as patterned as possible so that it would be close to the actual product I used as a reference.

Judges’ Comments:
I thought that the designer made good use of CAD functions, such as setting up “joints” for the parts where the handy fan folds up, and modeling “curved surfaces” with twists and turns. Also, she seems to have an excellent ability to carefully and in detail observe the actual objects and express them in CAD. The modeling of propellers, etc., is useful for fluid dynamics analysis, and I hope that she will be able to use even higher level CAD/CAE functions in the future.

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2nd year student, Kaya Yasuda
Title: Home Fire Extinguisher

Production time: 6 hours
Points of particularity:
The main focus of this work is the parts that actually operate the fire extinguisher, such as the handle and pins. In this part, instead of combining the moving elements into a single shape, I separated them into individual parts and later assembled them. By doing this, I was able to create gaps and shadows between the parts and make them look good. I also spent a lot of time on the handles. It was difficult to create not only the shape and size, but also a complicated shape that was not filled in, so I made it little by little, changing the way it was made.

Judges’ Comments: I liked how the model was divided and modeled for each component used in an actual fire extinguisher. I think the model shows how each part is combined and how it moves to perform the function of a fire extinguisher. I also felt that the modeling conveys that the shape of the handle was carefully observed and balanced in terms of size and bend. I think it would be even better if the “joints” were set up to actually simulate movement in the screen, so please give it a try next time.

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Judges' General Comments:
Continuing from last year, the 3D modeling contest was held again, and we received a large number of strong entries from students. Many of the models had curved surfaces, which are difficult to model, or were carefully textured or had rendering settings that made them enjoyable to look at. Among them, we have selected a few works that particularly caught our attention. we hope they will serve as a reference for everyone's future 3D model production.

 We were surprised again at this year’s students excellent work, and we are looking forward to next year’s contest.

Meguru Ito
Michihiro Hayashi

 This is Michihiro Hayashi, Engineering Design teacher at Kanazawa campus. From Wednesday, December 4 to Friday, December 6, 2024, I took a business trip to Sapporo, Hokkaido to participate in the international conference, IDW’24(The 31st International Display Workshops).

 Starting from this year, an I4D Contest (Demonstration Contest for College of Technology Students) was held as part of the conference. One of our 4th year students, Shogo Izumiya, gave a demonstration and a speech there. The theme of the presentation was “Differences in Gaze Direction of 3D- and 2D- Avatars: from Viewpoint of ‘Mona Lisa Effect.’” In a painting of a person on a flat canvas, the “Mona Lisa effect” occurs, where the depicted person appears to be looking at the viewer, whether viewed from the front or a slightly oblique angle. How does this effect manifest in a virtual reality environment using a Head-Mounted Display (HMD)? Our task was to demonstrate this through a practical demonstration. HMD is a device worn on the head like a helmet, which provides computer graphics with a realistic three-dimensional vision right in front of your eyes.

 Right after Shogo arrived at the venue, he was very busy preparing the HMD device, displays and other equipment, and putting up his posters on the walls. This was an international conference that used English as the official language. In this regard, Justin Han sensei, who also teaches Engineering Design with us, provided the language support for the posters and the presentation. Therefore, presentations were also primarily given in English. Sometimes we used Japanese for the Japanese speakers, but all posters and other notices were written in English.

Once the presentation started, other students and researchers visited his booth, listened to his instructions, and tried the HMD devices. Even though he looked a bit nervous at the beginning, he got used to it and gave a better presentation. Besides, his efforts to explain his ideas effectively in English were remarkable and easy to understand. This event took nearly four hours, but he was deeply concentrated on it, unaware of the passage of time. However, he seemed quite tired afterward and recovered his energy by eating a lot of Hokkaido food for dinner. In addition, the best and most excellent presentations were selected by the judges. Although our presentation missed out on being selected, after the awarding ceremony, the executive committee chairperson said, “It was a very close decision. Please come to IDW’25 as well. We are looking forward to seeing you.” The next IDW’25 will be held in Hiroshima in December 2025. We will be able to see Shogo senpai presenting with the new 4th year students there. I am looking forward to going with the group again and enjoying Hiroshima food such as oysters and Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki.

Hello everyone. I’m James Taylor, one of the English teachers at Hakusanroku Campus. I’d like to tell you about a couple of Christmas events that took place in the neighbourhood during December, 2024.

 First, on Tuesday, December 10th, the workers from the Oguchi Social Welfare Council – one of whom was dressed as Father Christmas – delivered Christmas cakes to every household with children. This year we got a snowman, a Santa, and a reindeer. My children ate the snowman and reindeer, and I had the Santa.

 Then, on Wednesday, December 18th, I went to Oguchi Community Centre, which is just down the road from ICT, to participate in the annual English Café Christmas party. This year we had 11 children and 4 adults from the Oguchi, Yoshino, and Shiramine areas. We started the party by decorating the tree and taking pictures when it was finished. Earlier in the afternoon, the staff from the Oguchi and Shiramine Community Centres spent hours making pancakes using a British recipe. After we’d finished decorating the tree, everybody was given a pancake and some ingredients to decorate it with, like cream, fruit, and sprinkles. While the guests were eating, I read them a story: ‘The Snowy Day’ by Ezra Jack Keats. When everyone had finished eating, I read ‘Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus’ by Mo Willems, which was as popular this time as it had been in Shiramine in the summer!

 We played bingo and a game called Stick the Nose on Rudolph, where players had to stick a red magnet on a picture of Rudolph without looking. The children got much closer to the right spot than the adults! The party ended with a visit from Father Christmas, who brought a small present for everyone.

 As ever, the staff from the Oguchi and Shiramine Community Centres worked really hard organising the event and preparing bingo prizes, presents, and food and drink for the party. I always appreciate their efforts.

James Taylor

 Hello, this is Yuri Makada from the Hakusanroku office. After school on Friday, November 29th, 2024, students and teachers decorated a Christmas tree in the Living Commons.
 Students started by assembling the Christmas tree, and then both the students and teachers decorated it with colorful ornaments and sparkling lights. During Christmas tree decoration time, there were some unique moments, such as 1st year student Ikki Hashimoto and Domyson Abuan sensei dancing to a Christmas song, and 1st year student Soma Ioroi pretending to be a Christmas tree while students and teachers decorated him with ornaments. There was laughter and fun. Students and teachers also decorated the stairs and automatic doors, putting the whole school in a Christmas mood.
 Students took photos in front of the completed tree and chatted happily as they ate sweets. It was a wonderful day 🎄

@ictkanazawa

Decoration the Christmas tree🎄 2024年11月29日（金）の放課後、白山麓キャンパス（1、2年生）では、クリスマスツリーの飾り付けが行われました🎄🎅🏻可愛くて豪華なクリスマスツリーに仕上がりました💕🌟🤭 #国際高専 #白山麓キャンパス #クリスマス #クリスマスツリー飾り付け #ict #christmas #happyholiday #holidayseason #christmasdecorations #treedecoration #kosen #internationalcollegeoftechnology #koseninjapan #英語 #english #ボーディングスクール #boardingschool

♬ original sound - demis hitchhiker

Yuri Makada

 　
 Hello, I’m Yoshihiro Kushima, the advisor of the Hakusanroku team (Team B) in the ROBOCON College of Technology. Today, I would like to introduce the event we participated in, the Tokai-Hokuriku Regional ROBOCON 2024 that took place on Sunday, October 6th, 2024. Michihiro Hayashi sensei has already introduced this year's theme, each team's robot, and the results of the competition , so I would like to talk about the students of Team B.
 This year, as in previous years, Team B consisted of 1st and 2nd year students from the Hakusanroku Campus, including 10 students who were the main team members and a few students who occasionally helped out. Each of these main 10 students had a few words to say about their roles and activities this year, and I would like to introduce these student’s comments.

 

2nd year student, Rinse Okiyama
Role: team management
 This year, I was glad that all team members were able to fulfill their roles and activities. On the other hand, the rules were complicated, and we created three robots at the same time to achieve a goal, so we found issues in dividing roles and managing the progress of the plan. From now on, we would like to repeat the trial-and-error process, overcome the areas for improvement, and make the best use of them in our next activities. We will do our best to grow further as a team.

 

2nd year student, Rintaro Kamoshita
Role: design and adjustment of robot 1
 I could challenge myself through the ROBOCON project. Our abilities, direction of thought for ROBOCON, how we work in ROBOCON and who should work on the tasks were always there as a topic that should be argued. It was very difficult to realize the meaningful project for each person in the situation where each person has different purposes of joining in ROBOCON. Thanks to all of the people who were helping us so much for this year’s ROBOCON. I will grow as much as I can by keeping this valued experience in my mind.

 

 

2nd year student, Hiroko Takeda
Role: exterior and decoration
 I'm happy that the battery didn't fall off from the robot. I am also satisfied because the exterior is very nice. It was the right decision to ask 1st year student, Ayane Ito to do the illustrations.
 When communicating with the members, I did not realize that there was a gap in understanding between me and the other members, and I went ahead with the project as it was. I would like to use this experience to make sure that my understanding is the same as the members' understanding before working on the ICT ROBOCON.

 

2nd year student, Eita Nakamura
Role: development of Robot 2-2
 Over the past year, through ROBOCON, I realized the difficulty of team competition and the importance of information sharing. Nevertheless, it was very rewarding to be absorbed in the robot contest and to be able to cooperate with other members while trying new things. I also found several things to reflect on, which I intend to work on improving in the future.

2nd year student, Kanamu Yamamoto
Role: development of Robot 2-1
 This year, I built a robot on my own for the ROBOCON, which allowed me to gain extensive knowledge about mechanical design. Reflecting on last year’s experience, I paid more attention to code readability and organized wiring, which was a positive change. However, I regret focusing too much on my own work and not being able to help address issues with other robots.

 

1st year student, Kaishu Ishiharada
Role: control design and team leader
 I enjoyed ROBOCON because everything was new for me. However, I made some mistakes in soldering and other operations this time, but I would like to make a better robot next year based on this experience.

1st year student, Ayane Ito
Role: machining
I feel that learning to use machines like the drill press and lathe for the first time was a valuable experience. Additionally, I was able to closely observe and learn from the machine design process led by my seniors. I hope to apply these experiences in my future activities.

 

 

1st year student, Shuntaro Tanaka
Role: machining
 It was enjoyable and fulfilling to complete the tasks assigned by my seniors neatly. This year, I went to Tokai-Hokuriku Regional ROBOCON for cheering, but next year, I want to participate either as a competitor or as part of the pit crew.
 I regret that I had a lot of overtime and didn't participate much in activities during the first semester. However, I was able to get along well with the seniors and the 1st year students, so although it was frustrating that we couldn’t go to the nationals, I think it turned out okay in the end. Next year, I want to make an effort to get off to a better start.

 

1st year student, Ikki Hashimoto
Role: machining
 The machining group is making parts for robots. In this year's ROBOCON, I joined as a pit crew member. When I joined into ROBOCON, I thought, it was very busy, but it was fun. Also, I could understand the fun points of processing something. I thought joining the robot contest was a very good experience for my life.

1st year student, Chihiro Fukumoto
Role: mechanical design and machining
 For me, as a 1st year student, every step—from brainstorming ideas to design, machining, and assembly—felt like a full-fledged job. The competition was my first experience, and although we had to tackle most things on the spot during the event, we managed to pull through, so it’s all good!

 

 Since ICT is physically separated by grade, with 1st and 2nd year students at the Hakusanroku campus, 3rd year students studying abroad in New Zealand, and 4th and 5th year students at the Kanazawa campus, and robot contest activities are held separately at the Hakusanroku and Kanazawa campuses, it is difficult for students to communicate with each other and to pass on the know-how of techniques and team activities. I feel that the environment for our activities is reset every year. This is a challenge for both the students and advisors, and it is a constant process of trial and error. For this reason, we have been working daily to improve students' technical skills and create an environment that facilitates connections between students and advisors at each campus, such as by holding the ICT ROBOCON at the end of the school year since last year and connecting Kanazawa Campus and Hakusanroku Campus online after school since this year.
 At the end of the school year, I am looking forward to seeing what kind of robots the students will build for the ICT ROBOCON.

Yoshihiro Kushima