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My Photobooth Journey

My Photobooth Journey

Hi, I am Aarna Kapil, a student of Manaskriti School in grade 8 Ambar. We have recently been working on an amazing project in our Maker's Lab.We Manaskriti Minds have been focusing on developing our country by helping these small sellers sell their products easily online by displaying it attractively and more effectively. Our honourable Prime Minister launched Aatmanirbhar Bharat in which he is supporting small vendors but recently they have been facing a lot of competition from online sellers. The problem they face is improper display of products online .So to end this problem we have created a cheap,effective solution for them: The Photobooth 360 Project. We have used vast technologies to create a vision for these small vendors. In this project, the sellers can sell their products through a 360 booth which rotates.It ends the problem of these small vendors. The viewer can see every side, every angle of the product and then decide if they want to buy it or not. It helps the vendors by displaying it online in a better way. We have used the following apps in this project :

  •  TinkerCAD app: We have used this app to create a visual of how our project will turn out. It also enhanced our project in a helpful way
  • Glow3D app: With the help of this app, we recorded our project video

While making this project, we realized that it is not that easy as we expected it to be. We had a lot of ups and downs.

  • We started off by surveying to find insights about visuals of products that help customers make their buying decision
  • We planned a set-up to build a 360 degree view of a product as a retailer
  • Next we listed challenges we faced while captuirng 360 degree views of the project. We tested a frugal turntable for developing a 360degree photograph
  • We used persistence of vision to make motion of pictures smooth and detailed
  • We learned to use a motor and find its rational speed. Then we varied the speed of the motor using a regulator
  • For the next step, we used TinkerCAD to develop basic 3D models and develop a 3D model of a motor shaft holder
  • We found the required rational speed of motorized turntable and identified the parts of the motorized turntable
  • Next we designed a sketch of motorized turntable. We designed the turntable prototype using 3D CAD software
  • Lastly, we developed the physical prototype of motorised turntable and test it for developing 360 degree view

Overall, this journey was not at all easy but it was worth it. It increased my knowledge a lot. 


Aarna's Team
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Aarna's Team
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About Makershala

Makershala is a Learning by Making ecosystem for kids from age 8-16 to help them discover their interests, develop future skills and deepen conceptual understanding. Makershala follows the Project Based Learning approach as its way of teaching in which kids work on authentic, real life & personally meaningful projects.

Kids work on these projects in different educational settings, namely; self-learning; online 1:4 Peer to Peer with a mentor; or in a school. Projects are categorized in different interest segments like Robotics, Coding, Electronics, 3D Printing, Animations, Photography, Machine Learning, Astronomy and many more.

Each project is mapped with classroom concepts, 21st century skills, UN sustainable development goals and interests/careers to not only focus on holistic development of a child but help them identify their calling by giving them exposure to problems that exist in the real world.

Why Project-Based Learning

Project-Based Learning has the potential to solve many of the learning problems we see today beyond foundational literacy.

  • Ownership: Learners have complete ownership on what they need to know to solve a problem and come up with the best solution in the best way. It can be a concept or a software tool or a skill. Kids involved in projects are never required to be told to study.

  • Interdisciplinary: Unlike traditional learning where subjects are taught in silos and learners develop a perception of liking or disliking a subject. In project based learning, the given problem is supreme and it may require to know something from maths, science and history together.

  • Experiential learning: We generally retain 75% of what we do as opposed to only 5% of what we hear and 10% of what we read, hence PBL helps kids retain what they learn.

  • Lifelong learning: The most important gift that PBL gives to its learners is to make them lifelong learners as this is the most required skill to lead a good life, personally & professionally.

  • Skills & Knowledge balance: Project-based learning doesn’t focus too much on memorizing information, rather it equally demands practising life skills to be able to do better in projects.

How Makershala Works

  • Parents and Kids who wish to start their journey with Makershala, are suggested to pick one interest area of the child and then choose a plan.

  • Parents and Kids after enrolling in a course based on their interest are assigned a batch. Each batch has 3-4 learners and 1 mentor.

  • Each course has 6 guided projects and 1 challenge project.

  • During the project, formative assessments are conducted to evaluate learner’s knowledge & skills.

  • On completion of a project parents and kids get a learning report which indicates the skills and knowledge developed/displayed by them.

  • Kids also build their portfolio which showcases problems solved, solutions created, skills developed, knowledge acquired and technologies learnt.

  • Kids earn rewards in the form of badges, points and coins for their performance in a project, course and overall.

  • Kids are maneuvered to take up courses and projects from different learning segments to gain more clarity on their interests. This eventually helps them in picking up a career.