Paulo Kiefe Wants the World to Make with STEMFIE, the MECCANO-Like 3D-Printable Construction Kit
Designed to encourage STEM learning, the STEMFIE building system is permissively licensed and easily 3D-printed.
Maker Paulo Kiefe wants to get the world's kids building a passion for science, technology, engineering, and math — and has created a 3D-printable MECCANO-like construction toy dubbed STEMFIE to support exactly that.
"As a child, my favorite pastime was playing with construction set toys. I loved inventing machines and fondly remember when my father and I played with MECCANO for hours, building the most incredible contraptions. So playfully, he gave me the tools and opportunity to experience the joy of being an inventor," Kiefe explains.
"Back in 2017," Kiefe continues, "I started thinking of designing a 3D-printable version of my childhood favorite toy. After carrying this idea in my mind for a while, I began prototyping and defining this new toy's scale and dimensional standard."
The result of that effort is STEMFIE, brought to our attention by Adafruit. STEMFIE is a MECCANO-inspired building system designed for ease of printing on consumer-grade 3D printers — without the need to create and remove supports, in order to speed bulk production and ease the process for those new to 3D printing. These parts range from flat and cubic building blocks to threaded and cam-lock fasteners, cogs, wheels with a power-transmission hub for building robots and vehicles, and even a screwdriver-like tool for putting everything together.
All STEMFIE parts are published under a permissive custom license, requiring only attribution for private use and modification and commercial use in schools and other educational organizations.
"If you are an individual acting in your hobby interest or are a part of an organization (schools, libraries, retirement homes, FabLabs, maker spaces, etc.), I highly encourage and support the commercial use of the STEMFIE project," Kiefe writes. "Feel free to print and sell any STEMFIE parts and projects, as well as your creations; after all, you are feeding and taking care of your 3D printer!"
STEMFIE is documented in full, with downloadable print files and project ideas, on the official website.