From the model prototype, the class moved on to making a 2D digital prototype to be laser cut out of mat board. We created this in Rhino 5 using curves in the top viewport, and then sent the file to be laser cut into a phone holder to use for filming later in the course.
I struggled with ideas at first, so I decided to take some scrap cardboard I had around the house and make a prototype for my prototype. Early on I decided that I wanted a sort of U shape for the holder, but had some trouble deciding how I would have that shape hold the phone upright. I didn’t want to rely on the walls of the U to hold it in place both because I knew if I did that then they would eventually bow outward and become useless, and also because that would require very precise measurements, which were difficult to do with the tools I had on a phone case with curved edges. Eventually I decided to use two sticks inspired by popsicle sticks to hold the top of the phone in place while letting the bottom rest freely on the floor of the stand, allowing it to be angled up or down within the case.
From there I moved on to modeling the holder in Rhino. Since I have experience working in SolidWorks, working with curves on a single plane was quite straightforward. I quickly made a base for the U with slits 15cm apart to connect to the walls, which I then modeled along with the sticks. It was at this point that I realized that with the plan as it was, there was nothing to keep the walls from wearing out and falling over to the point that they wouldn’t support the sticks anymore, so I etched some slits where the sticks would be against the walls to secure both them and the walls in place. With that done, I also realized that I didn’t want the walls to be acting as stilts for the entire camera holder, so I put a score across each side of what was left of the section of the walls I cut the slit from. This created a tread that would allow the piece to bend at that point and fold under the floor.
With the structure fully designed, I decided to make a few aesthetic adjustments to it as well. Half because I wanted to save material and half because diagonal lines look cool, I decided to cut a wedge out of the walls of the U shape. I then rounded the ends of the sticks to make them better resemble their inspiration. As I did this, I realized that it would both look good and save me from unnecessary stab wounds if I beveled all of the external corners on the design. With these changes made, I sent my design to the laser cutter for a first pass.
On doing the first cut of my design I was pleased to know that most of it worked exactly as planned, with two caveats. The first was with the hinges I created. Not knowing how thick the laser would cut into the board, I only scored two lines into the hinge. I learned while looking at my first prototype that this single tread did not let the board bend as fluidly as I wanted it to. Fortunately, I also learned that the laser’s scoring is very thin, which gave me more than enough room to fit another line into the design, solving the problem. The second problem was with the slots I cut to slide the popsicle sticks through. I had made them 1.2mm wide, the same as the slots used to hold the pieces together, however I learned that while this width is suitable for when a tight lock is desired between the two pieces, it made it very difficult to insert the sticks through the slot, and even worse getting it through the second one. I took an X-acto knife to the slot, widening it very slightly to make sure that would adequately solve the problem, which it did. After running my board through a second cut I was successfully able to build and take apart the phone holder.
Thank you for reading! I will have images added to this post as soon as I can sort them all out from my camera.