Modular Device Station

Inspiration

We want a desktop organizer that stores and charges our devices easily. The organizer should be modular to hold the desired number of devices while taking minimal desktop space. To reach the largest audience, the design must be easily 3D-printable with minimal support and post-processing, and simple to assemble with no additional tools or components.

What it does

Our design is a modular device station that allows for convenient organization and charging of multiple devices. There are modules for tablets, smartphones, earphones, headphones. It also includes a module for a power bar and an additional earphone rack module that supports up to four earphones. Each module is easily connected to one another by dovetail joints, and can be 3D printed on most entry-level 3D printers with minimal post processing and support generation.

How we built it

The design was modelled entirely in Autodesk Fusion 360.

Challenges we ran into

Firstly, it was important that our design was easy to use and assemble. When designing the power module, we noticed late into the design process that the module's footprint exceeded a standard 256x256 mm print bed. We worked around this by splitting the module into two parts, and connecting them via additional dovetail joints.

Secondly, we wanted our design to be as modular as possible. This required us to think about as many combinations of devices as possible, and how we can best optimise the design's configuration to fit these combinations. During the early brainstorming and design process, we noted that a user may have multiple pairs of earphones, and it would waste a lot fo space to have the earphone modules stack horizontally like the rest of the modules. We thus came up with the idea for a earphone rack that could support multiple earphones on the same module without increasing the horizontal footprint.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Firstly, we are proud of how refined and flexible our product is. Throughout the design process, we were constantly thinking about new improvements and optimisations that we could make to the design, such as making material-saving cuts to the larger modules and adding a mounting slot and lid to the power module. The final product is one that we are incredibly satisfied with, and we hope that it will improve the lives of those who use it.

Secondly, it was a difficult but rewarding task to complete this design in the span of 3 days for the CAD Challenge Hackathon. We spent countless hours ideating, modelling, and iterating over our design. This hackathon, and the creation of this product, provided each of us with a sense of pride and accomplishment, and we are grateful for the opportunity to create something together.

What we learned

One thing we learnt was the amount of complexity and thought that goes into designing a user product. Prior to this project, most of us did not have any experience creating designs for commercial products. Throughout this project, we had to delve into research on current market products, assembly methods, and User Experience design principles. This project gave us a greater insight into, and deeper appreciation of the design process for commercial products.