OBDF 310 MEGAPOST

This blog has been sorely neglected over the past few weeks, so it's time to update. Firstly, the candelabrum. In my hubris I thought that the definition was already good enough and so printed some scale models to show off
tragically I was sorely mistaken, certain parts didn't print at all, and others did not attach. It's fortunate I printed this baby scale ones first, as the birthday candle scale one would have been a disaster.
sadly that is all I have for now, as I've been pretty consumed by the more urgent (and more successful) group project.
the basic idea was a product improved gripper claw, we tossed around a billion ideas which I won't cover in detail here

eventually I hit on the idea of using tensioned fabric to improve the surface area of the grabber claw
as clearly illustrated by this comically illegible drawing

mock ups were hideous but seemed to prove the idea worked. From there I made a basic illustrative model in Rhino, initially it was going to replace the ends of the gripper, but at Brian's urging (thank's Brian) I instead remade the entire claw in Rhino
I decided it was important that the claws looked cool, so that in case I failed utterly at least I'd have something to show for my efforts. The first test print indicated some structural problems, (by which I mean it broke), but for the first time in my life I was slightly ahead of schedule and was able to adjust the design in rhino, mostly by loosening some tolerances and reshaping the back end slightly. compared to my usual way of problem solving with a pencil, with this project the solutions and aesthetics came largely from iterating in 3D

final print largely went well but apparently had a few issues as well, I was fortunate to have a good group who managed the final pieces of troubleshooting while I was in class, and we got a working product out of the deal. There's still a few structural and proportional issues that would need to be resolved in future iterations, but I am very happy with the final product, I had never designed a replacement piece before, nor have I designed a product with a group, and been a part of a team in the same way.

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