Useless Box

Old Useless Box

Early in the 2nd year of the engineering program, I put together this useless box from a kit. The box works like this: when the switch is flipped, the servo turns on going in one direction. Flipping the switch in the other direction changes the direction of the servo, until the arm hits an internal toggle that stops the motion of the arm until the user flips the switch again.

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At the end of the year, I decided to redesign it and create a lesson plan as a capstone project.

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New Useless Box

The new box is 3D printed, with a nautical theme. I collected the dimensions of the old box and created a new one on SolidWORKS.

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The first thing I designed once I came up with my theme was how the life preserver was going to work with the switch. I knew it had to move back and forth without coming off, but it also had to stay flat, because that would be easiest to design. The system of one part surrounding the bolt next to the switch and the preserver interlocking with it was perfect, and luckily, my first idea.

Life Buoy

The Buoy slides into the switch connector.

Switch Connector

The switch connector is glued on to the bolt the screws on to the switch.

After the switch was figured out, I made the box on SolidWORKS using the dimensions of the old box. I made the hinged door as well, and made the tops look like water.

Bottom case

The case is big enough to hold the servo, arm and switches.

Servo plate

The internal components are connected by a plate that is secured by the switch. The switch goes through the top hole and has a bolt that connects it to the case.

Lid

The lid connects to the bottom case with a hinge

Boat

The boat was a file of a sinking ship that I found on Thingiverse and added to the lid using Tinkercad

Redesigns and Misprints

These are the many redesigns and misprints that caused time delays. Developing the arm in particular was hard, because the angle had to be right for it to hit the life preserver, and I didn't design my own tentacle until the end.

One of the last things designed was the arm. A general arm that would work in the old box was designed first, and then a tentacle arm was designed that fit the theme.

General Arm

This took a few tries, but it was used for the regular box based on its original wooden counterpart.

Tentacle arm

This took many tries, including a period where a tentacle from Thingiverse was combined with the general arm at different angles. But in the end, It was better to design my own tentacle and use an assembly to see if dimensions would work. The

Soldering

The soldering is one of the harder parts of this assignment. The orientation of the switch is particularly important, because it changes the direction of the servo.

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