Sunday, May 17, 2009

Friday, May 15, 2009

End of 2nd Semester at AAU



This was my final presentation board for Form Development.
With the end of my second semester, I finally have time to breath, sleep, and update this blog a bit.

I will start with some Form Development work. After 14 weeks of one of the most vigorous classes I have ever taken in my life, I am relieved and proud at what I have accomplished. I feel like the class, with much credit to the instructor, pushed me to my potential limits for creativity, as well as execution. Keeping in mind, I have yet to dip my feet into the waters of an ACTUAL product design class. Form Development is more of a design process class, in which we learn to conceptualize an idea, and formulate it into an actual fiberglass model. I have wayyyyy too much material to post, but what I have done, is compiled a preview process book. The pics you see are some pages from that book. After tomorrow's presentation, I will upload more pics with my presentation setup, as well as my talented classmates.

But, for now, here are some pics of my own flashlight design. It is a flashlight that is batteryless operated. Powered only by shaking the light. The concept of kinectic charging is not new, but the design of the fiberglass housing was designed to be more ergonomical than existing flashlights. Also, the flashlight aside from being rechargeable without batteries, features a lantern like feature. By extending the head bezel, you expose luminescent rods. This aids the wielder in being visible from far distances. (ideal for directing a tow truck, airplane, boats, any emergency situation). Overall the function of this light is ideal for emergency situations as it is batteryless, waterproof, and able to be ergonomically held for long periods of time with comfort.







playing with ideas of functionality and storyboarding human interaction scenarios.

my sketch panel of ideation and form development.



im not an engineer, but if it were to be built by one, this is what i would give him/her.

Final solution.



This page shows the process in which I made the model. I went from a foam model, to clay, to creating a fiberglass model out of a fiberglass mold. The process took all 14 weeks. Furthermore, I decided to make my flashlight a working prototype, which was not required, but I felt like it would be cool to use. I didn't realize how hard it would be to put the guts of an existing shakelight into my model, but eventually with some sanding and dremeling, I made it work.

my finished model. It looks cooler in the dark. =)