Physical design¶
Concept¶
Idea¶
I’ve had many ideas on how I want my physical design to look like, so I created sketches on Figma first. In my initial designs I wanted to use the segment display and the 8x8 led matrix for the output of my digital dice. I also wanted to use a push button to roll the dice.
The last design in idea 4 was the one I wanted to go with. When you’d roll the dice by clicking the push button, the segment display would show the rolled number. The led matrix would show the meaning of the dice roll. I later found out that it was to difficult for me to let this work within the limited amount of time that we had for the blueprint.
I then worked out these ideas, where I only use the led matrix to display the rolled dice number as well as the meaning of the dice roll. A green led will show the user that the user is safe. A red led means that the user of the dice has to take a shot. The dice roll is still initiated by the push button. The last sketch is what my final idea looks like.
User¶
Goals¶
The goal of the digital dice is to create a simple drinking game for the user that involves taking shots in a fun way. What makes it fun, is the fact that you can’t control a dice and therefor never know when and if you have to take a shot.
Shape and behavior¶
The shape of the physcial design reaches this goal, because the shape is also dice-like. It has a button and that is the only thing that the user can press. This makes the dice very easy to use. There is a competitive part in the game, because no one whats to roll 2. This makes it a fun game.
Digital manufacturing materials and methods¶
I used multiplex wood (3mm) to make the box. I only cut the wood, using the laser cutter available in the Makerslab. I wanted to use wood, because it’s cheap and the laser cutter is a fast tool for what I wanted to achieve. By using a box that I have to assemble, I can easily open the box to put all my sensors inside.
It took about 10 minutes to create the box.
Design¶
I made a digital design using Makerscase. The blue lines are for my sensors. The first one is for my LED matrix, the second one for my push button and the third one is for my LDR and two LEDs. We already had to use this website during class, so my initial thought was to use this website again. It is also free to use and you can download the correct file format for the laser cutter (DXF or AI).
Prototype¶
This is what my prototype looked like. Because I put the cut line width too big, it didn’t fit into each other. In the final version, I would make my design with flat joints, because that looks better. I would also make the holes smaller to fit with my sensors.
Create¶
I’ve made another design with Makerscase and Adobe Illustrator, this time with flat edges. I also put the dimensions in my design (I’m not gonna cut that, it’s just for my memory). Because the box is smaller than my previous design, this would take about 7 minutes to cut.
Note I was not able to create this prototype, so this is what I would use if I was to re-create this.
Makerscase setting: - (All outside) dimensions: width: 32mm, height: 32mm, depth: 20mm - Material thickness: 3mm - Closed box - Flat edge joints - Speed of laser cutter: 75%
Conclusion¶
I didn’t fully reached my goal. Although I had an idea of the product, I was not able to completely design it the way I would’ve liked. Next time, I would spend more time on the physical design so I can create something that does look like the design i’ve made.
Failures¶
Failure
I made the box with finger edge joints. This is not what I wanted my prototype to look like. Next time, I would just use flat edge joints.
Failure
I made the cut line width too big. This resulted in the joints being too big and not fitting into each other.
Failure
I made the mistake to make my design larger on the software of the computer connected to the laser cutter. The holes for my LED matrix, push button, LDR and LDR were also too big after that.
Failure
Begin sooner. I’ve had the idea of the prototype for a while, but was more focused on the embedded device and web application of the project. If I began sooner, I would have had painted my prototype so that it actually looked like the concept of my prototype.