Check out my actual final project here!
Week 1 Assignment: Model a Potential Final ProjectOur assignment this week was to come up with and model an idea for a final project. As someone who wasn't even sure he'd get into the class, this task seemed daunting, and as much as I'd like to say I got working on it immediately, I didn't even have a clue as to what I'd make until two days before the assignment was due.
I was sitting at my (very messy) desk and I wanted to take a break from work for a second. I thought about how great it would be if I could just press a button to make my desk layout match my headspace - I didn't want to have a bunch of work out on top of it as I was relaxing. Here, the inspiration for my project was born.
As a musician, my first thought was that I would love a desk with two modes: a default working mode, and a music production mode. I began sketching out a basic design in Solidworks based on the dimensions of my current desk, including holes cut out for the moving parts that would switch the desk between modes:
I then downloaded a CAD model of a keyboard and a monitor and used it to make sure the holes in the front of the desk would be large enough to support the kind of motion I wanted. My vision had the keyboard being on the underside of the desk and rotating around to be on the surface, and the monitor hidden within the back of the desk and rising out of it. Some playing with dimensions and adding extra features later, I had a model that could demonstrate the two modes of my desk, a base mode:
and a music production mode:
I also added drawers that approximately model what I'd want my desk to look like, leaving space near the top of the desk for motors and electronics because I anticipate needing a lot of room for that kind of thing. I'm excited to try and tackle this project, and walk away from HTMAA with something I'll use daily!
Desk CAD (Zip File): week_1_cad.zip
Thoughts, Lessons, and Takeaways:
I'm writing this after my (actual) final project is complete - man, have I come a long way. I still think this would be a really cool project, but I'm glad I picked what I did and I have plenty of time to explore this kind of thing down the line, as I'd like to attempt making a desk rather than buy my next one anyway.