Week 1

Computer Aided Design

Inital Ideas

I have always struggled with staying focused while working or studying. The problem with most productivity tools is that they are software based and easy to ignore or turn off. It's like the cycle is the following:

lemme check my google calendar to figure out what i planned to do -> instagram notification -> oh let me respond before i forget for 48 weeks -> ig reels -> abandoned google calendar check

So I wanted to make a physical device that would help me stay focused. However I was struggling to come up with a design that would be both functional and interesting. I wanted to make a physical google calendar, but when I started looking for inspiration I found that most physical calendars were either too bulky or too simplistic to be an interesting HTMAA project.
Example of a physical calendar I found online. Useful but is just a big screen

Computer Aided Design

I decided that I could make productivity visually interesting by making into a bot. I made the CAD in fusion360. I was thinking about having a visual indicator of time passing, such as rippling waves behind the bot that would move as time passed. The waves in the back could move back and forth depending on how far into the focus session you are.

The Design Process

I started by making a base sketch for the base the productivity assistant bot would sit on. From there I extruded the base and made a new sketch for the back panel with the rippling wave design. After extruding that I made another sketch for the head of the bot and extruded that as well. Finally I added fillets to all the edges to make it look smoother.



The assistant would have a digital face on the front which it could use to emote. The waves in the back could move back and forth depending on how far into the focus session you are.

I used Fusion 360 Forms to make the head and the body of the bot because I wanted it to have a more organic shape. Forms allowed me to easily manipulate the shape and add details like the eyes and mouth. The bot would be about 6 inches tall and have a small screen on the front to display information such as time, date, and upcoming tasks.