My task was to create a housing for an MP3 speaker. I chose to base mine on an energy sports drink. I was asked to make a prototype that could be marketed.
Once I had undertaken my research I was able to start designing my housing on Pro Engineer. My first design was not suitable as it was more of a barrel shape rather than a sphere. I wanted to create something similar to a dumbbell therefore a sphere was most ideal.
Once I had created my basic shape I began to check if my components would be able to fit in. I had to alter the measurements on a trial and error basis. In order to keep my components in place I looked at various methods like clips etc. Due to the time limit and the fact that this was only a prototype I decided to not make any extra parts for the components. If I was to manufacture this housing unit I would create a battery clip that would sit in the base unit and the battery would be able to slot into place and be secure. I would also screw the circuit board in to make sure it was firmly in place. As I had created a dumbbell shape with 2 spheres at either side the battery would be in 1 side and the speaker in the other. The speaker would be glued into place as this would be a permanent positioning. My housing unit would be in 2 pieces, this would allow access to change batteries. In my design I created 2 areas to allow screws to hold the unit together. Again as this is a prototype I have purposely glued both pieces together to create a better finish. If I was to have more time I would have fitted the screws in to show how this would work.
Whilst I was printing my design onto modelling board on the CNC machine I encounted a few problems. The first was that I had made my housing wall too thin this caused my model to break, if I was to do this again I would make sure it was at least 4mm thick. I also found that my unit could have been better if I was to create areas for my components to fit in neatly rather than it be a hollow shape. This would have also made it better to fit together as the surface area would have been better.
Once I had got my shape printed I had to prepare it to be finished. I made sure all my components fitted in, once I knew that I was then able to stick the 2 sides together as this would give me a better finish to sand down as 1 piece. Double sided sticky tape was a good product to use. It gives a good amount of contact and I am then able to pull apart when finished. I found that I did not cut of enough excess material when preparing it. This made it harder for me to sand down and create an excellent finish. Whilst I was sanding my unit down I found the shape quite awkward to hold this caused me to knock my housing unit a lot creating tiny dints in my work that did not become visible until after I had sprayed it.
The finish of my unit could have been better, I think that if I had chosen a different colour for the grill it would look better. Yellow would have been ideal colour for a lightening bolt. The purple I thought was an appropriate colour - to me it represented electric and energy. I also could have created a better design. The one on my unit doesn't look like its a formal pattern, it is slightly random and I think a pattern that follows would have looked better. The size of the lightening bolts could have also been done slightly bigger.