TYPE OF WORK: School Project
LENGTH OF TIME: 3 Weeks
TOPICS: Research, Industrial Design, Product Design, 3D printing
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
This is a project I did in my Intro to Industrial Design course at The Ohio State University. The task was to design a sustainable toy that catered to a specific audience. I performed research, created prototypes, CAD my design, and 3D printed the final product.
The final product is called the "Geometry Fidget Toy". It is made of 8 individual 3D printed parts with a unique combination of textures on either side of the triangles. The "Geometry Fidget Toy" can flip into over 10 configurations and is small enough to fit inside a child's hand or pocket.
RESEARCH
I wanted to make a toy that could help kids/students with ADHD focus in class. I conducted research by creating user personas based on the idea of the type of toy I wanted to make. I also conducted secondary research on current ADHD toys, how to cope with ADHD, and how kids are effected by ADHD.
I choose to pursue the flipping cube design because when I asked around my class, to my peers who have ADHD, and to a therapist who helps kids with ADHD, they all said the most useful toy would be something that can be manipulated in many direction but fit comfortably in the hand.
INITIAL IDEATION
These sketches portray different combinations of how to break up a cube. With the different shapes I could experiment with how the cube folded and unfolded.
I made prototypes out of Bristol paper to determine where the hinges of the cube should be, what shapes to use, and how the cube could flip around.
CAD AND FINAL 3D PRINT
To create the toy, I CADed it in Fusion 360 to scale it, add the different textures, and prepared to 3D print it.
The final was printed with red PLA and was connected with temporary tape hinges. To expand this concept, the Geometry Fidget toy would have built in hinges for a smoother folding experience.
