Project 2: CNC Laptop Stand

cnc digital fabrication laptop stand Rhino

For this project, I wanted to create a stand that fulfills two main design focuses. Firstly, it should not negatively impact the heat dispersion of the computer. To achieve this, the stand should not be in direct contact with the bottom side (base) of the computer as much as possible. The second focus is to be rather compact and not space consuming. If the stand extrudes the scope of the laptop significantly, or interferes the normal interaction, it would not be deemed as compact.

My initial idea is to create a U-shaped design from the top down view, so the ventilation located on the top side of the laptop base is completely exposed and free to disperse heat. However, upon further drawings, I realized how I got save even more space by just relying a I I design, there the center column of the based is exposed at a greater extent.

Idea Sketching

The next step was to choose a method to join the I I pieces, I went for a tenon joint with two tenons for a firmer connection. This would make the connected rather straightforward but consequently reliable. While deciding what joint to employ was rather painless, the exact measurements of how long or wide the pieces have to be required prototyping and also frequent revisions on rhino.

Design that did not make it into the final

One important information to consider is the thickness of the material. When designing tenon joints, I have to make sure the height I reserve is 1.5cm. My first design on rhino was 2 cm, which would make it too loose. Another measurement I had to look out for is the entire design should fit within a 300 by 270mm space, so the horizontal piece connecting the I I stand needs to be designed with the width of the I I stands in mind (which is 1.5 on each side because of the thickness of the wood).

One other change I made measurement wise is at the extrusion towards the end of the I I to hold the laptop in place. Based on the advice given by my professor, I increased its height and thickness.

Furthermore, I also rounded the edges of the stand so that it’s not sharp and potentially hurt the user. This is a great feedback from the professor and something I need to start to notice more naturally in future design processes. The last step was to add the circles at points of intersections.