Generative Design, Design for Additive Manufacturing, and 3D Printing
Mass-Optimized Projector Mount
A lightweight, damage-free projector mount system designed for college dorm walls, modeled using generative design and fabricated on a Stratasys F370 FDM printer.
Objective
Outcome
To produce a product that leverages the unique capabilities of additive manufacturing, either by designing a custom fixture or tooling to be used in manufacturing or to utilize algorithmic modeling to optimize a design.
I decided to create a user-friendly projector mount that can attach to a wall using Command Hooks, ideal for college students in dorm rooms or for home renters. Using Fusion 360's generative design feature, I created a product that is 81% lighter than the best-selling projector mount on Amazon.
Free Body Analysis
I started with a simple free body analysis of three different candidate designs to determine how different ways of supporting the projector would affect the pull-out force experienced by the Command Hooks, labeled in the diagrams as F.
Quick moment analysis verified my intuition, showing that the force for each support method depended on the distance of the center of mass from the wall and the height of the projector mount.
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To achieve the lowest force on the Command Hooks possible, I need to make my projector mount as tall and as close to the wall as possible.
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Since neither design was better than the others at reducing forces, I decided to go with design 2 since I liked the look the best.
(Very) Rapid Prototyping
Before moving into generative design modeling, I made a quick foam core prototype of what the projector mount might look like, with the goal of discovering which of the projector feet needed to be supported (out of the four corner feet and a front extending foot). From a quick prototype that took less than ten minutes to make, I learned that supporting all five feet was redundant; only the back feet and the front extending foot needed to be supported in order to have a stable system. This realization helped me reduce mass in the final design by reducing the material needed with less feet to support. The power of prototyping!
Generative Design
After quick analysis and prototyping, I came up with four critical features to inform my generative design model. These features were chosen based on the geometry of the projector, minimizing the wall force by making the tallest mount possible, and having a safety factor of five to make the mount safe for use when positioned high on a wall above people's heads.
With the above design features in mind, I began a Fusion 360 Generative Design simulation with the above inputs.
When inputting the loads that the model would need to withstand, I included twenty-five total load cases to ensure that the design would be durable when used both properly and improperly. Four examples of these load cases are shown above.
After many hours of computation, Fusion 360 outputted a model that would support my projector with three Command Hooks and a factor of safety of 5. Thank you, Fusion!
Final Product
I then printed the model using a Stratasys F370 FDM printer, and then hung it up on my wall! The projector mount is 81% lighter than the best-selling projector mount model on Amazon, and was super easy to take off the wall (with zero damage!) when I switched dorm rooms at the end of the school year. Girls movie nights in my dorm room just got a whole lot better.
Skills & Takeaways
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How to build effective generative design and consider all load cases
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Design for additive manufacturing
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Free body analysis and prototyping for design validation