Flashlight Sleeve
To create the flashlight sleeve, I needed some kind of inspiration. I am a huge fan of the Star Trek universe and wanted to design something that you could find on the TV Show. I took a look at various elements in the show and needed some way to implement them into the sleeve.
I wanted to start with different shapes to see what would look best and what would fit best in the hand.
To begin, I started with the sleeve templated provided to the class. Using this template, I carved out a pattern to be extruded around the cylinder.
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| Test Curve |
Below are two screenshots of different sleeve designs created using different methods. The sleeves in the first flashlight were designed by modifying control-point curves.
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| Flashlight Designs 1 |
The sleeves in the bottom image were designed using booleans and intersections.
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| Flashlight Designs 2 |
The following sleeve is what I have chosen to use for my project. The inspiration for the jagged handle comes from the Star Trek phaser's handle. The bulbs towards the top of the sleeve was inspired from the Warp Core found within Star Trek ships (seen below).
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Final Design |
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| Star Trek Phaser from 'lichtschwerter.de' |
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| Warp Core as seen in Star Trek TNG |
The top part of the sleeve is created with objects that are revolved around the sleeve's point of origin. The objects are then combined using Boolean-Union.
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| BooleanUnion |
The cylinder and sphere towards the top are replciated using the command ArrayPolar.
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| ArrayPolar |
The pipe at the bottom of the sleeve is created by projecting a curve onto the model and using the command 'pipe' to create the shape. It is then combined witht the model using Boolean Union.
And of course, don't forget to fillet the edges!
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| Fillet Edges |
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| Rhino Render |
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| Bounding Box with Dimensions |
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| Checking for Naked Edges |
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| STL Model |
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STL Model
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To reflect the material described in my early flashlight project, I have chosen to use anodized aluminum to create the sleeve render. The aluminum is supposed to reflect the material used in Apple Products which is similar to that used in Star Trek tools.
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| KeyShot Render |
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| KeyShot Render |
After submitting my STL file into the 3D Printer and about a day waiting for it to 'cook' in the bath, here is my final result.
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| 3D Printed Model |
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| 3D Printed Model |
The sleeve feels very sturdy in the hand. The jagged edges on the body give you a very solid grip and the surve towards the top of the flashlight give you a nice place to put your index finger and thumb.
One uintentional side-effect with the top curve is the opacity of the material. I had initially beleived the 3D printer material to be completley opaque. I think fact that light is able to shine through the thinner part of the sleeve makes it look a lot better. I am very happy with the result.
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| 3D Printed Model |
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| 3D Printed Model |
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| 3D Printed Model |
If I were to make any changes, I would make the overall sleeve a little bit thinner. It adds a lot of thickness to the flashlight product. Without further testing, I believe the support struts would keep the head of the flashlight connected firmly enough with the body.
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