School Engineering Project

[cj80cruiser]

Cupholder project looks like it's going well.

Did anyone mention making a snorkel? That would be cool if cost could be kept at around $200 or less.

 

[MattJakobs]

Wow, that looks good! Baja was a lot of fun, it was probably the highlight of my college education, lol. Got to spend a lot of time in the lab fabricating and building, I really enjoyed it.

Sorry to butt in but where did you go to school? VMI I assume by your picture. I'm at ODU and have been thinking about joining our baja team next semester.

 

[MTD]

Sorry to butt in but where did you go to school? VMI I assume by your picture. I'm at ODU and have been thinking about joining our baja team next semester.

Baja is fun if you guys join I might end up seeing ya at nationals this year

 

[Myrunr2010]

Sorry to butt in but where did you go to school? VMI I assume by your picture. I'm at ODU and have been thinking about joining our baja team next semester.

Yeah VMI. Baja was a blast, well worth the time and energy that goes into it. I grew up in hampton and am working at the Newport News shipyard, right around the corner from ya.

 

[SRQ-Runner]

How much and when can I buy one? Lol. But seriously, I'd love to have this in my rig.

Today the 3D printer is finally getting fixed, so hopefully I'll have the first one printed up by the end of the week. I'll be sure to keep you updated.

Can't wait to see the final product!

I always wanted to somehow mount the tacoma cup holders in my runner, I like how they collapsed into a single holder or extend into a double.

This just might be the better way to go!

Cupholder project looks like it's going well.

Did anyone mention making a snorkel? That would be cool if cost could be kept at around $200 or less.

Thank you for the comments. Like I said above, hopefully will have one printed by the end of the week.

 

[jeff88]

Just a few thoughts, because I like to over-complicate things.

1. Is there a way to make it so that the cup holders fold down out of the way, so that a passenger can sit without having to remove the holder, but have it ready at a moment's notice? It would be easier to flip up into place while driving, rather than finding pins while trying to stay in your own lane!

2. My only worry about the pins is the really easy ability to lose them! Anyway to make them not come out, but still somehow lock/unlock? Maybe spin to the side exposing the "hole", allowing you to slide the cup holder out?

3. It seems like you want to make different "containers" for the bracket besides cup holders. What else do you want to make? I know the cup holder is enough to begin, but you're going to want to make sure that any other "container" works with the bracket. Maybe one for garbage, one that's a half container and half cell phone holder?

4. Is there a way to put a square notch on opposite sides of one of the cup holders to be able to hold a cell phone, yet still make the hole be able to hold a cup (obviously the person would have to pick one or the other). This way, you wouldn't need to have extra "container".

I have a '99, but would love to see what your final product looks like! If you are still looking for other ideas for that list of other possible projects you could have done for class, you could mock something up for holding the rear headrests. I know some people here have done their own thing for them, but you might have an idea for the list.

Good luck!

 

[SRQ-Runner]

Just a few thoughts, because I like to over-complicate things.

1. Is there a way to make it so that the cup holders fold down out of the way, so that a passenger can sit without having to remove the holder, but have it ready at a moment's notice? It would be easier to flip up into place while driving, rather than finding pins while trying to stay in your own lane!

2. My only worry about the pins is the really easy ability to lose them! Anyway to make them not come out, but still somehow lock/unlock? Maybe spin to the side exposing the "hole", allowing you to slide the cup holder out?

3. It seems like you want to make different "containers" for the bracket besides cup holders. What else do you want to make? I know the cup holder is enough to begin, but you're going to want to make sure that any other "container" works with the bracket. Maybe one for garbage, one that's a half container and half cell phone holder?

4. Is there a way to put a square notch on opposite sides of one of the cup holders to be able to hold a cell phone, yet still make the hole be able to hold a cup (obviously the person would have to pick one or the other). This way, you wouldn't need to have extra "container".

I have a '99, but would love to see what your final product looks like! If you are still looking for other ideas for that list of other possible projects you could have done for class, you could mock something up for holding the rear headrests. I know some people here have done their own thing for them, but you might have an idea for the list.

Good luck!

1. It would be hard to do this because the floor comes out from the center console where they will be mounted. So there is no room for the cup holders to fold down. A few of my previous pictures so that the cup holders will actually be using the flooring as support, so that the weight of two full cups won’t be resting on a single mounting bracket connected to the center console.
2. I can look into making something that holds the pins when not in use. Maybe on the bottom of the cup holders I can create clips where you can clip the pins in when the cup holder is disconnected from the bracket.
3. I plan on designing a few more things including a tray, a trash can, and a shallow bucket which could hold a phone and other items. For my school project I'm going to be focusing more on the cup holder part as that is what my presentation is going to be on at the end of the year. But I will definitely be creating some other attachments.
4. That would be another attachment I could create. Including a normal cup holder and one with a square shape, allowing you to put a phone or other object into it.
5. If I have time towards the end of the year I may create something like that, as I know us 96 and 97 guys could really us them. Plus there is a huge demand for something along those lines.

 

[SRQ-Runner]

The mounting bracket is being printed as I type this. Hopefully it will be done in the next few hours. I will post up some pictures later of it completed and maybe mounted to my center console. If all goes as planned, I will print my first cup holder attachment on Thursday or Friday.
EDIT: It has 8 hours of printing left, so I won't have pictures till tomorrow.



On terms of production, I can't use the school's 3D printer and then sell them as a product to you guys. So I'll be looking to find someone who can either print them for me or create a model so that they can be made from some material.

 

[SRQ-Runner]

 

[jeff88]

1. It would be hard to do this because the floor comes out from the center console where they will be mounted. So there is no room for the cup holders to fold down. A few of my previous pictures so that the cup holders will actually be using the flooring as support, so that the weight of two full cups won’t be resting on a single mounting bracket connected to the center console.

My apologies, it looked like the bracket was going to be as deep as the exposed carpet, so I thought the attachment stuck out past the carpet. With what I was thinking, if you folded the cup holder, it would just fold flat against the side of the carpet center console. So the cup holder is being supported by the carpeted area AND the bracket?

Another question, maybe I just missed it. If a customer were to buy this, how would they attach it to the center console? Do they have to drill holes and screw it in? Could you do some sort of cutting template like when installing a snorkel, a piece of paper with circles of where to drill?

 

[SRQ-Runner]

My apologies, it looked like the bracket was going to be as deep as the exposed carpet, so I thought the attachment stuck out past the carpet. With what I was thinking, if you folded the cup holder, it would just fold flat against the side of the carpet center console. So the cup holder is being supported by the carpeted area AND the bracket?



Another question, maybe I just missed it. If a customer were to buy this, how would they attach it to the center console? Do they have to drill holes and screw it in? Could you do some sort of cutting template like when installing a snorkel, a piece of paper with circles of where to drill?

Exactly. Here is the picture I was referring to:

As you can see the weight of the cups will push the cupholder I into the side of the carpet which will relieve some of the stress on the bracket and center console. I see what you mean by fold against the carpet but that would have to be a different design.

For the attachment part, that is what I'm going to be working on the next few days. Once the mount is done being printed I'm going to figure out the best possible ways to mount it to the center console. But yes, most likely you will have to drill some holes into the center console and then either screw them in or use a nut and bolt to tighten it down. Either way I would provide dimensions and such for where to drill the holes. The holes will already be part of the bracket design so it will just be a matter of drilling the holes in the console.

 

[SRQ-Runner]

Here is some photos of the completed mounting bracket.

Here is how it would be mounted up against the console.

Also started printing the cup holders, will be done in 63 hours....

 

[wake_rider]

Here is some photos of the completed mounting bracket.

Here is how it would be mounted up against the console.

Also started printing the cup holders, will be done in 63 hours....

I'm ignorant on the strength of that plastic, but considering the weight of two 32 ounce drinks, something might need to be done to strengthen the holes where the mounting pins will slide through (although the box design of the bracket does seem like it would receive the greatest amounts of weight stress). Maybe some type of hollow aluminum rivet or similar could be fastened to make the wall of the contact point with the removable pins.

Again, I'm an educator in history, not at all an engineer. What I said might be entirely silly, but it was something that I noticed so I thought I'd throw it out there for the more minds more experienced in this arena.

 

[SRQ-Runner]

I'm ignorant on the strength of that plastic, but considering the weight of two 32 ounce drinks, something might need to be done to strengthen the holes where the mounting pins will slide through (although the box design of the bracket does seem like it would receive the greatest amounts of weight stress). Maybe some type of hollow aluminum rivet or similar could be fastened to make the wall of the contact point with the removable pins.

Again, I'm an educator in history, not at all an engineer. What I said might be entirely silly, but it was something that I noticed so I thought I'd throw it out there for the more minds more experienced in this arena.

I understand where you are coming from with that, but both peices are going to be solid plastic (atleast when they are 3D printed) so there is going to be plenty of support. I can stand on the mounting bracket and it doesnt break. Now when they are no longer 3D printed and are just thin plastic created from a mold or other form there may need to be extra support added, for the exact reason you stated. Two 32 ounce cups are very heavy and a thin plastic sheet by itself would not have the suport to hold them both up.

 

[SRQ-Runner]

Here it is:

Will get it mounted up soon!

 

[farmerjon]

That's a solid looking prototype! Looking forward to how it works out - props to your efforts!

 

[SRQ-Runner]

**January 27, 2015 Update**​

Sorry for not posting here in a while. I never mounted up the cup holder as I really wasn’t pleased with the design and I didn’t want to go drilling up my console knowing that I was going to go back and re design it anyways. So I went back and re-designed almost the entire cup holder. I increased the size of the cup holders and made the entire thing slightly longer (this shouldn’t affect leg room at all). I also went ahead and hollowed everything out so that it isn’t a 5lb brick anymore. I was really excited about the new design and even got some white material so it wouldn’t be in blue again. With everything how I wanted it, yesterday I decided to go print it and....

…the printer won’t connect to the computer for some reason. Gotta love school equipment. But hopefully we will have it figured out in the next few days and I'll get it printed up, I’ll be sure to keep you updated. I'll try and post a picture of the new design tomorrow when I get into engineering class. I think it will work a lot better and is more practical production wise. I know some of you are interested in one and it’s taken a long time to even get to this point, but I rather spend more time now on making a perfect product then having problems with the usability down the road. Because I know none of you would be happy with the first prototype, but that is all part of the process and I’m positive you all with be happier with a new design.

3D printing this for others would be very costly and I can’t use the school printer for selling purposes. So I most likely will have the final design sent out to get molded or something so that they can be sold at a decent price. Obviously that is further down the road and I have plenty of time to think about what I want to do as I don’t even have a final design yet, oopps.

Thank you for your patients and I will definitely have a final product done by the end of April because that is when my project is due for my class.

Have a good day,
Matt

 

[TOY2G]

Here is an idea.

on the 3rd gen most of them have a little compartment by the map lights for holding business cards...

if you want to build something that can be put to market in practice not just in theory, I have an idea. An idea that even inspired me to buy my own 3D printer.

make a new one of these pieces that removes the card holder and replaces it with home link.

Whatever you do, just make something you can be proud of. I seldom use my engineering degree, or my business degree for that matter, so it's important to have a certain level of personal satisfaction in what you design for your own gratification (in the event there is no monetary gratification evolved)

 

[jeff88]

Do you have any pics of the design (like a drawing) or are you going to leave us in suspense until it's actually made?

How heavy do you think the new design will be?

 

[SRQ-Runner]

Do you have any pics of the design (like a drawing) or are you going to leave us in suspense until it's actually made?

How heavy do you think the new design will be?

I'll have a computer 3D model up tomorrow morning when I get back to school. I didn't have time today to take a quick picture. If you go just scroll up a little you can see the old design which will give you a good idea of what the new design will look like, just bigger cup holders and a lot less bulky look.

I have no idea right now for weight, but i'll be sure to let you guys know once I do.