Need for ZTE Speed - The Movie - The Game

By Max

Task: Make a case for the ZTE Speed controlling the robot

While we are still in the early stages of design and it's not wise to make a permanent decision about where the robot's controlling phone will be, we can't let it float freely around the robot like a brain in a jar for much longer or it'll start getting caught in the developing systems. Normally, we could solve this easily by drilling a few holes in an off-the-shelf phone case and bolting it to the robot, but both the robot's design and the phone's code are constantly changing, so this would be far too permanent. We decided that the best way to house the phone would be a custom-made case with plenty of bolt holes to make it easily mountable and removable as well as a front which can be taken off at any time so we can take out the phone to reprogram it without driving ourselves insane.

I decided to make the case a pair of 3D-printed parts: a sturdy base made of t-glase which can be bolted to the robot and can easily socket the phone, and a flexible nylon cover plate which is kept in place by tabs which wrap around the base component but can be pulled out of the way when the phone needs to be put in or taken out.

Reflections

It took a few iterations before we printed the pieces, but the system as a whole is working smoothly. The phone is easy to replace and so far we haven't seen the cover come off once while the robot was driving. The only forseeable issue is with the tabs. Although they are flexible enough for our purposes, they are thin enough that they can be broken if bent too far. Since the face plates don't take too long to print and the 3 tabs left over after one breaks are still entirely capable of holding the phone in anyways, this shouldn't be too much of an issue, but it's still something to keep in mind for the future.