Design Brief
I want to design a small bedside stool which has a sense of young people, the Skatepark scene in London and a love of the environment. It will feature an integrated air quality sensor, which should send data to my phone so I can monitor the levels of particulates in the air and help people with asthma to monitor the air in the sleeping area.
Design Specification
Aesthetic:
Makes use of skateboard shape and curve at each end
Shows off vibrant colours and designs on the bottom of skateboards
Shows off Multicolour cross section of skateboards
Urban Graffiti / Street style
Natural aesthetic
Shows grip and natural fault lines of skateboard
Street community vibes
Reactive neopixels dependant on air quality
Cost:
Skateboards are up-cycled - therefore free
Cost of nuts / bolts / screws: £5
Cost of batteries:£3
Cost of sensors: tbc
Cost of neopixels: £2
Cost of removing adhesive from skateboards: £8
Time taken to make it: 4hrs
Customer:
Teenagers
Skaters
Urban Youth
Young Professionals
Parents into fashion / design
Environmental:
Using non-permanent fixtures so can be undone and up-cycled once again
Utilises old, used skateboards
Will use standard sized skateboards, nuts and screws
Adhesive from skateboards not environmentally friendly
Use rechargeable batteries
Recycling of sensors (?)
Size:
Middle shelf should be able to fit a small cup
Width of one skateboard
Middle shelf should be flush with edge of bed
Safety:
Must be strong enough to hold a young persons weight
Should be level to user's bedframe to make top shelf accessible from bed
Must ensure all edges are sanded and varnished to prevent splinters
Function:
Bedside shelf for alarm clock, water, etc
Neopixels for air quality ratings and for bedside light
Material:
Laminated veneers of Maple wood (in most skateboards)
Steel (in nuts, bolts and metal rods)
Manufactured using power drill, hacksaw, hand saw, sand paper and metal file
Neopixels, electronic PCBs and sensors
Accurate Drawing
Process
For this project I did not start with sketches but started the design process at the makerspace outside workshop. We had collected about 13 old skateboards and we started to strip some of the grip off using a heat gun- to reveal some stunning colours. I learnt how to use the hand saw and how to score the wood before cutting. I decided that actually I want to build a bedside stool for myself before embarking on the main project - to see how the material behaved and whether I could get a sturdy frame. We had a look at some of the images I'd researched and Dermot - who was supervising me - said he had some long metal rods left over from a previous job. So I took some bits home and measured the top of my bed so we could get the middle shelf flush with the mattress and I could reach over to things on the shelf whilst still in bed. I then did the above scaled drawing for construction. It worked!
In reflection, the bedside stool is really sturdy, solid and functional, however I feel like the metal rods don't fit with the aesthetics I wanted (natural/wood) and the finish wasn't very professional. At a later stage, I want to take it apart and sand it down properly. I also may put some rubber covers on the foot of the stool to minimise scratching floor surfaces and add some Neopixel lights, interacting with a CO2 and PM2.5 sensor. Overall, I think it was a real success and I enjoyed making it.