A specific learning experience during this project that I found very impactful related to the band component of the device. This component was necessary to hold the rods together while still allowing them to move back and forth. I had planned to 3D print two plates which would be placed on the top and bottom of the rods and then joined with screws. This proved difficult to model in Inventor and seemed overly complicated for a low fidelity prototype.
Instead, I decided to use cardboard and duct tape to create a rigid band that would function in the same way the 3D printed one would. This may not have looked as nice but it was far less complicated, didn’t take as much time, and was just as effective!
The original 3D model for the band.
An improved 3D model for the band.
The final prototype with a cardboard and duct tape band.