Lithopane Picture Puzzle Lamp

Course or Client

MEEN 210 (Geometric Modeling)

Completion Date

Spring 2023

Skills

3D modeling, Concept generation, prototyping (lasercutting, 3D printing, wiring)

Challenge: Design and build an entertaining, comforting, and mentally engaging product for the elderly

Context

For this project, I worked in a group of 4 to design a toy for the elderly. My teammates were Shy Tatum, Garrett Watson, and Logan Porsche.

We started by defining general product requirements:

Less than 250g 3D printed material [course requirement]
Challenge/puzzle/task that takes at least 5 minutes to solve [mentally engaging]
There are several ways to complete the challenge/puzzle/task [mentally engaging]
Offers something familiar to the user, such as a hobby or reminders of memories[comforting]
Offers a reward for the challenge completed [entertaining]

Concept selection

We generated 40 ideas to fulfill the challenge statement, then refined the top 5 ideas. The most promising concept identified was a Picture Puzzle Lamp, where there were four lithopane jigsaw picture puzzles surrounding a light source.

A lithophane is a thin, translucent plaque of varying thickness that depicts an image when backlit. It is well suited for affordable 3D printing and the 3D model can be created based on a chosen image in SOLIDWORKS using the 3D texture tool.

Refined Concept sketch for the picture puzzle lamp

Design Model

Puzzle lamp animated exploded view

Exploded view of initial SOLIDWORKS assembly model

The 4 chosen puzzle designs

Fabrication

Lead time for CNC milling was longer than expected so the base was simplified to be laser cut.

Components:

Frames (2 portrait & 2 landscape), base, and lid laser cut from wood
Towers, Four sets of puzzle pieces, and LED Holder 3D printed
LED strips, batteries, connector rods, and the battery pack were COTS (Commercial off-the-shelf) components

Manufactured components before assembly

Conclusions and learnings

This project was an enjoyable and rewarding experience that strengthened my commitment to pursuing a career in mechanical design engineering. Following this class, I earned my SOLIDWORKS Associate Certification.

This project pushed me to move beyond the mindset of 3D printing everything. I gained an appreciation for alternative rapid prototyping methods, such as laser cutting. While the pieces were created effectively, they required significant sanding to fit properly, highlighting the importance of precise tolerancing.

Lamp with alternative open lid design to allow for easier puzzle solving puzzle on top of the backlight

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