Let There Be Light
‘The form and function of a system can be designed in an innovative way using technological advancements and equipment.’
‘Let There Be Light’ was a personal project that I undertook in order to address a life-long visual impediment that I have lived with, ptosis. Ptosis is defined as a falling of the upper eye lid that obstructs my field of vision. This condition makes it very difficult for me to be able to see anything that is not particularly well lit. More specifically this condition has greatly inconvenienced me when using my work space at home; specifically, the area underneath my desk. There is a great deal of important wiring underneath my desk which is responsible for things such as my laptop and other electronic devices that I use in my work space. My ptosis prevents me from being able to properly see the wiring underneath my desk and I was yet to come across a lamp that addressed the tasks of illuminating both, the surface and the area underneath the desk in an elegant way. As a result of this I set about creating a lamp that would address this issue and help me overcome my lifelong visual impairment.
I first formulated a design brief in accordance with some of my specific design needs and wants. This particular design project showcases my ability to ideate, develop and finally execute a final design based on very specific user needs.
Design Need
Due to the fact that the lamp that I currently own a lamp–that serves as my study lamp- does not provide a wide enough illumination for my very large study space and as a consequence does not provide enough light for me when I am working on paper. Also when I use my laptop if I set my brightness too high the contrast is too high. As a result of this, the lamp has a detrimental effect to my eyesight additionally I also feel that my current night lamp does not fit in with the aesthetics of my room and does not stand out enough (looks too plain and aesthetically unexciting ). Most importantly my ptosis makes it very difficult to see the bottom area of the desk without sufficient lighting.
Design Brief
To address these aforementioned issues I will design and manufacture a small and portable night lamp (or light source) that does not take up too much unnecessary space, that will be able to creatively light up both the top and bottom areas of my desk. In addition this the lamp should also be durable due to the fact that it will constantly be moved around the study area on my desk.
Design Specifications
As can be seen in the table below, A design specification is a list of requirements in order for my designs and final product to be successful in terms of fulfilling the design need and brief.
Design Ideation Stage
At this stage I began to sketch out and design four uniquely different designs that all attempt to fulfill the design specifications that were laid out earlier in their own unique ways.
DeSign #1: Revolving lamp
Revolving Table Light
This particular design sketch was based on addressing specification #2 which had to do with function. More specifically this design was meant to showcase a lamp that was able to cast light on both the surface of desk as well as the wiring underneath it. Allowing the lamp to revolve under the desk using magnets addressed this particular specification. The sketch provides an elevation view (as seen in the top left hand part of the canvas as well as) and the front and back views; all presented from an orthogonal perspective.
DeSign #2: Dome Light
Fiber Optic Tank:
I have chosen to give the dome what is essentially a hemispheric shape which will be made using a dome blower. But before actually blowing up the dome there will be a small hole that will have been drilled into it to ensure that once the flat acrylic shape is blown up it will have a small hole from which the fiber optic wires can be inserted into the dome piece. The wires that can be seen to be protruding out of the hemisphere are in fact fiber optic wires that can light up when attached to a power source. I created this design with a focus on making sure that the lamp would use a unique shape not often seen in most desk lights/lamps. This particular design was heavily influenced by the work of Thomas Heatherwick, more specifically by ‘The Seed Cathedral’. Thomas Heatherwick featured prominently in my background research stage where I exhaustively researched influential product designers.
Design #3: The Disappearing ACt
I created this particular sketch to address the specification that refers to the desk light being able to light up in a highly creative and unique way. With this in mind, I incorporated a concave mirror so that the light can be reflected by the concave mirror into the top portion of desk thereby allowing the desk space to be light up whilst also allowing the bottom of the desk (where all of the wiring is located) to be illuminated as well which also fulfills the my need of having the wiring being lit up as well.
Arriving at the Final Design
At this point, I took some time to reflect on the design ideas and sketches I made and judged them against how appropriate they would be in addressing all of the specifications. I then saw that the majority of the specifications were being fulfilled by the first design: The Revolving Lamp. I then began to develop the revolving lamp design.
I first hand-drew a 3-D image of how I envisioned the design to look:
Developing Final DEsign: Hand-Sketched 3-D model
At this point I had a good idea of how the final lamp light would look, however I was not sure how to visualize the actual revolving motion. To help visualize the rotation of the lamp I used autocad.
Final Design Development Stage:
The above is a 3D CAD rendering of my final design with some modifications included, such as attaching an additional frame. The table itself has also been made transparent so that the frame and the rod can be seen.
Above is the final design in all three orthographic projections. Top, Front and Side are all displayed in the starting position of the frame.
Above are the orthographic projections of the design. However here, we see the design midway through its rotational movement, in all three orthographic views. This gives a better idea of how the ‘revolving lamp’ design idea will look when in rotation. It also proves that there is enough space in the slot for the frame to rotate through it.
The Final Product
After having concretized what my final design would like look and how it should rotate in 3-D space, I began to set out finally executing the design and beginning the manufacturing process.
Above is an image of the switch that was built into the frame
This is an image of the lamp in its upwards position
This image shows the light functioning when downwards
This image shows the two magnets - with the same poles - facing each other on the triangular block and one face of the frame
Below we can see the revolving motion of the lamp
Design Improvements
After testing my final design against the initial designs specifications I believe that some of the main improvements identified during the testing were that the blocks into which the frame is being inserted are not at all stable, as in they do not stay still. This is especially true when the blue frame is being rotated.
A design improvement that should be implemented would be to create the blocks with a right angle at the end. This will ensure that the entire frame is far more stable when the frame is rotated. An additional constraint of the product that was identified was related to the super strength magnets that were used. Due to the strength of the magnets at one point, one of the magnets was simply ripped out of the area it was hot glued on to, attaching to the other magnet.
Without the magnets in their proper placement and alignment the rotating frame will not be able to properly stop in a rotation. I believe that there are two main ways of solving this problem. The first is to demagnetize. This can be done by pounding on the magnet with a hammer however this may not be advisable as this could potentially destroy the magnet completely. Another way to solve this problem would be to drill a small hole into the triangular block, put the magnet it and then add a huge dollop of epoxy. This could potentially reinforce the magnets position and stop it from ripping out of its area.
Around ¾ of the way through the rotation of the frame becomes unstable. This is most likely due to the fact that when I was sanding down the wooden dowel that goes through the frame; I did not sand it down evenly thereby resulting in one particular sector of the circumference being rougher than the rest. One way to solve this is by simply filing/sanding down the rougher part of the dowel.
Overall the lamp I created was able to appropriately illuminate the top of my desk as well as the area underneath it, therefore allowing me to overcome my ptosis.