Posts
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On the shelf
For the rest of the build, Claude rendered eight pictures from the FreeCAD model: stop screw, spine nuts, arm, swivel nuts, plate, friction and lock, screen, cables.
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The knob that slipped
With the clamp on the shelf, I turned the knob and the pad pushed up.
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The clamp that let go
Print 1 put the clamp, arm, plate and pad on one plate, arranged in Bambu Studio.
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Test prints that test something
Before the real print I wanted test prints.
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Easier to print
After v6 (11) I asked for an easier shape to print, with less support and less material.
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The lever the check got wrong
This is the best story in v6 (11), and it's about a check that was wrong.
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Mount v6: clamp it to the shelf
v5 (10) was a stand on the desk.
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Measuring the real desk
Before anything clamps onto the desk, the desk had to become a model.
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The swivel
After the first review of v5 (10) I added a swivel the same day.
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Stand v5: portrait, beside the main monitor
After v4.1 (9.4) the idea changed.
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Stand v4.1
I looked at v4 (9.3) for a while and didn't like three things.
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How it works
Five printed parts, the monitor, the PC and four screws.
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The style
This is the design language from 9.1 applied to the workstation, rule by rule, and where v4 bends it.
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The design language
I call it Neo-Braun.
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Stand v4: the lamp
Stand v3 passed every check I gave it (8.7).
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Sourcing
The last research topic is where to buy it all in the UK, as one person buying small amounts.
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The sensors
The fourth research topic is the sensors: which readings are worth having, and what each one can and can't tell me.
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The fan
The third research topic is the fan.
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The particle filter
The second research topic is the particle filter: what dust a litter room puts in the air, which filter grade is worth having, and how much airflow it costs.
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The smell and the filter media
The first research topic is what the smell is made of and what catches it.
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Research
Before I buy or model anything, I need to know what the filter is up against and what each part of it has to do.
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The plan
This is everything I think the project needs, in roughly the order I'll do it.
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The project
We have two cats, and they use the downstairs WC for their litter trays.
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Where it stands
Yesterday this was a portable monitor, a spare mini PC and a printer.
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Exports and assembly
The last step before printing was to get the design out of FreeCAD intact: a STEP file for every printed part, a STEP assembly for each variant with the monitor and the PC, and an assembly sequence.
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E4 Wall
The shared dock pays off here.
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Finishing the device
A stand that passes its checks is still a bracket until the cables, the desk contact and the airflow are dealt with.
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Printing and iterating
Every v3 part prints without supports, in black PLA Basic on the textured PEI plate.
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Three stands
Each stand is two parts: a 14 mm fin printed flat, and a foot printed flat.
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The hub
Mount option E had two problems as drawn.
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Stand v3: the hub and its stands
With the hub chosen (7.1), the workstation becomes two problems with one interface between them:
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Five options
All five pass the checks: one valid solid each, no overlap with the monitor or the PC, and each fits the A1.
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The v3 double mount
Stand v2 fixed the creep lever, but its PC sits high on the back of the screen.
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The self-restoring rule
Every stand so far tipped at a push of a few newtons.
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Rules for printed structure
The B2 review and the v2 design turned into a set of rules.
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Carrier, spine and foot
The monitor's inserts give 3.6 mm of thread (3.1).
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Stand v2: the PC behind the screen
The creep problem in B2 came from geometry: the support reached round the PC, so the screen hung on a long lever.
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What the checks missed
The renders of B2 showed z-fighting where the parts met: two surfaces flickering in the same place.
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Round 2: B1, B2 and B3
For round 2 I added a rule: the screen's bottom edge, the PC's front and the stand's front end on one line, with nothing further forward.
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Round 1: Swoop, Hook and Rails
Concept A's first version had no heel.
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Stand v1: the screen above the PC
The first brief was mine and visual: a curved, iMac-like foot and arm, the computer floating below, the screen above.
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The Beelink base plate
This gauge screws to the PC's two M3 inserts and bends 5 mm up the front face.
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The VESA 75 frame
Version 1 was a solid 87 × 87 × 3 mm plate with a window for the kickstand: 9.84 g and 17.5 minutes.
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Fit gauges
Before designing a mount, I print a thin gauge that carries only the mating features: the hole pattern, a locating edge, the clearances.
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The mini PC
The Beelink Mini S12 Pro is 115 × 102 × 39 mm by the maker's figures.
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The monitor
The monitor's back has a thin upper panel and a thicker lower spine.
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Modelling what I have
A mount is only as good as the model of the thing it mounts.
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Printing over the LAN
I wanted the agent to slice and print without me at Bambu Studio.
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FreeCAD over MCP
The CAD tool is FreeCAD 1.1.4 with the FreeCADMCP add-on.
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The project
I want a small, self-contained AI workstation on my desk: a screen, a computer and a webcam that act as one unit.