Satellite Key Holder

Summary Continued: 

It is helpful in situations where you need to hang up your house keys, car keys, or even simple keychains! The holder fits inside the constraint of 1000cm^3, which was the maximum volume. This was created in collaboration with Reagan Wray and Ammaar Kattarwala. 

This Satellite Key Holder was made as a part of an Outer Space office supply collection. There was a rocket pencil sharpener, UFO paper clip holder, and Planet magnets.  

Problem Statement:

We were tasked with creating a set of theme-based organizational products fit to meet the needs of the Staples finance department’s desktop organization. The company’s intent is to escalate its profits in this area by amplifying the aesthetic nature of these products. These office supplies should all be tied together with a common theme, so that when a customer sees one, they will be motivated to buy the full set of products. 

Constraints: 

• You will be constructing an actual-size model of your product in SolidWorks
• Your items must be interesting to look at and unique - a conversation starter.  An individual walking by would do a double-take to more closely examine the amazingly artistic item you’ve created.
• Your items must contain examples of ALL FOUR main Features:  Extrusion, Revolve, Sweep, Loft 
• All Features DO NOT need to be present in each piece, just amongst the set
• Your items must take advantage of at least one of: Circular Pattern, Linear Pattern, Sketch-Driven Pattern, Mirror 
• All Features DO NOT  need to be present in each piece, just amongst the set
• ALL of your items must take advantage of Filleting and maybe Chamfering
• Each piece you design should fit within a 10cm x 10cm x 10cm cube, or 1000 cm3 volume equivalent.
• Each item can be multiple pieces to be assembled for easier printing
• Maximum length in any direction is limited to 20cm (slightly negotiable, MAYBE 27cm max)
• Should be 3D printable with limited/no supports, (each item can be multiple assemblable pieces to help this)

Assembly/Construction Instructions: 

We started off by extruding a circular shape with a diameter of 3.5 high by 6cm. 

After that, we used the cut extrude feature by blind cutting a rectangle on the cylinder’s lateral area with dimensions of 1.02cm x 0.52cm. 

Then, we created a new file where we created the wings for the satellite. We created a rectangle of dimensions 4x8x0.5 with the shorter side dimensions of 2 cm x 1 cm x 0.5 cm, which was the connector. This was all connected as a sketch and then extruded.

After this step, we created a rectangle towards the bottom of the extruded shape and extruded that small rectangle. 

The, we used the cut extrude tool to create a smaller rectangle on the back face of the larger rectangle. We cut off the first 2x0.25x0.5 from the wing to almost the end.

Once the peg was created, we used the linear pattern tool to have it come up 4 times in a line. Each peg was located 2 cm away from each other. 

Once the set of pegs were created to represent the hooks to hold the keys on the key holder, we moved onto the holes where the pegs would slide into. The dimensions were 1cm away horizontally and 0.5cm away vertically, 0.5 cm x 0.75 cm

Once sketched, it was cut extruded by 0.3cm and then linear patterned the hole 3 more times so then in total it would have 4 holes for the 4 pegs. 

For some visual enhancement, we decided to add some extra detailing on the back of the key holder. 

We created a sketch on the back side and extruded it 0.05cm outwards 

Then, we created a rectangle with dimensions 1.8x1.73cm and 0.1 padding away front he corners. We then cut extruded it to the surface of the back wing. After that, we linear patterned it 4 times horizontally and 2 times vertically. It was 1.93cm apart in the x-axis and 1.86cm apart in the y-axis

Finally, to mirror our shape, we created a new plane on the face of the connector and mirrored it about that plane using the feature “bodies to mirror”. 

To add some additional visual enhancements, on our cylinder, we added a small cylinder on the upper face of the large cylinder and extruded it, then cut it with a draft angle of 8 degrees. 

Then, we circular patterned it about the face of the top of the cylinder (the base)

We added two rectangles to the side and used the feature of revolve to revolve the shape around the cylinder. 

Finally, we extruded a small circle with an angle and circular patterned it to create the additional details on the satellite dish. 

We also the feature of filleting so that it was thicker and connected to the satellite dish properly. 

And there you have it! A functional satellite key holder designed for you!

Assembly: 

Once, printed, take the wing and make sure there is a unobstructed pathway inside the cylinder so then it can slide in.

Then, you can insert the connector piece of the wings inside the cylinder like this: 

Then, you can insert the separately printed hook into the holes in the wing. 

Design Choices: 

When creating our design on Solidworks, we had to make many adjustments and changes to the initial plan. 
 

Our first edit that we made was to not merge the key pegs from the final wings, so then they would be printed separately. This was done by creating a hold behind the wing for the peg to slide in. This would allow for the model to be printed correctly. To do this, we created a hole that was dimensioned just right for the dimensions of the peg to fit in snug. Then, the two parts would be printed separately and slide right into the shape. 
 

After that, another important addition to our model that we needed to add was the detailing on the back. After receiving feedback and fully analyzing our progress, we came to the final decision that we would add additional details not instructed on our original plan. 

We created 8 “panels” on the back, so that it would look a little more like a satellite. 

The above image of the real-life satellite was our inspiration for the panels. 

Similar to our decision with the wings, we also added multiple aesthetic improvements to the cylinder, which would be our “connector” for the panels. 

Another important detail we noticed later on was that the connection between the satellite dish and the rungs coming out of them were sharply connected, making it potentially harder to print. To fix this issue, we used filleting to make the rungs rounder and longer for it to touch the dish more smoothly. 

Final look of Satellite: 

From sketching and designing to creating and modeling, my group and I truly had a great time creating this satellite key holder, and we hope that you will value it just as much as we do!

Thank you!