3D Printing a Camera Grip

During the first week of ME360, we were tasked with sketching an initial idea for a device that could aid in handling a mobile device. Whilst the initial brief was more related to taking a phone out of the hand, our team decided to think further outside the box and came to the conclusion that taking pictures with a mobile phone often resulted in holding the phone in a way that could result in it falling to the ground and breaking. Therefore, the four of us each designed a way to prevent this problem from occurring. Below is the sketch of the idea that I came up with.

After this, our team made a CAD model and 3D printed the device using Silk PLA, as the smoother material's improved adhesive qualities meant that it was less likely to scratch a phone than normal PLA. In addition to this, silk PLA was more aesthetically pleasing than normal PLA in this context. An image of the finished print is below.

The print fits well around an Apple iPhone 13 and makes it easier to take photos without losing your grip on the phone. Moreover, it is easy to remove and place onto the phone whilst firmly remaining on the phone when taking photos. Lastly, there are some improvements that we can make, the most important one potentially being a pressable button at the top of a grip, similar to most cameras, so that users don't need to swivel their thumbs to the phone's screen but can rather snap photos at their convenience.