Pandora desktop stand - hacking office use ergonomy

[cube48]

Do you use your Pandora with USB keyboard and mouse? Then you might already got into situation that you spend the whole evening/night/day being productive and afterwards find yourself with heavy neck ache and sore eyes. It happens to me quite often. Yeah, I know, we have VNC, X11 forwarding, USB to DVI/HDMI but sometimes it's easier to work directly with Pandora.


Idea to have Pandora closer to eyes while typing on keyboard was fermenting in my head for months. After some unsuccessful prototyping with wood I came to design which might finally work.


See the pictures.


Keyboard should be placed above the bottom feet. Pandora would dwell cca 23 cm above the desk (front edge). Angle of the Pandora's base plate was carefully chosen to work easily with both most common opened lid positions (full and 2/3). Stand arms (or legs? my English struggles here ) have cut-outs for charger/USB/audio cables so they don't hang freely down, lowering the risk of pulling the Pandora off the stand. The assembly is completely screw or glue-less.


The idea is to let laser-cutting company to cut the pieces from 2 mm Aluminium. I didn't approach any company yet so for now no price estimation at all. Before I do that I'm curious if somebody else from this community would make use of such thing and we could make the production costs lower. For sure I'll go for one or two prototypes on my own and fine tune the dimensions here and there if needed. But when I get in touch with the company I'd like to have some rough estimation of possible further production to influence the final price.


I don't want to make any big profit out of it, just cover the production, shipping and packaging costs and perhaps add something extra for the Preorders Donation Fund and a few bucks for my time spent in the queue at the post office.


It can also show up that the production costs are too high. The alternative could be to make it from Acrylic glass which might be too fragile and it would need design update (thicker material).


In case of high demand I was thinking about handing over the design and production to ED (if he's interested) and he could perhaps sell it as Pandora accessory at dragonbox.de.


In all cases I want to release the design files in the spirit of Open Hardware (after everything it's finalized) so everyone can download them and cut the stand on their own (lucky you who posses or have access to laser-cutting device) or ask your local laser-cutting shop to save the planet from more transportation pollution.


I'm looking forward to your opinions, laser-cutting experiences and stories, etc.


Cheers,


cube48

 

[hmc]

This looks awesome. I would be very interested in such a stand, and I know some people who I assume would also be interested, certainly depending on the price. So if you can give a rough price estimation, it would be great.

 

[TrashyMG]

I'd love to have something like this when I'm working with my electronics projects and such.. made a breakout board with all the GPIOs and such..  

 

[Toftman]

Hello everyone, first post here!

A quick comment about the idea of a stand, which I like and would use. 

For me it would be useful if there was something to support the screen. One of my pandoras has a very weak and flexible hinge. If I tried to use it like a netbook on a stand the screen would either close or pop open. If there was something at the back on the stand stopping the screen from popping open that would really help.

 

[cube48]

Toftman, welcome to forums! Thanks for your idea with lid support! I'll definitely implement it ;-)

 

[Klumpen]

If Ed gets it in his Shop and it is not too expensive, I might buy it alongside a very small USB-keyboard which I would fix on the bottom of it.

 

[Askarus]

For me it's a clear: No.

Totally useless I think.

If I type I use the Pandora Keyboard and hold my Pandora exactly the way it's most comfortable.

Navigating with D-Pad and Nubs is great as you don't have to lift your hand to reach the mouse.

 

[Mr_Loon]

I'd rather see an ergonomic grip for Pandora with a built in standard tripod connector socket.


The Pandora would sit within the grip, which would also allow the screen to be held open at the angle desired by the user.


The grip could then be attached to a flexible tripod or flexible monopod with desk grip / suction pad.

 

[TrashyMG]

For me it's a clear: No.

Totally useless I think.

If I type I use the Pandora Keyboard and hold my Pandora exactly the way it's most comfortable.

Navigating with D-Pad and Nubs is great as you don't have to lift your hand to reach the mouse.

Well I see this as more of a docking station stand than anything.. I would have a small USB keyboard and mouse, run my TV out and such..


the cable organizers shown in the diagram looks like they would keep all the cables in place and make it convenient to just easily plug in without making a mess of my desk(workbench).

 

[Franko]

Very nice design, cube48.  Add that backing, to support weak screen hinges which "toftman" suggested, and you might have something there.  I personally have a tall desk with an adjustable chair which can get quite low to the floor so I'm staring at the pandora (eye-to-eye) whilst seated.  I also have an old-fashioned "drafters table", which is adjustable like that and can be angled...it works well.  Interesting idea though.  I like these type of brainstorms....well done.  

 

[levi]

I'd rather see an ergonomic grip for Pandora with a built in standard tripod connector socket.


The Pandora would sit within the grip, which would also allow the screen to be held open at the angle desired by the user.


The grip could then be attached to a flexible tripod or flexible monopod with desk grip / suction pad.

I had a sound grip for my Nintendo DS which I quickly realised was a waste of batteries to use as intended, but I still kept it attached.  It rounded off the bottom corners and made them thicker giving the feel of a playstation controller (or more accurately a 360 controller) which I found made it much more comfortable to use.  Not convinced it would be quite such a good fit for the Pandora when using the keyboard though, as I'm still of the opinion that the Pandora needs to be thinner to make reaching the bottom edge buttons more comfortable rather than thicker.

 

[Askarus]

For me it's a clear: No.

Totally useless I think.

If I type I use the Pandora Keyboard and hold my Pandora exactly the way it's most comfortable.

Navigating with D-Pad and Nubs is great as you don't have to lift your hand to reach the mouse.

Well I see this as more of a docking station stand than anything.. I would have a small USB keyboard and mouse, run my TV out and such..


the cable organizers shown in the diagram looks like they would keep all the cables in place and make it convenient to just easily plug in without making a mess of my desk(workbench).

I don't want anyone prevent from buying it.

Maybe I'd buy one as well, but only to support cube 48.

For me it's not a docking station but a huge thing which doesn't fit near the display.

But as usual there are things I like and others don't.

Maybe I'm the only one who feels that way.

I don't want to stop such a project if lots of people like it.

 

[ingoreis]

Hey thats a great Idea too
Such a Holder can i need for my GHZ Pandora and my Docking Station is for the golden Pandora

 

[cube48]

Lid support implemented, easily un/pluggable.

You might wonder why I didn't just extended the main legs.

1. Well, I want to keep the longest edge of the kit to fit under A4 dimensions to keep the packaging sane.
2. I'm also trying to keep the left over material from cutting as low as possible.
3. This way the lid support stays optional.

But as I prefer simplicity I'll maybe shorten the legs a bit and make the lid support and leg into one piece (it means 3 pieces less!).

 

[levi]

That's pretty impressive the way you've got that all fitting in an A4-sized sheet with minimum wastage.  As you say, that should make sending out copies to people easier.

One concern I've got about your design though is that it's got no cross-bracing across that vertical rise, so it's likely to try to collapse either right or left.  With only 2mm wide metal you're going to need the tolerances on your slot gaps to be very tight to stop the joints freely rotating quite dramatically, and that's even ignoring the distortion that's likely to occur in a soft metal like aluminum as soon as it has to tolerate any weight.  I would trust the design a lot more if it were cross-braced.

 

[cube48]

Very good point Levi with cross-bracing! I somehow thought that the small "wing'' above the foot part would manage that but as I read your comment it hits my eyes/brain :-D

Concerning the A4, I've unfortunately crossed the width already if we stay in one layer. But for packing it up there can be two layers of parts, so no biggie.

Hmm ... some amendments ahead. Thanks to all for your valuable feedback!

 

[j0e]

Sounds like a good idea. I would buy it. It would make the Pandora more pleasant for me for things such as programming and writing music in MilkyTracker.

 

[cube48]

OK, updates implemented.

Levi, what do you think about the horizontal collapse now?

Legs has been merged with lid support and they still fit into the A4 diagonally.

Feet was also extended for better forward stability.

 

[levi]

Yeah, that looks like it ought to hold it.


The only thing I'm worried about now is if you put any significant downward pressure on it (for example, if your keyboard is as stiff as on mine and you try typing with your fingers, without supporting the unit underneath with your hands) it's going to try to bend those feet, probably at the corners where the shape of it will tend to concentrate the stresses.


Don't have a solution of any sort for that though. You can always bend the feet back of course, and as long as you only do that a few times it should be fine. I reckon you're ready for prototyping now - that's the only real way to test this sort of thing out.

 

[cube48]

Actually, it's designed with USB hub > keyboard + mouse combo in mind. For sure there will be some flex happening at the feet if you finger type on Pandora. Let's see how it holds.

If you want stable stand you can try this one. It's sturdy enough to let you type directly on Pandora. Unfolding can be a bit tricky as the legs are asymetrically configurable but variability is good. For Pandora it is rather too big form although the height and placing above keyboard can be set to ideal. I'm using it from time to time but it's gonna end up holding some other gear. It's too bulky for my desk.