KiwiCo Portfolio
My invention, the Pixel Art Lightbox resulted in one of KiwiCo's very first product patents, for uniquely using a cell phone as an animated light and sound source for a Lite Brite inspired toy, click on the image above to go to the live page!
Product Case Study:
Skills and processes used in design thinking, prototyping to manufacturing
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Design thinking:
Backlit peg art toys on the market are similar, how can we differentiate and being something new, engaging, and educational that can be patent protected?
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Thinking outside of the box, we need a backlight source, what can be used that delivers on all the criteria? What could we do that would be low cost? Then the wildest thought, what about NO cost-- what might people already have, especially something old that they might even throw away?
We tried an old cell phone, and realized that by creating and playing a peg pattern specific video, that would allow animation AND audio, and since both can be delivered online, that it could be an ever updating platform. My favorite animated peg pattern features the rocketship with the historic NASA audio of the first manned moon landing!
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Prototyping:
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3d modeling in Solidworks
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Laser cutting (flat wood, flat plastic parts)
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3d printing (plastic parts
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CNC cutting (for peg templates)
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hand machining
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graphic design in Illustrator/Photoshop
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animation and video/sound editing (for cell phone video that animates pixels, In Da Vinci Resolve)
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web app design (prototyped in Wix website, mobile layout)
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Manufacturing and software:
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Lasercutting
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injection molding
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diecutting
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laminating
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web app development​
Pixel Art Lightbox
Flex and Fly
Plane Launcher
Another one of my inventions, the patented flexible and functional bendy memory wing!
Design thinking: We chose flexible EVA foam over balsa wood for durability. What new functional opportunities did this material change introduce?
We thought about just making the control flaps movable, but what would happen if the entire wing was malleable and could hold any contortion or twist, would it still fly? Experimentation proved yes!!
And the first "action figure wing" was born: bend your own airfoil, conservatively or cartoonishly, and see how your wing shape creation flies! Do it over and over again to learn about how wing shape affects flight and maneuvers, whether silly or seriously shaped, you learn something about your aerodynamic creation with each shape and launch. Another patented idea resulted from this out of the box thinking!
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(click on image above to go the live page)
Learn how to build the electronics for a low pass audio filter for LEDs blinking only to bass frequencies, and "see" the audio from the speakers bounce balls! Top Seller at KiwiCo's pop-up retail shop, click on the image above to go the live page!
Kinetic Light Up Speaker
Imagination running wild, with motorized and gravity sped sledding, as well as an innovative chalkboard skating pond: chalk skates leave tracks, and felt trees are used to erase them, making the trees more and more "snow" covered the more you use them!
Exceeded sales and sold out before the season was over! Click on the image to go the live page!
Winter Wonderland
Advent Calendar
Motion Sensing Spider
Learn electronics, build a motion sensor and motorized drivetrain.
Exceeded sales and sold out before the season was over! Click on the image to go the live page!