• Light-Up Name Plates 

      As a parting gift to my entire department, I wanted to design and make individual name plates for each of my colleagues. I thought a unique nameplate would be a cool addition to anyone's desk, so I made one with the logo and theme of the department we were all in.
       
      In the work space I was in, there were plentiful amounts of AA holders and 12V LED strips, so I simply decided to power the LED's by 8 AA batteries. Normally this would be an atrocious number of batteries just to turn on an LED, but due to time constraints and the desire to only use supplies I could find in the office, I stuck with this plan.
       

      Battery Pack Selection

      There were two different battery pack configurations I could choose from; 4 AA and 2 AA packs. I laser cut a rough nameplate size to get a feel for what the baseplate design could be based on the battery pack type. I ultimately decided to choose the 2 AA pack size because it was the best usage of space in conjunction with the nameplate design. The 4 AA packs would have either awkward protrusions if the baseplate is designed to conform around the battery packs, or  it would have a lot of unnecessary empty space. The rough size estimates can be see in the images below with the two different battery packs. 

    • 3D Model

      Now that I decided to use the 2 AA packs, I modelled an accompanying baseplate. I ended up making a couple versions for the base of the nameplates because I had to make some minor tweaks and adjustments, such as incorporating space for the wires, anticipated hot glue, and a cutout for a switch.

    • LED Strip Length and Placement Consideration

      Although were enough LED strips to span the entire length of the nameplate for all nameplates I was making, I decided to make a slight design change to use a much shorter strip of LEDs but still properly light the entire piece. I added a little cut in the shape of an arc on the bottom of the plate to have the LED's angle outward. The graphic below shows a rough idea of the beam angles on each LED and how with the little arc at the bottom of the design, the LEDs are allowed to curve and reach the edges of the nameplate. The biggest issue was apparent after I tested one out was that the center text was the closest to the LEDs and acted like a hotspot, being much brighter than the edges. This was a side effect I had just accepted. This hotspot issue can be seen in the photo below the infographic.

    • After making one complete nameplate and being satisficed with the overall result, I began to "mass manufacture" all of the 19 total nameplates by 3D printing the baseplates, laser cutting/etching all the acrylic sheets, and soldering all the battery packs together with an LED strip and switch. After all of the separate pieces have been made, then I was able to hot glue all of the pieces together to make a complete nameplate. Below is a compilation of images of the entire manufacturing and assembly process.  
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