Make It Modular: Project EDAH

Hi! My name is Meg, and I am a rising senior from Washington state. I will be applying to colleges this fall, and I want to major in computer science or mechanical engineering. I love engineering and design, so this was the perfect project for me. Before getting started, I wanted to say thank you to those who helped put this contest together! I would also like to say thank you for the opportunity to earn a scholarship to fund my educational goals.

I've used other Autodesk software in the past such as Tinkercad and Inventor, but this project was the first time I learned how to use Fusion 360.

I created an affordable living unit with a focus on sustainability and recycling materials. Living so close to Seattle and having volunteered at a local homeless shelter since elementary school, I have personally seen the effects of poverty, the housing crisis, and homelessness first-hand, so I wanted to create something that could help anyone experiencing poverty. In the future, I would also like to design units for families with children and people who need specific living accomodations.

With that said, I didn't want to create a basic shelter with four walls and a roof. I wanted to create something that people could call home and come home work or school and feel safe, unwind, and make memories. That's where the name of my project comes from: Everyone Deserves a Home (EDAH).

The main tool I used was Fusion 360. If you are a student, you can sign up for an education account here and access a lot of Autodesk software for free. I've been doing this for a few years to use Autodesk Inventor and can't recommend it enough! I used Fusion 360 to design, model, animate, and render my project.

Before I get into a detailed step-by-step of how I designed and modeled my affordable housing unit, I wanted to provide an overview to introduce the unit and briefly explain some key design decisions. If you would like more information on my research, design, and modelling process, screen recordings of me using Fusion 360, and access to the files that I created, please feel free to read beyond the overviews.

The unit I designed can house 1-4 people using one shipping container. Two people can share the full size bed, and the top space of the lofted bed can either be used for a pull out sofa or a mattress to sleep 1-2 more people. However, I would recommend that only up to 2 people live in this unit, which is why my design converted the top of the loft to a living room.

I have estimated that the materials to build and furnish one unit will be about $4,500.00. This is assuming that we are able to recycle a shipping container. This should be relatively easy considering there are thousands of shipping containers not in use. This also assumes that everything in the home is custom made or bought new, so if some of the furniture or appliances are bought second-hand, it could greatly reduce the cost. Of course, this does not include labor costs or machine costs, which will raise the total cost by quite a bit.

My idea for this unit is that multiple of these can be used to create a neighborhood of shipping container homes. Shipping containers can also be used to create community centers in these neighborhoods such as a community garden or playground. As long as the units are lived in with care, they, along with the furniture and appliances inside, can be used and reused indefinitely to provide housing to generations of people. If neighborhoods need to be relocated, they can be because shipping containers are designed to move.

This design could be converted to off the grid, but I decided against it. While it is true that off the grid living is less expensive than if you're connected to the grid, this is only true after everything necessary to go off the grid has been completed. In reality, making a living space off the grid is expensive, and since my main purpose is to provide homeless people with a home, I chose not to go with an off the grid design. Afterall, the more homes that can be built, the more people that can be helped.

The first step is to create a shipping container. There are different standard sizes for shipping containers, but the type specified for the contest is called a 20' High Cube Shipping Container, which is approximately 20' long x 8' wide x 9'6” high.

To make sure my model was accurate, I used two technical drawings, which show the dimensions of every detail. The first was by Cleveland Containers, linked here. The second was this technical drawing by American Conex, which provides much more detail. The technical drawings are of the same type, and any differences in measurement that I found were only a few millimeters.

I've attached the Fusion 360 file of the shipping container if you would like to have it for download.

Note: In the embedded video, I have added timestamps that correspond to the steps I have written out below so that you can easily jump back and forth between and rewind certain steps. The video is a screen recording of the work I did to create a shipping container in Fusion 360, sped up by four times. If you would like to see each step in real time, you can do so through the video settings. Finally, before we get into the CAD, here is a document showing all of the shortcuts in Fusion 360. I may use these throughout the video, so if you see me using a tool without clicking on it, that's why.

Step 1: Check to make sure that the document is in millimeters. Millimeters are the default unit in Fusion 360, but here is an article from Autodesk explaining how to change that. Start a sketch on the XY plane. Make a rectangle that is 6058 mm x 2438 mm. Finish the sketch and extrude it by 2891 mm.

Step 2: Create an offset plane 43 mm from the back face of the shipping container. Start a new sketch on the offset plane, and make a rectangle 2352 mm x 2693 mm. Center this rectangle horizontally on the shipping container and place it 170 mm from the bottom edge of the face. Finish the sketch and cut extrude the rectangle by 5898 mm.

Step 3: Start a sketch on the front face of the shipping container. Create a rectangle that is 2340 mm x 2580 mm. Make sure the rectangle is centered horizontally on the face and place it 170 mm from the bottom of the shipping container. Finish the sketch and cut extrude by 500 mm.

Step 4: Create a sketch on the front face of the shipping container. Draw four rectangles; one on each of the edges. Make the rectangles on the top and bottom 10 mm long and sides 162 mm from the sides of the container. Make the rectangles on the sides 10 mm wide and 118 mm from the top and bottom edges of the shipping container. Finish the sketch and cut extrude through the entire shipping container.

Step 5: Create a sketch on the top face of the shipping container. Just like the last step, draw four rectangles; one on each of the edges. Make the rectangles on the front and back edge of the shipping container 10 mm long and 162 mm from the sides. Make the rectangles on the sides 10 mm wide and 178 mm from the front and back edges of the shipping container. Finish the sketch, and cut extrude through the entire shipping container.

Step 6: Create a sketch on the right face of the shipping container. Just like the last two steps, draw four rectangles; one on each of the edges. Make the rectangles on the top and bottom 10 mm long and 178 mm from the sides of the shipping container. Make the rectangles on the sides 10 mm wide and 118 mm from the top and bottom edges of the shipping container. Finish the sketch, and cut extrude through the entire shipping container.

Step 7: Create a sketch on the top face of the shipping container. Make a rectangle that is as wide as the top face, 80 mm from the back edge, and 120 mm from the front edge. Finish the sketch, and cut extrude 16 mm into the shipping container.

Step 8: Create a sketch on the back face of the shipping container. Make a rectangle that is 108 mm from the top edge, 160 mm from the bottom edge, and 155 mm from the side edges. Finish the sketch, and cut extrude 29 mm into the shipping container.

Step 9: Create a sketch on the right face of the shipping container. Make a rectangles that is 60 mm from the top edge, 160 mm from the bottom edge, 235 mm from the left edge, and 175 mm from the right edge. Finish the sketch, and cut extrude 9 mm into the shipping container. Mirror this onto the left face of the shipping container.

Step 10: Create a sketch on the bottom face of the shipping container. Make a rectangle that is 168 mm from the top and bottom edges and 50 mm from the side edges. Finish the sketch, and cut extrude 4 mm into the shipping container.

Step 11: Create an offset plane 60 mm from the top main body of the shipping container. Start a section analysis on the plane, then start a sketch on the plane. Using the line tool, go 37 mm down from 2 mm right of the top left corner. Then go, 68 mm down diagonally onto the outside edge. Go 72 mm down, then 68 mm down diagonally back to 2 mm from the inside end. Finally, go 70 mm down. Draw a set of parallel lines 2 mm inside the first set of lines. Select every line except for the first 37 mm one and use the rectangular pattern tool to repeat the shape every 278 mm until the end of the shipping container wall.

Create a line that goes through the middle of the shipping container. Select all of the lines drawn on the left side of the shipping container and use the mirror tool to reflect over the middle line. Finish the sketch, select each of the trapezoidal shapes and cut extrude them into the shipping container by 2625 mm. Hide the section analysis.

Step 12: Create an offset plane 92 mm from the top main body of the shipping container. Create a section analysis on the plane and start a sketch on it. Create a rectangle that encompasses the inner wall of the shipping container. From the top left, draw a line 2 mm from the inside edge that is 50 mm long. Draw a diagonal line up to the outside edge that is 18 mm, then a line 104 mm to the right. Draw a line 18 mm diagonally back to 2 mm from the inner wall, and finally, a line 110 mm to the right. Use the rectangular pattern tool to go all the way to the right edge. Finish the sketch and cut extrude the trapezoidal shapes 2603 mm into the shipping container. Hide the section analysis.

Step 13: Start a sketch on the bottom face of the shipping container. Draw a rectangle that is 315 mm x 2318 mm on the edge of the shipping container. Repeat this rectangle every 50 mm to the other end of the shipping container. Finish the sketch, and cut extrude each rectangle by 144 mm.

Step 14: Create a sketch on the top face of the shipping container. Make a rectangle that is 1826 mm x 140 mm. Center it horizontally and place it 132 mm from the edge of the shipping container. Then, add circles to the outer edges of the rectangle that have a 140 mm diameter. Repeat the shape every 190 mm. Finish the sketch and extrude each of the shapes by 20 mm.

Step 15: Create a new document for the doors of the shipping container. Start a sketch with four rectangles that meet at the corners. Make the top and bottom rectangles 945 mm x 150 mm. Make the side rectangles 100 mm x 2565 mm. Repeat this shape right next to first shape. Finish the sketch, and extrude the rectangles by 60 mm.

Step 16: Create an offset plane on one of the inner side door. Start a section analysis on the plane, then start a sketch. Starting from the top, draw a 50 mm line 8 mm from the edge of the door. Draw a diagonal line 45 mm long going 12 mm from the other side of the door. Draw a 65 mm line downwards, then another diagonal line going back to 8 mm from the edge of the door. Make a series of parallel lines 4 mm from the original set of lines. Finally, draw a 500 mm line downwards. Use the rectangular pattern tool to repeat this to the edge of the door. FInish the sketch and extrude the shape by 945 mm. Remove the section analysis.

Step 17: Insert the door into the main shipping container document. Using the align tool, align the doors to the entrance of the shipping container.

Step 18: Show one of the previous section analyses and start a sketch on the floor of the shipping container. Draw a rectangle that encompasses the main floor. Using the extrusion tool, select the entire floor and create a new body that is 2 mm thick. Use the split body tool to separate the floor from the main body. Rename the floor body to "Floor" and delete the body created. Hide the section analysis.

Step 19: Start a sketch on the back face of the shipping container. Make a rectangle that encompasses the corrugated wall of the back. Finish the sketch and create a new body that is 38 mm wide. Use it to split the back wall from the main body and rename the new body "Back Wall."

Step 20: Start a sketch on the right side of the shipping container. Create a rectangle that encompasses the corrugated portion of the wall. Using the extrusion tool, create a new body that is 24 mm wide. Use it to split the right wall from the main body and rename it "Right Wall." Repeat this on the left wall, but rename the new body "Left Wall."

Step 21: Create a sketch on the top of the shipping container. Create a rectangle that encompasses the ceiling of the shipping container. Make the sides of the rectangle 60 mm from the outside edges of the shipping container. Cut out the corners of the shipping container. Finish the sketch and create a new body that is 22 mm wide. Use it to split the ceiling from the main body. Rename the new body to "Ceiling," and rename the original main body to "Frame."

Step 22: Using the appearance tool, change the color and material of the shipping container to something more realistic, I used the rough steel material with a dark red color.

The following few steps include the appliances and furniture used in the unit. I will not provide a detailed step-by-step like I did for the shipping container, but I have embedded videos of me working on them, so if you slow them down, you should be able to make everything as I kept everything I did in the videos. They all have timestamps so that you can move back and forth if you wish. I have also uploaded the files for you to download if you prefer to download those directly.

Loft Bed

I chose to create a loft bed to maximize the space shipping containers provide. We don't need a full 9 feet of head space when sleeping, so we can create a lofted space that perfectly fits the edge of the shipping container to make a living room or a second bed above the bottom bed. There is about 5 feet of head space on the living room, so while most people will need to bend their head down to walk, they can comfortably sit up on the couch.

The lofted bed can fit a full size mattress, which can spaciously sleep one person or fit two people. A mattress or pull out sofa can be put onto the top level to sleep even more people. Built into the bottom bunk is storage space for shoes and hanging space for clothes. Below the mattress are three drawers that can store even more clothes.

I modeled my unit to use the top level of the lofted bed area as a living room.

Bookshelf

One of my favorite things to do is read, so I made a bookshelf space that will be placed behind the sofa. The space below the shelves can be converted into some cabinets to store supplies that don't need everyday access as the sofa will need to be moved to access it.

Couch

The living room area can comfortably fit a sofa that can sit at least 2 people. I thought it was important to provide an area where people can lounge and relax that wasn't their bed. A TV can be added to the unit on the wall opposite the couch if preferred.

Coffee Table

I thought it would be nice to have a coffee table so that people could place drinks, books, and snacks on it while they relax. If they have a laptop or phone, they can position their device on it and watch YouTube videos, movies, or shows, minimizing the need for a TV.

Mini Fridge

I thought a mini fridge would be perfect. As long as the people living are conscious about the food they buy, they will have plenty of space for the food they need to store or cook. There is also a freezer, which I thought was important for frozen foods or preserving certain foods. Because the mini fridge is shorter than the cabinets, I also added a counter above it to increase counter space.

Range

I really wanted to include an oven and stove in the unit. Cooking and baking are great ways to save money instead of ordering takeout. Additionally, some people enjoy doing it, and it can bring some ritual to daily life, so I wanted to include it. I was able to find multiple models for compact ranges that could easily fit in the unit.

Cabinets

The cabinets would be custom built for this unit. With bottom and top cabinets, there is plenty of storage space for dry foods, cooking tools, utensils, and other items needed in the kitchen. There is also plenty of counter space to work.

Sink

The sink will likely be what is used for dishwashing. However, a tabletop dishwasher can be purchased instead. They are relatively inexpensive and are compact enough to fit into the unit.

Dining Table

The dining table is more of a bar counter, but it has plenty of space to eat or work.

Bar Stool

The table can seat up to three people to accommodate everyone who will live in the space or for guests, depending on how many people live in one unit.

Shower

The shower is 36" x 32". There is a built in shelf into the shower wall, which provides space for soap, shampoo, and other shower products.

Toilet

I made sure that there will be enough space in the model to easily access the toilet.

Sink

I chose a compact sink to make enough room for the bathroom door to swing open and to make the whole room feel less cramped. There is a cabinet built into the sink, which can be used to store toilet paper, hygiene products, and cleaning products.

With all the furniture done, it's time to put it all together to create the unit. The video embedded shows my entire process!

I had a lot of fun completing this project and definitely want to explore it more in the future. I learned a lot of Fusion 360, building homes, and affordability in building homes. Once again, thank you so much to everyone who made this contest possible.