Wireless Charging Mount

My name is George and I am designing project for my Industrial Design Foundations course at Diablo Valley College! For my project I wanted to solve the issue with the current outdated charging solutions found for phones on forklifts.

In order to narrow down the list of possible improvements one could make to a forklift, we need to talk to an operator who has needs specific to them. There are always new people joining the workforce as forklift operators and I decided to cater to them in my project.

The interviewee told us they use their phone for everything in their life. It is their connection to the things that interest them and they are very adept and used to using it. They charge their phone using the onboard auxiliary automobile outlet on their Toyota forklift at work. However they first need to sacrifice their cupholder space to keep the phone mounted somewhere other then their pocket or lap, and secondly they feel that a wire hanging in the way as they dismount the forklift is annoying and cumbersome.

Using this information I decided to envision a wireless phone mount/charger for a Toyota forklift.

An important goal of the project was to make the phone charger feel reliable and cohesive with the look of the lift truck. I chose to look at the way that construction tools are made to look reliable, dependable and sturdy through the use of color and decoration. Because I was making this product for a user who values aesthetics and modern technology I felt it was a good balance between the industrial look of a tool and the modern look of consumer technology.

I also found inspiration in the look of consumer tools and technology in general. I felt these things would be familiar to my user. Therefore building immediate trust in my design.

The concept of a wireless charging mount is not new so to make the design stand out we need to add a unique element that will make it stand out and also keep it cohesive with the rest of the forklift. First I sketched some ideas for the most interactive part of the wireless charger, the adjustable grips. I intended this to be the the "iconic" part of the design that would make it stand out as a piece of the forklift dashboard.

Making the design cohesive with the existing design language of Toyota forklifts is important and during the sketching phase I found a solution in the strong trapezoidal and triangular shapes found on the sides of the phone stand. I wanted the design to evoke a sturdy feeling. Something that gives you confidence to trust it to hold your phone. I, therefore, chose to use a very thick base and grips for the final design.

Now it is time to make the sketches look like reality! In fusion 360 I created the shape in a few simple steps and then finalized by refining the shape with extrusion cuts and adding some textures using the rendering system.

Then I placed the render onto a sample dashboard to bring the idea to life!