A mobile, miniature wave tank.

Overview

Lost In The Sea is a product emerged from a bootcamp challenge! It was designed, manufactured, tested and showcased within only 14 days! The challenge of this bootcamp was to design a product that fits within the topic of "Into the Wild" and as my "Wild", I have chosen the vast, never ending body of water. While brainstorming, I realized how lucky I was to be exposed to sea all my life. This led me to design a mobile wave tank, that is small enough to be placed on a study desk or a coffee table. With this design, I successfully replicated both the visuals and the sound of the tides.

Concept

I aimed to keep the concept very simple. By utilizing only one DC motor, I aimed to create 4 different wave intensities. Well, to do that, I had to figure out a way to create a wave first. After a quick brainstorming session, I settled on the concept shown above.

Manufacturing

Since the topic was "Into the Wilde", I aimed to salvage as many scrap material from the shop as possible. I was able to find couple clear acrylic sheets, one matte white acrylic piece and some wood pieces. With the clear acrylic, I was able to create a fully sealed water tank. The wood I salvaged became the back piece of the product where I mounted each and every electronic component. By cutting the white acrylic piece to different organic curves, I was able to mimic the wave shape and decorated the tank. There were only 3 3D printed parts at the end: the mount for the DC motor, the connector for the DC motor and the wave generating block.

Mechatronics

As it can be seen within the gif above, the wave tank "Lost In The Sea" works via a remote control. It has 4 different wave levels that are tested to ensure the quality and no spilling. In addition, the these waves can be randomized, to that the tank can run non-stop, replicating the visuals and the sound of the sea.

Product

The final product was introduced demonstrated at the end of 14 days. As soon as it was demonstrated, the product became one of the few fan favorites. Overall, within merely 14 days, the project managed to successfully deliver the mobile experience of the sea by mimicking the sound and the visuals.