Previous posts for this project:
- [CaTS] ForgetMeNot - Index
- [CaTS] ForgetMeNot - Week 0: Project Description
- [CaTS] ForgetMeNot - Week 1: EnOceanPi and Sensors
Introduction
I've been experimenting with EnOcean sensors, as part of my project for the Forget Me Not Design Challenge.
The sensors are neat, but there's no easy way to mount them to anything, so they've just been laying on my desk.
Today, I solved that problem by designing and printing a bracket to be able to attach them to walls/windows/etc ...
Model
The first thing I did was to create a simple model in SketchUp.
I wanted the bracket to be able to hold the sensor (obviously ...) but with following criteria:
- sensor should be easily removable
- solar cell should not be covered in any way
- keep a small offset away from the wall/window/etc ...
This is the very first design which I'll be testing for now:
Printing
Modelling the bracket was the hard part.
From SketchUp, I exported an *.stl version of the bracket, which I imported in Slic3r in order to generate the gcode. The model did not contain faults and sliced properly.
Next step was to actually print the model and verify the outcome.
The print came out nicely. I cleaned it up a little, and installed the sensor.
Mount
With the sensor installed in the bracket, I only needed a way to attach it somewhere.
I used some "sticky gum" (by lack of better wording), attached it to the back of the bracket and stuck it on a cupboard with the solar cell facing the nearest window.
Tadaaaa, clean looking result:
I'll be printing some more to attach the rest of my sensors around the house.
