Remote Control Dance Mat Model

Dancer on Model of Remote Control

Case Study

Remote control dance mat model

The Brief:

To make a scaled model of specific section of a specific remote control, with the idea that the remote will act as a dance mat with working controls. So as a dancer presses certain buttons on the remote by stepping on them the remote would control a TV. This was to be used in a shopping centre as an interactive advertisement model for professional dancers as well as customers to use.

Remote control using 3D CAD to create

The Solution:

The client had given our design engineers the 3D CAD data for the remote control and a specification of the required section and buttons which needed to be operational. The finished model was made from fibre glass with an internal structure to support it due to the weight the model would need to support.

The 3D CAD data of the remote control was imported into Solidworks. With the client only wanting a section of the remote control for the model, the 3D CAD model was trimmed to leave the required section. This was then scaled to the size specified by the client. With the model needing to have working buttons, this had to be designed with complete safety and function in mind.

The design decided upon was to allow the buttons to move, so our engineers placed the buttons on a compression spring within a pocket. Once a button was then compressed it would trigger a switch that would activate the required function on the remote. The central button also required a rocking motion to activate 2 switches independently of each other.

The functioning buttons on the model were kept in 2 separate compartments in the main shell. This held the buttons, their mechanism and switches, which were made from ureol and manufactured using CNC machining. This was done after all the design work had been finished in SolidWorks on the 3D CAD model,with the main shell of the controller being made from fibre glass. First a foam block had to be CNC machined to be used as the plug for the fibre glass moulding. Once the shell was complete a support structure was made to fit the fibre glass mould.

This was then passed to our model makers where they hand painted and finished the model adding all the required detail for an exact scale model exceeding the clients expectations.