New building toy idea

fbartels · 23 Aug 2011, 17:34

Hi All,

It's been a while. Hope everyone is doing well.

For many years I was quite active here on SketchUcation and learned tons and received lots of great feedback from many of you.

Just thought I'd share something that happened recently related to one of those ideas that was batted around here.

For years I've been playing around with a building toy idea, using SketchUp to model designs. At one point I actually had a prototype made of a key part by sending in a CAD file to a rapid prototyping service.

A few weeks ago I ran across Quirky (http://www.quirky.com) and decided to take the few minutes (and $10) needed to submit my building toy idea. I checked the site for a week or so and as nothing seemed to be happening kind of forgot about it.

Last Friday I received an email saying my idea had been selected for development. Here is a post on Quirky's blog about the selection
process.

http://aquirkyblog.com/2011/08/eval-recap-168169-congrats-fred-and-seun/

I have no idea how far this will go but it is definitely cool that services like Quirky are developing that can help new design ideas get some exposure.

A really big thanks for all that help years ago!

Sincerely,

Fred

bytor · 24 Aug 2011, 01:10

Fred,

That is really cool - I hope it does well for you! I for one have missed your images and organic architecture. Nice to hear from you again!

Dean

fbartels · 24 Aug 2011, 11:38

Thanks Dean. I've missed everyone here. Looking forward to checking in more often to see all the great work folks are doing now that I have a little more free time. Fred

Dave R · 24 Aug 2011, 13:15

Congratulations Fred. That's pretty cool. I'll be following to see what happens with this toy.

TIG · 24 Aug 2011, 13:24

That's a wonderful idea...
Presumably the 'rods' are in varying lengths and choosing the right combos forces the curvatures... I can see where the nodes evolved from your earlier space-frame ideas...

fbartels · 25 Aug 2011, 12:19

TIG and Dave,

Thanks for your comments! The New York Times ran an article today about Quirky and its 24 year old founder.

Got a Good Idea? Ben Kaufman of Quirky.com Will Be the Judge of That (Published 2011)

The 24-year-old inventor and entrepreneur’s company solicits ideas for new products on its Web site, bringing the most popular suggestions to life.

(www.nytimes.com)

Re TIG's question about the rods, yes they would be adjustable in length.

Fred

mitcorb · 25 Aug 2011, 13:04

Hi, Fred:
I am glad you are back. Congratulations on your venture.

Roger · 28 Aug 2011, 01:09

Fred, I really missed your contributions. What about doing a second type of connector that would allow you to connect at acute angles? It might be an interesting addition to the kit. Also why does it have to be a toy? As soon as I saw it I was thinking little shade structures to keep my plants from frying in the desert heat.

fbartels · 19 Sept 2011, 15:59

Hey Roger,

Thanks for your comment.

Sorry about the slow response. For the past three weeks I was up at http://www.yestermorrow.org/ doing a three week intensive design/build course and was totally focused on the work for the course.

Regarding improving the toy idea, the cool thing about Quirky is that you can make suggestions to improve a product idea and if they are used then you can earn a percentage of the profits if the product ever makes it to market, so if you want to share your ideas have at it... http://www.quirky.com/products/168-product-0168

Warm regards,

Fred

@roger said:

Fred, I really missed your contributions. What about doing a second type of connector that would allow you to connect at acute angles? It might be an interesting addition to the kit. Also why does it have to be a toy? As soon as I saw it I was thinking little shade structures to keep my plants from frying in the desert heat.

fbartels · 24 Sept 2011, 15:47

Quirky is currently doing some market research about this proposed building toy.

They are looking for some input about how possibly to market the toy. Any input from the SketchUp community -using the link below- would be very much appreciated!

Error 404 - Not Found

(www.quirky.com)

Thanks,

Fred

Roger · 24 Sept 2011, 22:01

Give demonstrations at or in front of mall toy stores. Build a web site and supersize the kit of any buyer who contributes a gallery worthy photo of a unique use or construction.

fbartels · 30 Jan 2012, 20:10

As I've noted in the previous posts, I have a building toy idea http://www.quirky.com/ideations/82529 that is making its way through the potential product process at Quirky. http://www.quirky.com/

If you are interested in building toys, design as a social process, or you're just curious, please consider checking out the design and possibly providing some input.

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(www.quirky.com)

Thanks for considering.

Fred

boofredlay · 30 Jan 2012, 20:44

Congrats Fred.

pilou · 30 Jan 2012, 21:05

How the hexagonal yellow part and the hexagonal blue part are joined between them?

fbartels · 31 Jan 2012, 13:11

@unknownuser said:

How the hexagonal yellow part and the hexagonal blue part are joined between them?

With a nut and bolt, probably made of plastic. The SketchUp model doesn't show this as it was made at an early conceptual stage. One advantage of this approach is that the hubs can be stacked which allows for the easy creation of irregular space frame structures like this. http://dws.editme.com/files/JulyAugust2009/space%20frame%202.jpg

One question that keeps coming up is how to skin the framework. Since the toy is designed to create TINs, all the triangles in the frame will likely be different. I haven't come up with a good solution.

Fred

To Boofredlay: Thanks!

dale · 31 Jan 2012, 14:04

I don't think this would just appeal to kids, in fact when I was a kid, we always had a puzzle going that anybody , family, neighbours, whoever, could sit and work on.
AS well in larger scale being applicable to the love kids have for fort building.
I see this as having a lot of appeal.
Great fun.
Congratulations