Demo of final hopper
I made this hopper for the course Design Nature. My design goal was to take inspiration from the click beetle and the way in which they persist in trying to flip over by hopping repeatedly. Most people strive to achieve as high as a hop as possible for this project, but I thought it would be a more interesting challenge to instead focus on a consistent path for the hopper to follow. I wanted the hopper to flip over once, activate a pressure plate and then flip over again to land on a third side.
Initial hand sketches/ideating
3d cardboard sketch model
Proof of concept for pressure plate
Functioning prototype
Iterations and Revisions:
After my initial working prototype I improved upon many aspects of the design which had been revealed as problematic with the prototype. These changes included:
Curving the paddles to make it look more organic.
Offsetting the hinge on the paddle so that the paddle is centered with the body when it hits the ground.
Making the feet larger.
Increasing strength of hinges.
Finished hopper
Final CAD model