lab22

Lab22 is a brand that was created by moment and a youtube creator to be a desktop accessory brand. It was launched with an iPad stand in two different sizes, a charging phone stand, and a headphone stand. 

iPad stand:

• The iPad stand was very complex, it had multiple pivots that all fit into a very slim package

• The upper pivot is especially tricky because it has two degrees of freedom and a giant cross brace running right through the middle

• The assembly process on this product was also quite complex. There were many assembly features engineered into the components but even with that it took a lot of back and fourth working with the various factories and a few trips to China to get everything just right

• The two different sizes use two different magnet arrays. I had to reverse engineer the magnet arrays to get enough strength to hold the iPads securely. Apple provides some of this data but I found that solely following their data did not achieve the desired holding force

  • I ended up using thin magnets and a tuned shunt to get enough holding force

  • The shunt served multiple purposes: 

    • It directed the magnetic field in an optimal path

    • All of the magnets were stuck directly on it by a magnet assembly facility, this guaranteed final alignment in the end product

    • It provided mechanical structure to the whole upper assembly

iPhone Stand

• This was a really fun project because it really tapped into my skills set of integrating electronics into tight packages

  • It has two different qi charging coils that are controlled by a PCBA that is in the base of the unit

  • Finding a safe and easy to assemble routing path for the wires to the top pad took a lot of care. Its a very tight space and the wires couldn't be exposed or pinched. The upper hinge still had to have enough strength as well, it was a very fun challenge to solve

• The upper charging pad also uses a custom designed magsafe magnetic mount to hold the phone in place

Headphone Stand:

• This product is designed to hold headphones, it was not complicated because it reused other parts from the family except for the head

• The main requirement was that it not tip over, this was not challenging but it did require that I take into account the center of gravity and the force that some people toss headphones at it