slumbersmart

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  McMaster residence room style that we based our design off of

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  An initial concept sketch of our preliminary design

Inspiration

Everyone is guilty of studying in bed. Whether they have an illness, disability, or simply lack the motivation to leave the comfort of their bed, many students face challenges that make it hard for them to study at a conventional desk. This paired with increasingly cramped dorm room sizes due to a rising student population has led to highly uncomfortable and inefficient living spaces that render students less productive.

Introducing: slumbersmart!

What it does

Our multi-functional study hub is the perfect place to rest, work, and ideate. The furnishing combines your bed with an ergonomically designed desk, side table, and whiteboard that work together to create the perfect study oasis that is both comfy and adjustable to personal needs. It also serves as a collaborative work station by incorporating two pull out chairs and a bench so that friends no longer have to sit on the floor. The bed is made of lightweight reclaimed wood and cost-effective recycled materials, bringing nature indoors and reducing the feeling of being confined within brick walls.

slumbersmart aims to enhance university students' learning experience by making studying more accessible. We hope to produce a more functional study space that is conducive to different students' situations and study styles while optimizing square footage.

How we built it

slumbersmart consists of various parts and mechanisms that required carefully thought out planning so that all components work in unison. We began by thinking of flaws in current dorm furniture and found that all of us experience discomfort at our desks and when working with our laptops in bed. We looked into room layouts and typical bed sizes at McMaster, which we found to be twin size, 72" x 34" with a depth of 5".

Our main challenge was modeling the desk mechanism to allow for several degrees of motion: folding into the side of the bed, sliding across the bed's length, transforming up and down, and rotating around an axis. We conducted research on commonly used hinges and had to combine several existing designs to produce the result we wanted. We then needed to think of other transformative functions to include, so we tried to envision what each of our dream beds looked like. From there, we modeled additional transformations such as the bench, chairs, and whiteboard inspired by our personal experiences living in residence.

What we learned

As CADing beginners, our team was very proud of our final model. We improved our skills in Inventor assembly and learned how to use tools such as render and animate.

Built With

• autodesk