Digital fabrication // toy car gift

Details
A toy, a box, a gift! This is a box that can be opened, filled with candies and gifted to a friend.

Learning Objectives
Understanding how Rhinoceros works and face a project of digital fabrication. The project has been published on the blog of MAKE Magazine.

Being the first project I've ever done in the field of digital fabrication, I wanted to create a simple but playful object, one that can be adapted to different occasions and even user mood.

The base is a box. To add the playful feeling, I've added four wheels and a helicopter blade. This makes the object almost like a toy, like the ones we had as kids. This time though, being the object a hand-made wooden artefact, it fits into a global culture that tends to rediscover traditional values such as organic food and sustainable lifestyle.

With these ideas in mind, my object is not just a toy but an object with a practical use, since the top-front part can be opened. Such internal space is a real box that can be used to stock any items.

1. If the box is open: anyone can store any common objects.
2. If the box is closed: the toy becomes a secret treasury box.

Not only: the original idea includes the possibility to put a custom plate/mask, therefore customizing the object and the specific aim. If I put a skull-shaped mask and fill the box with candies, the object easily becomes a gift for halloween. With a heart, the object can be used for a marriage proposal. Therefore, with the help of a FabLab, anyone can build new custom front masks.

To develop my project, I've faced two main issues:

1. my still growing skills with Rhino software posed many problems in achieving tasks done quickly,
2. my lack of engineering experience has been the main drawback. The gears mechanism and the top panels have suffered from these limitations.