3D Printed Universal Tripod Mount

[Brian_Krassenstein]

University of Maryland senior mechanical engineering student Ethan Reggia needed a universal tripod mount that could hold smartphones in order to film instructional videos for his classes. After being unable to find a suitable mount on Thingiverse he decided to create and 3D print his own based on a tensioning mechanism similar to vernier calipers. The entire mount is made of completely 3D printed parts and is made from PLA and NinjaFlex and so far has held every model of smartphone that they tested it with. You can find out more about the project over on 3DPrint.com: http://3dprint.com/94527/3d-printable-phone-tripod/

[curious aardvark]

neat - but why is it worthy of it's own news article. I suspect you'd find several hundred universal phone mountings if you spent about 20 seconds looking on the 3d model sites.

[ereggia]

Haha, you have a valid point there, Curious.
There are definitely others, I did check before creating this. A lot of them are terrific, and I'll include some links for my favorites at the end of this post.
The reason I designed this version is that we wanted a mount that we could print and use directly, with no other hardware.
We wanted students and staff to be able to make one without waiting for glue to dry, or going to home depot and buying springs, bolts, or a quarter-inch nut to attach to the tripod. This version threads directly onto a tripod, and uses the flexible pads with the hole/pin system to grip the phone. The flexible pads also prevent any damage to the phone, and provide friction to hold it in place, and I was unable to find a model online with similar pads.
Also, to be honest, I've just wanted an excuse to use the vernier-inspired tensioning mechanism on something since I thought of it.
So that's what I did differently, to address some issues with the models I found online and make this version appropriate for our use.
Doesn't make your comment any less valid, but may shed some light on why this model was picked up here.
I just hope some people find it useful.

-Ethan

Now, some other tripod mounts you could check out:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:293679 - tensioned with a rubber band, clever design, requires a nut to attach to tripod
https://www.youmagine.com/designs/ga...4-tripod-mount - requires glue and a nut to attach to a tripod, fully 3D printed otherwise
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:341454 - very simple version, probably prints quickly. Also uses a rubber band. May need a nut to attach to tripod?
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:923836 - requires some extra hardware
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:46378 - requires some extra hardware
Plenty of other cool ones to look through, of course, not just limited to Thingiverse.