From 3D Modeling Noob to Building the Perfect Phone Dock

Hey, quick story about how I created my perfect phone dock.

So I'm scrolling YouTube one day and stumble across this slick iPhone standby dock by Scott.

Clean design, wireless charging, even a spot for AirPods. Love it. Only problem? I've got an Android.

Perfect chance to level up my 3D modeling skills. I'm still a beginner with Onshape, but hey - best way to learn is to build something you actually want, right? So I fired up the software and started modeling.

Version 1

On my first attempt I built this chunky brick with a solid back wall. Looked decent, had spots for the phone and my Mi Watch. But had one big downside - my Motorola Edge supports 50W wireless charging. Sounds great until you realize what happens when you pump that much power through a wireless charger...

The whole thing Hit 85-90 degrees at the hottest parts and the PLA plastic started to soften and sag where it came in contact with the charging puck. Not ideal when you're trying to work and your phone dock is slowly morphing into modern art.

Version 2

Version 2 got smarter. Added ventilation slots, even designed spots for 30mm cooling fans. I know it’s over kill. But sometimes you gotta go big before you can go home. Turns out just dropping the charging power solved the heat issue (you just use a low wattage charge brick). Classic over-engineering.

But the story doesn't end there. Upgraded my watch to this cool open-source BangleJS that lets you run your own application that your write in javascript. but it has a different charging mechanism that’s not comparable with the version 2 dock.

Version 3

so one more major iteration, this time I don’t want it to take up too much space, I don’t want it bulky, something that’s really simple. here’s the 3rd version of the dock. considerably smaller footprint, takes way less material to print, has vents only at the charge coil. I also moved the charge area to the front of the dock instead of the top. has decent cable management too.

The Application

on android you don’t have a standmy dock mode, so I use this app called StandbyDock Pro (one-time payment, none of that subscription nonsense). Now I've got this whole command center setup - calendar, music controls and some really cool clocks.

Want to build your own? I'll drop the 3D models and Onshape project links below. the on-shape project is parametric, so you can tweak it for whatever phone/watch combo you're running.

onshape link - https://cad.onshape.com/documents/d94f0a5e3dbdc238eee0df12/w/20a0c54cbcca88e40ed6379d/e/1c566268f8cf71fcad356f0f

thingiverse (stl files) - https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6930050

Android App - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=br.com.zetabit.ios_standby&hl=en_IN&pli=1

I am a noob when it comes to 3d modeling, so I know this is not the perfect version. I got it to a place where I am happy using it on my desk.

That's it - catch you in the next one.

ps: this was an old project I did, just getting around to writing about it, I have something really good cooking up using ai. watch out for that announcement soon.