Designing Functional and Custom Frisbee Holders

OBJECTIVE

Design a frisbee holder with Solidworks and make it on a CNC machine so that enthusiastic ultimate frisbee players can securely carry a frisbee with them wherever their travels take them.

MOTIVATION

Our varsity college ultimate frisbee team set a goal mid-season of throwing everyday until nationals. We had to carry a frisbee around with us everywhere so that when we saw our teammates during breaks, we could practice throwing with them. I wanted to create a frisbee holder that I could secure to me whether I was carrying a bag with me or not and whether I was going on a camping trip or traveling across the country to compete at a tournament.

ABOUT SKYPALS

Skypals was designed over a 6 week period in the Stanford Product Realization Lab's CNC class as part of Stanford's Masters in Mechanical Engineering Program.

MY ROLE

Product Designer

MORE INFORMATION

Skypals Website

1 - What are Ultimate enthusiasts saying?

“I always avoid putting discs in my bags because I don’t want them to get warped.” -Ilan

“When I have a backpack on, I’lll put [the disc] between the bag and my back, but it gets annoying sometimes.” -Samson

“I like bringing a frisbee around with me when I travel, but too often I carry a bag that can’t t a frisbee.” -Steph

2 - What's out there?

2 - Sketching

I sketched different forms and shapes that my frisbee holder could take on that would be functional but also look good. A good old beer every now and then is a big component to the ultimate lifestyle, so I also wanted this frisbee holder to include a bottle cap opening feature.

2 - Prototyping

I started prototyping with wire, then explored pink foam, modulan, silicone, and clay, and then refined my prototyped by laser cutting 2D shapes to test how the frisbee clip held the frisbee and how different shapes were indicators of where your hand removes the frisbee clip. Three main areas that I explored were the shape that holds the frisbee, and the interaction of how my hand interacts with the frisbee holder to remove the frisbee, and how to also include a bottle cap opening feature.

3 - On the CNC

Translating Solidworks to code to CNC prepping step was challenging but also very amazing to see in action.

For the frisbee holder shape, I mostly used the laser cutter to get the fit and dimension just right, and then only had to try a couple iterations on the CNC. Once the frisbee holder and bottle cap dimensions were set, I got to have fun with the form factors and let my creativity go wild.

4 - Designing a Product Line

With the frisbee holder and bottle cap feature, I imagined how I could customize these frisbee clips for different sports teams. I designed 3 different animals that incorporated different holds that I explored in my prototypes.

Skypals was inspired by the verb "sky", when two opposing players jump up to try and catch the disc and one of those players jumps significantly higher than the other making the catch, in combination with the frisbee clips being shaped like animals. I also designed a brand and packaging for Skypals for our final presentation.

5 - Skypals

WHAT ARE SKYPALS?

SkyPals are personal customizable aluminum keychains that hold standard Discraft 175g discs and open bottle caps. Carry around your favorite piece of plastic and open bottles at anytime and anywhere with or without a bag!

FEATURES

aluminum
doesn't scratch your disc
"snap" security
opens bottles
wolf, dino, or dolphin!