Slider Modular Response Box

This is a modular response box we designed and 3D printed for Sze Imn Chan, an undergraduate researcher. It is a compact PLA enclosure that holds the electronics for an experiment, with three top lids that swap in seconds: four long sliders, four short sliders, or four push buttons.

The brief

The box had to be as small as possible while still fitting all of the electronics. The researcher needed to change the type of input between sessions without rebuilding anything, and to plug in power and a data cable without opening the box.

How we made it

We agreed the three lid layouts first, then designed the enclosure and all three lids in CAD. Every lid has the same outline and mounts onto the same body, so the inputs change while the box stays put. Bosses on the underside of each lid hold the sliders and buttons, magnets inside the walls keep a lid in place, and grooves in the sides give fingers a grip to lift it off. Ports in the side wall let the Arduino take power and upload data with the lid on.

The client reviewed the design and asked for one round of changes. Revision 1 added a bottom lid that mirrors the top, so the base also comes off and clicks back on magnets. The Arduino moved to a side wall with its port turned upright, and a bracket now guides the breadboard into place beside it. The lids stayed as they were. It took a week from the agreed scope to the approved design.

We then printed the prototype in black PLA: the body, the bottom lid and all three top lids, with eight magnets fitted. The finished box is 210 by 120 mm and about 80 mm tall.

The result is one box that works as a slider panel or a button panel, and changes between them by lifting off a lid.

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