Fab Labs. Advanced made simple.
Local Solutions for local problems.
Posted by James Akumu | For Fab Academy
Mechanical Design Project
![](images/laptopstand.jpg)
I recently went on a long road trip up country, and I wished I could have had a system to hold my laptop up, so that those of us NOT driving could watch a movie. I did a search and found that there are many people making laptop stands for vehicles. I wanted to find a cheap method that I could possibly improve on. If you have about $200 dollars to spend, then this website is for you; Ram Mounts. They are the best at it from what I have seen so far. If you want to spend less money and Do It Yourself, then this website might help; Life Hacker.
![](images/laptopstand1.jpg)
I used google SketchUp to do the modelling. The stand in the photo is made using 2" PVC pipes.
![](images/laptopstand2.jpg)
I was thinking of improving it by adding ball bearings at the joints somehow, to give it more freedom of movement for adjustments.
![](images/laptopstand4.jpg)
I was also thinking of running connections to the cars radio through the support system, in order to make use of the car speakers.
![](images/flowerwc.jpg)
![](images/flowerwc1.jpg)
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![](images/flowerwc2.jpg)
![](images/flowerwc3.jpg)
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![](images/flowerwc4.jpg)
![](images/flowerwc5.jpg)
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![](images/flowerwatercatcher.jpg)
I did the modelling on SketchUp also.