The ModPod, developed in partnership with Better Block Foundation and Good Faith Energy, is a low-cost, flat-pack solar charging station that doubles as furniture for public spaces. Its many optional 'mod'-ules as well as flexible configuration help a ModPod transform to meet the requirements of a space, whether that be a bike rack that doubles as a device safe, a storage bin, a coat hook, lighting for night time use, or just a basic charging station. ModPod’s designs are available on Better Block’s Wikiblock Library alongside many other open-source designs for public furniture.
The general public’s poor understanding of the merits and ease of use of solar systems limits its growth as a green energy source. Meanwhile, despite the increasing prevalence of personal mobile devices, public spaces still often lack places to recharge. The intent was to demonstrate how solar could easily be incorporated into public furniture in a low-cost, approachable way that simultaneously helps improve the pedestrian environments it inhabits.
Timeframe: 2 weeks, January 2017
I served as a student advisor on the project, responsible for providing expertise on rapid prototyping tools and techniques. I owned the design and development of a solar management dashboard website, conducted design research, and assisted with the design the electrical systems for charging and assembly of full-scale physical prototypes of the ModPod and its various modules.
User Research & Contextual Inquiry
Ideation
Rapid Prototyping
CAD/3D Modeling & Fabrication
Electronics Design
Facilitation
Project Management
This project sought to address issues observed by two clients working in very different spaces with one seamless solution. Good Faith Energy wanted to create a way to reduce the informational overhead required to understand how solar systems work, helping educate the public on just how much you can offset your carbon footprint through solar. Better Block’s mission is to educate, equip, and empower communities and their leaders to reshape and reactivate built environments to promote the growth of healthy and vibrant neighborhoods.
Wikiblock is Better Block's push to lower the barrier to entry on fabrication, making it easier than ever to create the pieces that make up a "better block" without the need for architects, carpenters, or contractors. The big question that helps address these two disparate goals is simple: how can we bring solar charging to a public space, make it look like it belongs, and empower people to find different ways to use it?
Cities could put solar charging stations in public spaces, but most of the options on the market are cost-prohibitive or not particularly user-friendly, with many designs being free-standing towers. Charging a device takes time, and if the station isn’t located in a nice area with a place to conveniently sit and wait, people aren't going to use it. In designing the ModPod, we needed to keep this question in mind: what happens when we design urban spaces without thinking about the people residing in those urban spaces? We sought out community activists and community members alike to help us build a better picture from both a user's and an organizer's perspective of the potential impact of a solar charging station for public spaces. The answers we received helped us narrow down the possible use cases of the solution. Where could you could potentially put the ModPod? Some ideas that came up included hiking trails for emergency use, bus stops while you're waiting, disaster situations when there's no grid power, or maybe concerts/festivals where there's a lot of space but no access to power. The picture painted by user stories helped slowly shape the design of the ModPod itself. Its form went through many, many iterations before our team settled on what it should look like and how it should work.
People seem to be unaware of how much subconscious work they put into their charging schedules.
Through ease of implementation and accessibility, what if we can create something that removes this underlying assumption, helping people spend their energies elsewhere?
The design should use minimal hardware and require little to no expertise to assemble.
In order for a design to be worthy of posting on Wikiblock, the assembly instructions should be comprehensive, straightforward, and preferably not language-specific.
Our design should be adaptable to a variety of use cases.
The designs on Wikiblock don’t necessarily adhere to one specific type of use case, so why should ours? The more adaptable we can make our design, the more value it has to the spaces it inhabits. This question of adaptability should be tackled by making our design as modular and customizable as possible.
The design should enhance the spaces it inhabits.
In order to stay consistent with Better Block’s mission, we should make sure that the design is as organic as possible The less corporate and obtrusive looking, the better. We want the design aesthetic to look appealing and inviting.
Charging a phone by itself may not be enough motivation for people to use our creation.
What extra functionality, whether it be social, practical, or entertaining, can we add to this charging station to encourage usage? As inspiration from Good Faith Energy, we can empower our user with solar usage statistics, transforming a simple charging station into an educational tool as well.
The ModPod is designed with flat-pack assembly in mind, meaning you can download the open-source designs from the internet, buy some 4'x8' sheets of plywood, find your local makerspace or machine shop with a CNC router, and make as many as you desire. Assembly is tool-less, although a mallet may help. The ModPod's physical design allows it to be installed standing up, as a single-person seat, or on its side as a bench for communal use. The '+' shaped holes around the entire structure allow mods to be attached in any direction desired. It is up to the designer of a community space to decide how they want to use their ModPods. Specific outlet mods can be placed anywhere on the ModPod as well to accommodate different charging situations. ModPods can also be chained together, allowing the optional solar mod to provide power to multiple adjacent ModPods through wire extensions run on the inside.
We also sought to find a better way to approach solar charging in a public space. The ModPod's compact solar mod attaches to the ModPod in whatever placement that maximizes sun exposure and provides ports that can be hooked up to three outlets that can be placed anywhere on the exterior. The battery, charging circuits, energy management, and computer are all safely contained in a sealed, watertight box that sits inside the ModPod. The built-in computer not only tracks statistics of solar energy usage in real-time but also doubles as a portable Wi-Fi hotspot that can be used to push relevant community or event information via a virtual bulletin board.
The ModPod was showcased at Good Faith Energy’s booth at the 2017 Earth Day Texas Festival , succeeding in its design goals by generating interest from passersby for its design and charging capabilities. The project has been uploaded to Wikiblock, becoming a part of a growing catalog of designs that can be added to any public space. Alongside a full-scale prototype ModPod and solar pack, the team designed a sample of mods to extend its functionality further - a bike rack mod, hook mod, outlet mod, shelf mod, and cubby mod. We delivered technical drawings, a bulletin website, assembly instructions, design specifications for the solar charging system, brand assets, and a bill of materials so others can continue to build and improve upon our designs.
Attribution: some photos courtesy of SMU News
