Beetle Mouse

grabcad

Presenting: The Beetle Mouse---While brainstorming design ideas, I was seeing computer mouse shapes in just about everything, including a little painting I had made of a beetle. The segmented shapes formed by the wings and shell were reminiscent of the left and right mouse buttons. I thought a beetle mouse would be a unique design with a variety of material and colour options. While intricate beetle legs would have looked interesting, I decided to go with a lower-profile design and incorporate buttons and a scroll wheel in place of legs to improve theoretical functionality as well as printability.Appearance-wise, I was torn between two distinct schemes. The initial beetle inspiration had me considering an iridescent sheen, which would be an attractive and unexpected material choice to present one of many PolyJet printing capabilities. However, the finalized model had a much friendlier personality than the earlier stages of the design, which made it more suited to a bold bright colour palette. These colours with the shiny plastic finish will print beautifully, showcasing PolyJet functionality and creating an appealing product. Plus, it is very cute.