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Great Industrial Design Student Work: The 3D-Printed Mokit Connector

By Benjamin Unterluggauer and John Hayden

By Rain Noe - February 7, 2022

in design.edu | Digital Fabrication

Benjamin Unterluggauer and John Hayden are both Industrial Design students pursuing their Master's at Germany's Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design. Unterluggaeuer invented this object below, and refined it in collaboration with Hayden:

That's the Mokit, a 3D-printed connector that allows one to join dowels together. The two outside connectors go into the central hex nut, which is tightened with a small custom wrench.

The duo picture the connectors being used for pop-up or mobile vending applications:

They sell the connectors here.

I also wonder if they'd consider licensing the design to nonprofits in, say, developing nations that have access to a lot of bamboo. I imagine a 3D printer and plenty of spools could accomplish a lot in those situations!

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Armin Seltz

3 years ago

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It's a cool idea in theory. But 15 Euros for an angled connector? So even that simple coat rack costs 90 Euros just for the connectors? That shelve in the last image would cost hundreds of euros just for the connectors. There is no need for them to be 3d printed, since they are always the same shape. Someone have them injection molded and I am willing to pay 15 Euros for 10 of them.

And using them for "developing nations that have access to a lot of bamboo" is the stupidest thing I have read in a while. I think they do alright using natural materials for that. Even zip ties work fine. And all bamboo has different thicknesses at different heights, so how would they help?

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Ross Oliver

3 years ago

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Yet another designer prioritizing novel appearance over cost, practicality, and efficiency. Agree with Armin these should be injection molded for 0.25 each, retail for1for a 75% margin. Ditch the custom wrench. And work with square stock which is less expensive and less wasteful of material. Is business, economics, or sales training any part of design school? Doesn't seem so since so many designs seem more like art projects than practical products.

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- Benjamin Unterluggauer
  
  Ross Oliver
  
  3 years ago
  
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  Dear Ross, thank you for your insights. This gives me the opportunity to share our thoughts on the connector's conception. While injection molding is a no-brainer, the mold-tool would also have to be extremely complicated. We looked into it in quite some detail. Due to the connector's very complex but highly functional geometry, utilizing 3D printing in this scenario is actually rather sensible. Additionally, regarding efficiency, a regular molding process for medium scale production would mean a singular mold-tool that features three cavities, one for each part of the clamp. But: for the perpendicular connection only two parts are needed, leading to an overproduction of an unneeded part.
  
  3D printing gives us the opportunity to start production immediately, in order test market acceptance without any risky investments. Injection molding is then always an option down the line, with three separate mold-tools.
  Yes, prices may seem at a moderate level, but globalized mass markets have spoiled us a little. If you want to compete here, it is best to differentiate oneself - design 101. However, rule of mass applies here as well and we offer bulk discounts.
  The wooden rods are of standardized German broomstick diameter and widely available. For the tool: you can use a plain pipe wrench.
  
  MOKIT won the German IKEA Foundation Design Award in 2017 and has been in development ever since. As of 2020 we startet a small scale production and have received generous feedback, which we will incorporate in all the next steps.
  
  Benjamin | MOKIT | @mokit.tools
  
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Donald Jones

3 years ago

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I lash my bamboo with spare Dynel rope rigging castaways from the nearest sail loft's dumpster.

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