3d printed dashboard panel phone/tablet holder idea

[AeroWolf]

Discussing an idea with a coworker for a different style phone holder. One integrated into the center panel. Enable phone/tablet to be a dash cam covering front and rear views. Here is a Quick AI image of the concept. The image needs obvious refinement.

 

[danielt1263]

Interesting. I think it's a great idea, and with the refinement you mentioned, has a lot of potential. Either sell on Etsy or the Slate store (or both).

One refinement is a way to support the phone on all four sides so it doesn't go flying in the event of a collision.

 

[KHN707]

I'm thinking It needs the ability to be angled toward the driver.

 

[danielt1263]

I'm thinking It needs the ability to be angled toward the driver.

It wouldn't make a very good front/rear dash cam if you did that though...

 

[KHN707]

It wouldn't make a very good front/rear dash cam if you did that though...

True. I missed that bit of the design requirement.

 

[AeroWolf]

There are a number of various refinements.

1. Needs a mechanism to hold the phone/tablet in place.
2. Needs to be shaped so the panel can still open to the space behind.
3. Located on the panel to minimize any blocked airflow.

 

[Doctors Do Little]

There are a number of various refinements.

1. Needs a mechanism to hold the phone/tablet in place.
2. Needs to be shaped so the panel can still open to the space behind.
3. Located on the panel to minimize any blocked airflow.

Tagging this for future consideration. I’d be up for something similar.

 

[Adam W]

I would think the mount would need to be much higher for the phone's front-facing camera to be able to see over the rear partition. All you're going to get is a view of the tailgate and sky.

 

[AeroWolf]

Here was Gemini's first attempt. It created mounting holes that could accommodate existing phone mounts. Those mounting points could be useful for other accessories. It was not exactly my initial vision, but the idea was not terrible in my mind.

 

[BobSentMe]

IT guy here. As good an idea as this sounds, there's multiple issues.
And I know this from experience, so please don't take this as me bashing your idea. It's just that reality sucks.

1. Even in winter, the phone will get hot. Running a camera / dashcam app requires a lot of writing to memory, and that heats things up.

2. Phone memory isn't really meant for a lot of writes / rewrites. Which means it's going to put a lot of wear and tear on your device. Even for the best phones on the market.

3. Battery; same two issues as 1 and 2; they hate being hot and high power draws over extended periods of time.

You are 100% better off with a dashcam, which is considerably cheaper than a phone, won't hog your phone while driving (so you can still use maps / music apps), and is all around better suited to the task.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[AeroWolf]

Driver side is usually in the steering wheel. In my current truck. The passenger side airbag actually erupts from the top of the dash in front of passenger seat and not the upper and lower glove boxes.

With how Slate is using those dash panels. I imagine the passenger airbag will similarly erupt from the solid top of the dash.

 

[AeroWolf]

IT guy here. As good an idea as this sounds, there's multiple issues.
And I know this from experience, so please don't take this as me bashing your idea. It's just that reality sucks.

1. Even in winter, the phone will get hot. Running a camera / dashcam app requires a lot of writing to memory, and that heats things up.

2. Phone memory isn't really meant for a lot of writes / rewrites. Which means it's going to put a lot of wear and tear on your device. Even for the best phones on the market.

3. Battery; same two issues as 1 and 2; they hate being hot and high power draws over extended periods of time.

You are 100% better off with a dashcam, which is considerably cheaper than a phone, won't hog your phone while driving (so you can still use maps / music apps), and is all around better suited to the task.

Just my 2 cents.

Even if it is running more like a background program not utilizing screen time. I can understand the possibly using too much processor power in the recording and holding on to a 2 minutes video buffer. Still pictures every 1-5 secs would probably be friendlier.

 

[KevinRS]

Attempting to run a phone as a dash cam, especially a dual dashcam, just isn't going to work well. Just having it in that position and hit by the sun while running navigation can be an issue with heat. The heat can be mitigated some if the AC vent is blowing on it, but then in winter with heat on it gets even worse.
Even if you mitigate the heat, the battery will stop holding a charge long before it would otherwise, and phones aren't designed to run off a charger for extended times.