Aesthetic housing

Abstract

A variety of techniques are disclosed for customizing a digital model of an aesthetic housing to receive a functional component and an interface component for the functional component.

1 . A method comprising:
 receiving a selection of a three-dimensional aesthetic housing in a user interface;   receiving a selection of a functional component in the user interface;   identifying an interface component for the functional component;   automatically determining a position for the functional component in a digital model of the aesthetic housing;   automatically determining a second position for the interface component on an attachment point of the digital model of the aesthetic housing; and   modifying a three-dimensional shape of the digital model of the aesthetic housing to receive the functional component and the interface component, thereby providing a customized model.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising creating a kit including the functional component, the interface component, and a copy of the customized model stored on a computer readable medium. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising transmitting the customized model to a three-dimensional printer for fabrication. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the functional component includes an integrated circuit. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the functional component includes a printed circuit board. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the functional component includes a battery. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the interface component includes one or more of a button, a switch, a dial, a slider, a connector, a display, and a speaker. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the aesthetic housing includes two or more parts. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising modifying the digital model to provide a path within the aesthetic housing to electrically couple the functional component to the interface component. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising modifying the digital model to provide one or more mechanical attachment points to secure the functional component with one or more of a clip, a screw, and a bolt. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising modifying the digital model to provide one or more mechanical attachment points to secure the interface component with one or more of a clip, a screw, and a bolt. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising receiving a manual adjustment of the position of the functional component to a new position in the user interface and conditionally updating the customized model with the new position if the new position satisfies one or more design rules. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising receiving a manual adjustment of the second position of the interface component to a new position in the user interface and conditionally updating the customized model with the new position if the new position satisfies one or more design rules. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising receiving a user-selected surface treatment for the aesthetic housing and including the user-selected surface treatment in the customized model. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14  wherein the user-selected surface treatment includes one or more of a logo, text, and a picture. 
     
     
         16 . A method comprising:
 receiving a selection of a three-dimensional aesthetic housing in a user interface;   receiving a selection of a functional component in the user interface;   identifying an interface component for the functional component;   automatically determining a position for the functional component in a digital model of the aesthetic housing;   automatically determining a second position for the interface component on a surface of the digital model of the aesthetic housing; and   modifying a three-dimensional shape of the digital model of the aesthetic housing to receive the functional component and the interface component, thereby providing a customized model.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  further comprising creating a kit including the functional component, the interface component, and a copy of the customized model stored on a computer readable medium. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16  further comprising transmitting the customized model to a three-dimensional printer for fabrication. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16  further comprising modifying the digital model to provide a path within the aesthetic housing to electrically couple the functional component to the interface component. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16  further comprising receiving a user-selected surface treatment for the aesthetic housing and including the user-selected surface treatment in the customized model. 
     
     
         21 . A computer program product embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium that, when executing on one or more computing devices, performs the steps of:
 receiving a selection of a three-dimensional aesthetic housing in a user interface;   receiving a selection of a functional component in the user interface;   identifying an interface component for the functional component;   automatically determining a position for the functional component in a digital model of the aesthetic housing;   automatically determining a second position for the interface component on an attachment point of the digital model of the aesthetic housing; and   modifying to three-dimensional shape of the digital model of the aesthetic housing to receive the functional component and the interface component, thereby providing a customized model.