Lap Lab Mini: Portable Electronics Workstation

I'm someone who loves to tinker with various gadgets, I also love the concept of portability. Sometimes I find myself prototyping, breadboarding, or just tinkering with different microcontroller development boards on my laptop. I've often found however, I want to go mobile and have the ability to take my projects where ever my laptop goes. I always thought it would be convenient to somehow to attach my breadboarded projects to my laptop. That's when I saw a magnetic phone holder that you can stick to your laptop. Thus the Lap Lab Mini Project was born!

To assemble, you will need the following materials...

• 3D Printed Parts
• 4mm x 3mm Round Disc Neodymium Magnets
• DK117 Magnetic Phone Holder
• Black Model
• Silver Model
• Electronic Prototyping Device (Arduino, Breadboards, MCUs, etc...)

(Purchased items are affiliate links)

In order to create one assembly unit we'll want to print at least...

• 4 clips
• 1 magnetic holder
• 1 bracket for device or prototyping part (Arduino, breadboard, MCU...)

With all necessary parts in hand, we can begin the assembly process starting with deciding the placement of the magnetic phone holder on the back of the laptop screen.

• When choosing a spot to stick the magnetic phone holder onto, you want to make sure it can fold out far enough and reach the magnetic holder of your prototyping equipment of choice.

• Make sure to leave room for future designs (larger microcontroller or breadboard). Really you probably want the phone holder to extend out as far as possible when the arm is expanded all the way. The ideal position is as close to the edge you can get, because you can always simply fold arm inwards if you want your assembly to be closer to the screen and secure against the screen bezel.

Now that you've found the right spot, you can go ahead and take off the protective film of the phone holder and stick it to the back of the screen.

Next it's time to configure the magnets in the magnet holder so that they match the magnetic sections of the phone holder. The magnetic polarities may vary, so it's best to test one magnet at a time, inserting the magnets into the magnet holder and testing the magnetic attraction with the phone holder.

Start by putting a disc magnet into one of the holes of the magnet holder and put it against the phone holder to see which section it attracts.

Next take the rest of the disc magnets and slot them into the corresponding hole in the magnet holder positioning them where they are drawn to the phone older. Once all magnets are placed, double check to make sure all four sides are attracting to the phone holder.

• The magnets don't need to be glued or anything, the slots for them will keep them secure and will be enclosed when we attach it to the device brackets.

The assembly is almost complete. All that's left is to determine what orientation to put the device bracket relative to the magnet holder so that it's aligned the way we want when attached. Holding the magnet holder still on the phone holder, put the device bracket up to the magnet holder and look at where the slots of the magnet holder match up with the notches of the prototype bracket. These are where the clips are going to go.

Put the top clip in the slot to get it oriented. Slide a clip into the rest of the slots of the device bracket until they secure the magnet holder in place against the prototyping device bracket.

Voila! Now you now have a fully assembled Lap Lab unit. Fold out the phone holder and pop the unit on the magnetic mount. You can have one, or many mounts on your laptop or screen monitor. It's all up to you!

This design is just the beginning! I've provided the basic designs so you can add support for your own devices and prototyping gear. As long as it isn't too heavy for the magnets to support, it can be mounted and used with your laptop. Remixes and improvements are welcome, so please enjoy!! 🙂

Remixing Tips

• When designing new device brackets, don't make the device flush with the back of the magnetic holder mount. There needs to be at least 3mm of clearance for the clips to poke out of the back so that they can grab on to the magnetic holder securely.

• Make sure to put the magnetic holder mount so that it is at the center of mass for the prototyping bracket. This makes it so the magnets provide maximum strength and avoids situation where some unwanted torque can knock the whole assembly off the magnets.