The Core Connection System
The ClickRigs Core Connection System (CCS) is a connection pattern that let's you do two really neat things:
- Build functional toy vehicles and machines using modular, reusable parts.
- Manufacture those parts using readily available 3D printing technologies.
It uses a standardized grid pattern of snap connectors, but the key innovation is the layering system.
Any modular building system has to balance two competing goals: modularity, or how universal and reusable its components are in new contexts, and specificity, or how suitable a component is for a specific context. Essentially a balance of specialized vs universal components.
Too universal and you lose elegance. Too specific and you lose creative expression.
The ClickRigs CCS strikes a balance by dividing its components into four distinct layers: Chassis, Connectors, and Caps, and Flexies. And it connects all these layers together using a 10mm x 10mm grid pattern of Snap Dots and Snap Studs.
Snap Dot
A Snap Dot is an elastomer receptacle for a Snap Stud and it's designed to absorb impact energy at each connection, which is why a ClickRigs rig can withstand the bumps and jumps, and crashes of play.
Snap Stud
A Snap Stud snaps into the Snap Dot and also follows the 10mm grid pattern.
Chassis
Chassis are in the universal category of components. They are generally speaking the middle layer as they are mirrored so that you can build layers on their tops and their bottoms. A Chassis has a Snap Dot grid on both sides. It's universal because one of the rules it must adhere to is that any Connector can attach to it without interference.
Connector
A Connector is also a universal component but it is asymmetric, as it has a Snap Dot grid on one side and a Snap Stud grid on the other. This allows you to build by stacking connectors for as many layers as you need. You can add Connectors to the top and bottom of any Chassis component.
Cap
A Cap is where the layering system ends. The Cap allows us to design context specific parts that essentially "break" the connection pattern. On one side of a cap is a Snap Stud grid, but on the other side we can design anything we want since a Cap is allowed to break the grid pattern. It essentially "caps" your ability to keep adding layers.
Flexies
These components are made from an incredibly tough polyurethane that can be designed to create flexible linkages and pivots known as compliant mechanisms. Flexies can be used to create not just suspensions, but all kinds of moving mechanical components.