After spending three years working on it, engineer Justine Haupt has caused a sensation on the internet after presenting photos and schematics of a rotary dial phone, like the old ones, that had been printed in 3D.
What has been 3D printed is the vintage housing of the phone, as its innards house the rotating mechanism of an old Trimline phone, a microcontroller, an antenna, an Adafruit Fona 3G transistor and an electronic ink screen.
Like an old shell phone
Vintage is all the rage, whether it’s because we accumulate vinyl again or rummage through the markets for old VHS tapes. All in all, this phone combines vintage flair with high technology.
Haupt apparently does not like smartphones , and continues to be a stubborn user of an LG shell phone. In fact, he considers that we live in “a world of hyper-connected people who use mobiles that they do not control or understand”, as he explains on his website.
Haupt sees the phone as a calling tool and nothing else, so it didn’t make sense that his device was capable of texting. With his new rotary dial phone, he wanted to show that it was possible to have a functional device without a touch screen or an internet connection , which also had a traditional look.
It has only given a couple of modern quirks to the design: LEDs that show the received signal strength and remaining battery, as well as some physical buttons in which you can store your favorite numbers, so that you can call your frequent contacts. with just one press.
Haupt’s intention is for this model to be his personal mobile, since it is perfectly portable and has 24 hours of autonomy. Being his creation, in addition, the telephone is a unique model in the world. Something that fits very well with her maker or DIY philosophy (Do it Yourself or do-it-yourself), and with her great skills as an engineer.
Not surprisingly, Haupt works as an astronomical instrumentation engineer at Brookhaven National Laboratory (in New York), and has come to participate in the construction of telescopes and advanced NASA missions. With that resume, conceiving a vintage phone has been a piece of cake and, although it has taken three years to achieve it, I would never have suspected that its design would have been so successful on social networks. Social networks that people use with one of those smartphones that Haupt rejects.
The maker movement is a social movement with a craft spirit in which digital manufacturing methods have been made accessible on an individual scale. This subculture emphasizes learning through doing (active learning) in a collaborative digital media social environment, that is, designs are not patented and must be shared with other users to be improved . Among the typical tools of the maker movement we find the 3D printer, the laser cutter, the 3D scanner, and the CAD (computer-aided design) software, among others.
