The Lambda Dock

The Lambda dock is the product of a long design phase. I was so frustrated by getting no proper dock that fits to my smartphone in a protection skin, that I started on my own.

Requirements

The requirements for the dock have been:

• Adaptable to all smartphones with a connector at the center bottom
• When docked, you should be able to use the touch screen, so the smartphone may not be fixed only by the plug
• The plug on the base shall have adaptable depth (based on the skin)
• The distance rear-wall and plug shall be adaptable to the thicknes of the skin
• The smartphone shall be at a comfortable angle when docked
• The original cables of the manufacturere shall be usable
• There shall be wood. Nice wood. My favorite is still oak, but I introduced Mahogany and Walnut
• Design! It shall not be ugly!

Adaptable rear-wall and plug-fixation (Lambda Gen2)

The nucleus of the design of all lambdas is the ability to move the rear-wall back and forth and to vary how far the plug comes out of the base.

The geometrie has been slightly changed in the Gen2 of the Lambda to mitigate the problem of the tight bending radius with Micro-USB cables.

The adapter

Moving to more expensive wood sorts, the stock management becomes tricky. To cover this, I designed an adapter from Micro-USB to the lightning plug. Without significant design compromises it is now possible to have one single design for all smartphones with a plug in the center bottom.
Perfect as an exclusive gift. The adapter is 3D printed.

Variants

The start was the most general variant for Micro-USB plugs. Worked perfect with my Lumias (but for the 830) and the Samsungs (S4, S5 etc.) that I could get in my hands.

But it turned out that for iPhones the size of the connector hole was so big that the connector moved too much.

As a first variant I introduced the lambda optimized for the lightning plug. Mechanics and looks are the same. The plug hole is just as big as the lightning connector is.