Laptops are now more powerful than ever, but the increased performance comes at the cost of more heat. Modern laptops are thin and sleek, packing together all the parts and making it harder for the internal fans to dissipate all the heat. This issue can lead to overheating in the worst situations, such as in the middle of gaming or editing. What if there were a product that could be used to help cool down a laptop during intensive tasks, while preserving portability at the same time? We decided to make a laptop cooling stand, which cools the laptop by improving ventilation under it, promoting effective cooling. Most laptop cooling stands are large and bulky, but we focused on making a sleek and light version to improve portability.

Supplies

3D Printer
3D Printing Filament
Adhesive rubber feet or hot glue (highly recommended to prevent sliding)
Sandpaper (optional, helpful to smooth out 3D print)

Step 1: Brainstorm

Once we settled on making a laptop cooling stand, we began to brainstorm designs. To help our brainstorming, we also established criteria and constraints for the designs.

Criteria that this product needs to follow are:

Effective Cooling Performance
Adjustability and Ergonomics
Compatibility with many devices
Portability
Durability and Stability
Aesthetic Design

Constraints that this product needs to follow are:

That it is 3D printable
It’s overall cost is low
It isn’t too big and/or weigh too much
It needs to be safe to use
It can’t be too loud

With these criteria in mind, we first sketched rough designs on paper. From these designs, we narrowed it down to just one design that we would focus on the rest of the way using the previous criteria and constraints to objectively pick the winner. From the scoring matrix, the "2 resting blocks" design was deemed the winner.

Step 2: Modeling

After narrowing it down to one design, we began 3D modeling it using Autodesk Fusion. The resting block design calls for two separate inclined ramps which will be placed under either side of a laptop to support it. Fortunately, this was quite easy to design, only requiring one sketch and one extrusion. For our dimensions, we decided to make the stand 7.5 inches long with an incline of 10 degrees.

Step 3: 3D Printing

After the 3D modeling was finished, we exported our 3D model with the STL format. Then, we put the STL file into Makerbot Print for slicing. To ensure that our 3D print would be strong enough, we used 3 shells and 20% infill. To avoid overhangs, we also printed the models on their sides, which improves the speed and strength of our print. Finally, we then exported the .makerbot file onto a flash drive for 3D printing.

Step 4: Finished

Once your 3D print is done, you will have the two resting blocks ready. The prints might have some rough edges, so you can use sandpaper to smooth them out. Also, the 3D filament material is a bit slippery, so you can put adhesive rubber feet or hot glue on the bottom to prevent sliding. When everything is finished, you are ready to use the stand! Place the blocks under your laptop, and enjoy the cooling it provides.

Thanks so much for reading our instructable.