First concept

My first concept was a four-pointed star with four slots located where the points meet the body. I created three prototypes out of cardboard, only to realize that the pieces got in each other’s way when trying to assemble them. 

As a result, I abandoned this idea and began searching for something new.

Second concept

After realizing that a very angular shape didn’t work well, I decided to go in a completely different direction.

For the base shape, I chose a semicircle, aiming to give it a visual resemblance to half an orange. I drew teardrop-shaped segments onto the form, which immediately made it look like a sliced orange.

As with the star, I added four slots: one in the middle of the straight edge and the other three symmetrically distributed along the curved side. I then created several new prototypes out of cardboard to test whether my design worked as a plug-in system.

Design in Rhino8

Since I now had a concept that I liked and that worked, it was time to transfer the design into Rhino. I measured my prototype once more and used these measurements to recreate the shape in the software.

I added a slight curve to the slots so that the material would interlock better and the pieces would hold together well in the end. However, in this first attempt, the curve was too pronounced, making it almost impossible to assemble the pieces.

I corrected this in the file and had it laser-cut again. With a reduced curve, the pieces could then be put together more easily without being loose or falling apart.

Once I had more of these shapes, I began connecting them into a larger structure. In the process, I noticed that they would break slightly in the middle if too much force was applied. The reason for this was clearly the very small distance between the top slot and the pointed ends of the segments. So, I corrected this as well.

Cutting out the pieces

The individual pieces for the plug-in system were cut out of MDF (medium-density fiberboard) by a laser cutter. This process can take quite a while, depending on how many pieces you want.

The finished system