[DIY][GUIDE] LeGOptimus Charging Phone Dock

UsernameWasTaken

Senior Member
Jul 29, 2013
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Wow, this escalated quickly. :D Couldn't have imagined this amount of attention, and the XDA News, too! I want to thank you all for your support. :highfive: :victory:


Hey, guys, I've made a simple DIY desktop dock with charging for our 4X HD out of Lego bricks and parts and I want to share the building instructions with you in case someone else wishes one. All the Legos used are quite usual, some can be easly substituted and some aren't really required, but I've included them nevertheless. Three main points of this guide:

1. No Lego bricks are damaged/irreversibly altered.
2. No additional materials required, other than USB cable, naturally. Only pressure, friction and stacking are permitted while assembling to keep the parts in place.
3. No too-specific/weird-looking/rare parts that can't be easily substituted or not be used at all. Only the more common ones.

The dock isn't a looker, but this is a really sturdy, riggid and robust phone stand considering the materials used in the making as Legos can be quite wobbly.

Some images of the dock
The front


Back view


Bottom view with cable management

I've attached a Lego Digital Designer 4.3 file, and an HTML guide (if you do not want to utilize LDD) which a bit confusing at at first, but that's the way the program auto-made it, no helping it. The attached files hold all the information on the Lego parts necessary. The only thing that is missing from the attached guide and the only thing I weren't able to do in LegoDD is the merging of the bottom and top parts:

You need to join these holes


with these


to get this kind of connection between bricks

The charging part is achieved through this Roline microUSB cable. The reason I mention a specific cable is because the male MicroUSB connector absolutely must have 8x10 millimeters face, as shown in the pic. Obviously, you can use another maker's if it it meets this condition.



8x10mm are the measures of a standard 1x1 Lego brick. This is imperative because we'll jam the mUSB head into the Lego parts and the friction and pressure will hold it firmly in place.

UPDATE: For most of us who have only LG's USB cable, here's an alternative base design Post #17. It doesn't conform to this design, but it solves the "keep-the-cable-in-place" problem and opens the posibilities for other designs to be constructed.

Here's a (really) short video of the dock in action. The mUSB plug holds the phone even when upside-down. The grip is so strong that the side beams and the back aren't really needed, but I feel better having them. In adition, the phone slides between side beams and the back nearly perfectly and, despite not appearing so, there is no chance of it to be scratched, the Legos are smooth.

**************************************************

Further thoughts: the design is fairly changeable. I started it as a horizontal dock but then changed it b/c it's more practical in my views. A "backplate" out of long flat tiles can be added to the back beams so you could stick an LG NFC tag onto it (I have no spares to do this).

**************************************************

UPDATE :
Our own @LGaljo was kind enough to make instructions for his dock
HTML Guide
Lego Digital Designer file

UPDATE:
Other XDA members' creations: Post #20, Post #26



Please, tell me what you think of it.
 

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UsernameWasTaken

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Jul 29, 2013
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@UsernameWasTaken Can you add my design of charging dock to your thread? I don't really want to make another thread ;)
I used simpler legos, because I didn't have ones you had.

If you agreed, I will add .lxf and write build instructions :)
Yes, ofc. I like it! Mine is bulkier b/c I was concerned with it falling apart, thats why I added the crossbeams and supporting tiles. Also, the set I used is a Technic, so it consists mainly of those hollow bricks.

From the pic I can see the microusb plug is thinner and wider. Does it hold hard enough to slide and unplug the phone without it being pushed out or pulled in?
 

LGaljo

Senior Member
Jun 27, 2012
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Yes, ofc. I like it! Mine is bulkier b/c I was concerned with it falling apart, thats why I added the crossbeams and supporting tiles. Also, the set I used is a Technic, so it consists mainly of those hollow bricks.

From the pic I can see the microusb plug is thinner and wider. Does it hold hard enough to slide and unplug the phone without it being pushed out or pulled in?
Power plug is official LG. It is held strong enough. I helped it with a piece of folded paper.

Sent from my LG-P880 using Tapatalk
 
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chuSmu

Senior Member
May 30, 2013
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This really is awesome, I'm so gonna build one too :D. I got tons of lego at home since was into them as a child.
So next weekend or the one after it's lego time again!! :))
 

UsernameWasTaken

Senior Member
Jul 29, 2013
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Hahaha, oh, wow! Guys, thank you all so much for the support!

Now, I have another treat for you all. :) I got inspired by @LGaljo's creation.

Most of us got only one USB cable, LG's, that is. Its problem: doesn't conform to the measures I've posted. So, how to fix it's microusb plug inside the dock? With this:








This solves the main problem which is how to make the mUSB part stay in place. I won't be making a whole new dock out of this. Rather, I leave it to your imagination. Use it as you like :)
 
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Bornin

Senior Member
Jun 11, 2008
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Nicely done, Shouldn't this thread be way cooler in general section? so docks for all devices could be shared :highfive:
 

d_ave

Senior Member
Sep 11, 2012
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Sofia
Nice one, especially the way you fixed the cable:) Thank you very much, you made me touch Lego for the first time in 15 years and i'm really glad to rediscover something i enjoyed doing very much back in my younger years:) here's what i was able to make out of what i found in an old box, no charger attached, but i'm out of blocks, i cannot find my bigger stash:)













 
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