The CDU, or “central deployment unit” is a support product I was tasked to create to synergize with a former company’s flagship product. The primary product is a small, handheld consumer device which can be paired with up to 11 other devices and then provides tracking, waypoint, and communication features. The CDU charges and interface with 12 of these devices simultaneously, allowing the devices to be configured quickly and easily for rapid deployment. This iteration of the CDU was intended initially to be a marketing proof-of-concept, however the scope grew significantly to eventually be a fully-featured iterim product.
For this project, I was given very broad guidelines - I was told the model of Pelican case everything would fit in, to use a Raspberry Pi 4 with touchscreen, and be able to fit 12 devices, and a few other soft asks. Beyond that, I had essentially free reign over the product’s design. I selected the materials, modeled the layers of the internal assembly, arranged components and made mechanical considerations, CNC’d/hacked/modified/soldered components and wire harnesses, built the assemblies, and even wrote the software. Among the other previously mentioned features of the software, the CDU also had the capability to wirelessly and securely connect to a second CDU to allow seamless configuration of 24 devices from one CDU opposed to the 12 regularly supported by a single case.
