Mechanical Design:
The main design challenge of this project was allowing the rotation of the focus and zoom rings on the Olympus E10 camera through the aluminum lens attachment. We decided to use two sets of rings with embedded rare-earth magnets: the first set of rings (one for zoom and one for focus) would be situated within the attachment. Small rubber protrusions attached to these rings would create a friction fit against the lens; the second set of rings would be situated outside the attachment. The attractive force provided by the rare earth magnets would thus allow the user to rotate the outer rings and, in turn, rotate the lens rings themselves.
I modeled the design in Pro/Engineer and made working prototypes in-house on the company's Haas CNC milling machines.
Exploded assembly.
Assembled lens housing.
Lens housing before installation.
Slide the camera in.
The completed lens unit on the Titan housing.