chess castle - the steam project
a build-it-yourself chess set with a gear-driven opening mechanism and hidden piece storage.
Chess Castle was one of the 10+ build-it-yourself toy kits I worked on during my internship at The STEAM Project. For confidentiality reasons, it is the only one I can show in my portfolio.
- Chess Castle is a build-it-yourself chess set with a gear-driven opening mechanism: rotating the chessboard reveals chess-piece storage compartments on either side.
- I owned the product from concept to final build, independently designing and prototyping the 27-part SolidWorks assembly in just one week while iterating on the mechanism, fit, and assembly.
- With an average 4.8/5 instructor rating based on student enjoyment, Chess Castle was selected as the session's featured project and showcased on The STEAM Project's website.
- Produced as 50+ individual kits across five camp sites, I applied DFM by designing parts to print without supports, nest together for production, and manufacture repeatedly. This project alone resulted in 80+ sq. ft. of laser-cut material and 450+ 3D-printed parts.
- I used DFA to keep construction simple without making it boring, reducing part count and assembly complexity while still giving kids a fun, hands-on building experience.