During the 2019 summer recess from grad school, I got the opportunity to work as a mechanical engineering intern at Tonal, a fitness-technology company located in San Francisco. They launched their first product in November of 2018, and as a member of the product design team, I got to work on both the current product, as well as contribute to several other projects. It was exciting to get such a wide variety of experiences across just a three month engagement, and although much of my work is protected by NDA, I'm able to share a select number of projects below:

Lighting Mount Project

During my time at Tonal, the content team began experimenting with new class formats, and using set design to build Tonal's brand identity. Internally, they began testing a class structure that used LED light tubes to create a bright, dramatic setting for a high intensity, group class.

After a handful of encouraging test shoots, the content team decided to work towards publicly launching group classes, and approached the product design team to see if we could create a way to fixture the light tubes to the Tonals. During test shoots, the content team used gaffer tape and fence wire to set up the lighting, which was slow to install and looked unprofessional. With industrial design guidance from a senior engineer and regular collaboration with the video production team, I created a system for securing the set lighting to the Tonal.

To build the set for group classes, two LED tubes needed to be attached to the top and bottom faces of each Tonal. Along the walls of the set, longer LED tubes would hang vertically. During planning, we decided that the light tubes on the Tonals themselves did not need to be removed, but the lights on the walls would need to be setup and struck down regularly. The film production team was worried that their current setup method would damage the walls over time.

For the vertical lighting, I created end caps that held a captive hex bolt and screwed to the ends of the LED light tubes. During assembly, the bolts would be passed through holes in the set wall, where somebody could tighten them down using wing nuts. This made setup and striking quick, and eliminated the need for tools. In the wall we installed a flanged Nylon washer which prevented the threads of the bolt from wearing down the holes over time. The plastic material was a light grey which was color matched with the set's wallpaper.

For the lights mounted on the Tonal, I designed black end caps that held the LED tubes centered on the top and bottom housing pieces. In order to ensure the housing itself didn't obscure the light from reaching the physical trainers, the lights were raised slightly off the device's surface. Similarly to the vertical lights, the end cap held a captive bolt that was tightened to the housing pieces of the Tonal. I drilled holes in the housing pieces to accommodate this part, making sure to avoid other device components. The lighting team expressed a desire to slowly test different heights for the lighting caps, and so I designed a series of half-inch risers that could be installed underneath the feet of the caps. Both the risers and the caps themselves were a matte, black plastic that matched the CMF of the Tonal's housing.

Due to the small volume of parts needed, the components were designed to be 3D printed, and featured many undercuts. After quoting out to prototype job shops about creating appearance-quality models, we went with a vendor that offered to machine the components out of ABS in separate parts and post-process them to create the final components.

These lighting mounts are installed and visible in all new group classes that are live on Tonal. Parallel to this project, Tonal launched a new brand identity that features more vibrant colors. Thanks in part to the positive reception of classes featuring LED tubes, their use on set was adopted into the brand guidelines. The film production team is currently experimenting with integrating these LEDs and mounts in more class formats and set layouts.

Shelving Project

As part of my internship, I was tasked with selecting a side project that I would own and pursue alongside my normal team responsibilities. I chose to work through the user experience of putting away exercise accessories such as handles, the triceps rope, and the bar. I worked on this project in the last 6 weeks of my internship, spending 25-50% of my day on it. During that time, I researched and investigated prior work to understand the needs, explored the user experience of storing accessories, and built a handful of appearance models and proof of concepts.

My final deliverables included 2 aluminum, bead blasted hooks that could act as standalone products for users to install on their own walls and shelves, a pair of matte black plastic mounts that magnetically hold the bar, and two mock ups of shelves showcasing how my designs could be incorporated into complete products.

The first deliverable is a circular hook that can be attached to the underside of a user’s shelf with a single screw. Since all of the exercise accessories feature Tonal’s proprietary T-lock system, the same hook can hold all of the accessories. To use, the T-lock is inserted into the slot and twisted 90 degrees. A detent feature holds the accessories in place. This part is designed to be die cast, and does not feature any undercuts (besides the optional Tonal logo on the side). For the appearance models, this part was CNC milled and finished with a bead blast by an external vendor.

The second deliverable is a straight-slotting hook that’s also attached to the underside of a shelf. Rather than mimic the Tonal’s locking feature, these parts allow a user to slot accessories from the front, without the need for fine motor control or line of sight. The appearance model is again produced as a CNC milled aluminum part that’s bead blasted. Although this version of the part was made for demos and to simplify CNC milling, it can be also created as a single die-cast part through coring of the internal sections.

Although the hooks can be used for most equipment, it made sense to create a custom attachment for Tonal’s exercise bar, which is longer and heavier than the other accessories. For storing the bar, I designed a pair of matte black plastic mounts that use magnets to both align and hold it in place. A rubber strip covers the screws once installed and damps the sound of attaching the bar. The magnets are strong enough that the mounts can hold the bar in any configuration: vertically or horizontally on a wall, or on the underside of a piece of furniture. The mounts are tall enough so that the bar doesn’t pinch a user’s fingers when it’s put away.

Even though I focused on the hooks and features for hanging accessories, one of the reasons I chose my summer project is because there has been a vocal demand among customers for Tonal to provide a shelf or other piece of furniture for storing accessories. In order to show the ways that my work could be easily leveraged for any future storage project, I made two proof-of-concept shelves with modified versions of my parts integrated into them. My hope was to show that, alongside the simpler versions I created for my demos, the same hooks could be used as the foundation for a premium, Tonal-branded shelf.

Both shelves feature doug fir wooden bodies, painted aluminum trim, and machined/powder coated aluminum hook components. One shelf features the circular hooks, recessed so that they are slightly raised from the metal trim’s surface. This provides tactile feedback when trying to locate the hooks while being short enough to allow a user to slide over them into the hook.

The other shelf features the straight-slotting hooks, located on the bottom front corner of the shelf, and surrounded by the aluminum trim. The black paint and location of the hooks helps them blend in while providing good access by users.

Building the shelves occurred in the last few days of my internship, using leftover time after completing the other tasks. As they were quick mockups, the wooden components were cut and assembled green, and some checking and tear out is present.