Hardware design used to mean CAD software, YouTube tutorials, and a lot of trial and error. This is different. You describe what you need to house — the board, the wires, the mounting situation — and your assistant designs the enclosure with you, iteratively, in plain conversation. By the end you have dimensions, print settings, a parts list, and a shopping cart ready to check out.
The initial prompt
Start with the thing you are trying to house. The more specific, the better.
I want to design a 3D-printable enclosure for an explorer cam module.
Specs:
- Board: 38mm x 38mm, 12mm tall
- Needs a front-facing lens cutout (22mm diameter)
- Two side vents for airflow
- Mounting: either desk stand or wall-mount with two M3 screw holes
- Material: PETG, 0.2mm layer height
- Should look clean, minimal — not janky
Design the enclosure. Give me the outer dimensions, wall thickness, and a description of the geometry I can hand to a slicer.Iterating on the design
Once the first version is back, you keep talking.
The side vents feel too subtle. Make them a row of 3mm slots instead of circular holes — more industrial, better airflow. Also add a small cable channel on the bottom rear, 8mm wide.I want both the desk stand and wall-mount versions. Design them as snap-on bases so the main enclosure body is the same — just swap the base. Give me the geometry for both bases.Generating the parts list
Once the design is locked, one more message.
Generate the full parts list for this build — everything I need that is not printed.
For each part: name, spec, quantity, and an Amazon search link.
Then give me the print settings summary: material, layer height, infill, supports needed.How it works
Your assistant holds the full design state across the conversation. Every follow-up — "make the vents slots", "add a cable channel", "design two snap-on bases" — is applied in context, not as a separate one-shot. It tracks constraints (board dimensions, material properties, mounting requirements) and makes sure changes are consistent with what was already decided. When you ask for a parts list, it knows the exact hardware the design requires and generates search links for each component.
The outcome
A print-ready enclosure design, a complete parts list with shopping links, and print settings — all from a morning of back-and-forth conversation. No CAD software opened. No YouTube tutorials watched. You designed something real, together, by just talking about it.