Necessity Causes Invention: A GoPro Scuba Mount

By on February 14th, 2013 in Usage

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If you’ve never used a GoPro, perhaps you should. It’s an inexpensive but very specialized camera designed to be used outdoors in action situations. It’s the camera on the skydiver’s helmet or hanging from bike handlebars giving us those heart-stopping videos.  
 
As you might imagine, there are an infinite number of possible mounting options to consider. How many skateboards, dashboards, helmets, UAVs and other items can such a camera be pasted on? 
 
Lots. Too many to be mass produced. This is a job for 3D printing. 
 
Felipe De La Torre had precisely this problem when he attempted to mount his GoPro on a Scuba mask to capture his underwater adventures in POV form. Instead of mangling the expensive mask by attaching a tripod mount, he designed and 3D printed a specially designed mount in alumide that does the job perfectly by wrapping around the strap. The light alumide material is strong enough for underwater stresses and won’t degrade over time. 
 
The easy availability of 3D printing services means that this form of problem resolution can now be attempted by many people. All you need is some basic 3D modeling skills, an inexpensive software option and a lot of creativity. Easy! 
 

By Kerry Stevenson

Kerry Stevenson, aka "General Fabb" has written over 8,000 stories on 3D printing at Fabbaloo since he launched the venture in 2007, with an intention to promote and grow the incredible technology of 3D printing across the world. So far, it seems to be working!