The Mantis project began as a Task Lamp design project in University. The original brief was to design a task lamp to suit two Herman Miller furniture lines.
My approach was to eliminate cables in the body of the lamp to prevent wear on cables during adjustment.
A concept was developed that used rails and conductive swivelling joints to transfer low voltage dc through the lamp body.
The first prototype was built using aluminium and American Walnut however the speed at which aluminium oxide built up on the rails prevented the body from conducting electricity and prevented the lamp from functioning.
With some further testing Stainless Steel was selected and I machined a new prototype from figured teak and stainless steel. The new prototype does not loose conductivity and is a fully working prototype.
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Mantis - 2013
Mantis is a ‘wireless’ task lamp aimed at the domestic and executive market. It uses a combination of stainless steel and highly figured hardwood(sustainably sourced teak, walnut or rosewood) to conduct low voltage DC power from it’s base to the 3w warm white led in the lamp head.
Using a wire free design prevents fraying or fatigue failure of internal wiring during lamp adjustment. The conductive sliding mechanism and conductive pivot points allow the lamp to be adjusted while still providing power to the led.
Parts are CNC machined from solid hardwood, stainless steel and brass.