The Armadillo Headphones present a super compact way of folding on-ear Bluetooth headphones. A 3D printable version that we later designed can be found here.
Searching for a more compact way of folding headphones
Large style headphones have over recent years seen an increase in popularity over earbuds, but unlike earbuds they present limited portability. The aim of this project is to diminish this problem by making it possible to fold headphones more compactly in an easy manner.
The Armadillo Design
Named after the animal, the Armadillo design is the final output of the development process.
The head strap of the headphones consists of a series of links that are connected in such a way that the structure can bend inwards while not bending outwards. This enables a new and more compact way of folding the headphones.
Bending the structure inwards makes the head strap wrap around the ear-cups and keep the folded state by joining the magnets on the sides of each earcup.
Less Wasted Space
A study that tested the foldability of different headphones identified the AKG k618 dj headphones to be the most compact ones. A comparison in wasted space between those headphones and the Armadillo Headphones can be seen above.
The final design improves not only upon the portability of over-the-ear headphones but also their durability as the stress in the headband will be smaller in a folded state than in an unfolded state.
This project was later turned into a 3D printable version. You can find more information here.