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Render of the STATO stabilizer arm holding a cinema camera off the back of a red car

01

STATO

Long-fibre injection moulded hitch attachment

Individual project

A camera stabilizer designed for car hitches, crafted with long fibre injection moulding for durability and precision.

01Brief

Design a hitch attachment using long fibre technology.

Continuous fibre rovings are pulled through an impregnation die, coated in polymer and chopped into 12 mm pellets. Injection moulded, the long fibres stay intact, giving parts close to metal stiffness at a fraction of the weight and cost.

Diagram of the long-fibre process: fibre rovings, extruder, impregnation die, puller and pelletizer producing 12 mm pellets
How long fibre gets made — Avient Corporation

Key advantages

  • Durable
  • Light
  • Cheap

02The idea

Stabilizer + hitch.

Almost every car can take a tow hitch. Put a camera stabilizer on it and you can mount a rig to your car and shoot moving footage of moving objects, without a crew or a tracking vehicle.

A handheld camera gimbal next to a tow hitch on the back of an SUV
Sticky notes: gives the ability to mount a camera rig on your car, to make moving shots of moving objects; photos of car-to-car filming rigs

Trends it rides on

  • EVsA new wave of cars with hitch mounts and heavy creator attention.
  • Short-form contentCar creators publish more, faster, and need rolling shots.
  • Cheaper gearPro-looking cameras are affordable; rigs to mount them are not.

03Who it's for

The car YouTuber.

Every need of the persona maps straight onto a strength of long-fibre material, which is why the two belong together.

Illustrated persona: a young car YouTuber in a cap holding a camera
Persona illustration created with Midjourney
  • CheapDoesn't have a lot of money.
  • DurableWants to protect his gear.
  • LightCarries it around to shoot on the go.

04Analysis

A gap in the middle.

Camera-mounting systems split in two. Plastic ones are light and cheap but not robust. Metal ones are strong but heavy and expensive. Long fibre makes room for strong and affordable.

Middle ground: cheaper professional gear that's easy to carry around

Metal: strong, but heavy and expensive. Specialised Hollywood gear

Plastic: light and cheap, but not robust

StrongNot strongLow priceHigh price
STATO · long-fibre mount

05System

Five parts, one rig.

The product breaks down into a hitch attachment, a suspension piece, a main arm, a side arm and a vibration suspension. Each was mapped out on its own before being sketched as a whole.

Board breaking the rig into hitch attachment, suspension piece, main arm, side arm and vibration suspension
Pencil sketches of hitch brackets and arm concepts on a desk

06Prototyping

Killing the shake.

A car produces two kinds of motion: vertical movement from the road, and vibrations, mostly from the engine. Both have to go for smooth, professional footage.

Vertical movement

Simplicity and function came first: a single spring across the mechanism provides effective suspension and keeps assembly easy.

CarCamera
Hands testing a cardboard parallelogram arm prototype
Cardboard prototype
Render of the arm with arrows showing the spring absorbing vertical movement
Resulting design

Vibrations

A dual-ring system connected by small springs absorbs the minor vibrations. The idea borrows from how microphone arms isolate noise.

CarCamera
Hands holding a cardboard dual-ring vibration isolator prototype
Cardboard prototype
Render of the camera mount with a waveform showing damped vibration
Resulting design

07Details

Made to mould.

Close-up render of the STATO arm with orange spring and knobs on a red car
STATO rig in its first configuration on a red car

Two configurations

A simple screw-in system lets you quickly set up one of two configurations. Toggle between them.

Close-up of the strap hole on the main bar
A strap hole on the main bar adds an extra attachment point to secure the camera.
STATO mounted on the back of a pickup truck with a strap securing the camera
Low-angle render of the main bar showing its moulded ribs
Every part is designed to be injection moulded with long-fibre technology.
Close-up of the orange screw knobs and spring
Final render: STATO mounted on the hitch of a dark SUV, camera pointing forward
Final render
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