"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new" (Albert Einstein, co-inventor of a kind of safety fridge)
Breathing baby mattress under construction (Stacey Tull)
Contents:
First-prototyping
CAD & rapid prototyping
First prototyping
Wherever you are commercially, there will come a point where it is necessary to go from an idea to a reality and to create something that can be tested.
The question is : how to go about this?
Our low-cost methodology saves you money because we do not focus initially on product design but on function. That is, we just try to make one and test it and if necessary to develop it so that it works as well as possible.
Mellowtool garden security system (UK patent granted)
(by Melanie O'Toole, shown at the 2003 Innoventions Show.
See also: Business Opportunities)
As mentioned in the page about design, to build a first-prototype we do not need to create detailed engineering drawings because as soon as the device is made something will need to be developed/altered and the drawings will become obsolete. We often start with mock-ups as part of pilot studies and then progress to a functional prototype once the uncertainties have been resolved.
James Dyson said:
“Computer aided design (CAD) is absolutely brilliant, but really good engineers always draw by hand first. We sketch and our team always make rough and ready crude prototypes at the beginning, with cardboard, gaffer tape, MDF, Plasticine and PVC tape.”
(Source: growingbusiness)
The starting point is to agree on the Design Specification. This is a list of agreed features, both essential and preferred. We work closely with our clients to agree these terms. Once we have these agreed we work out a proposal and costing.
Roadspy Version 3.1 (by Spy-Systems Ltd)
It is usual at this stage, if it now functions well, to apply for a patent. (See the IP page).
CAD and rapid prototyping
Once the device is working well the next step is to see how it can be redesigned as a product. Version 4 of the Roadspy above is presently under construction. V3.2 was a non-functioning version which was created to begin the process of redesigning it as a product.
Roadspy 3.1 CAD exploded view
The figure above shows each of the component parts of the casing. These were then each made using a rapid-prototyping technique (stereolithography, SLA). The result is shown below.
Roadspy SLA Version 3.2 (Spy-Systems)
More details about this project are given in the Case Studies section.
Please get in touch now for more information about how we can help you to develop your project.
