How Prototyping Influences Engineering Design Choices

A $12 prototype can make $50,000 of engineering analysis look ridiculous A team of engineers was stuck on a bearing failure analysis for six weeks. Vibration data, FFT analysis, metallurgy reports - they had everything except answers. The client kept asking for root cause and the engineers kept finding more variables to analyze. Temperature gradients, load distributions, contamination levels, manufacturing tolerances. Each analysis created more questions. Then the intern did something that made the engineers feel stupid. She 3D printed a transparent housing and filled it with clear oil so the engineers could actually see what was happening inside the bearing assembly. Took her four hours and $12 in materials. They watched the oil flow patterns and immediately saw the lubrication wasn't reaching the critical contact points. All their sophisticated analysis was based on assuming proper lubrication distribution. Wrong assumption. Six weeks of wasted effort. The visual prototype didn't just solve the problem - it changed how the engineers approach these types of investigations. Now they build crude mockups before diving into analysis rabbit holes. Cardboard, tape, clear plastic, whatever works. Physical models force you to confront your assumptions before you spend weeks analyzing the wrong thing. Sometimes the cheapest prototype teaches you more than the most expensive simulation. #engineering #prototyping #problemsolving

The first mockup rarely works perfectly, but it reveals secrets CAD can't: - How an object feels to hold - How it lives in its context - How users interpret it - How proportions translate to reality Early in my career sketching and rendering fascinated me. I grew up with a love for art and visuals So, naturally I sketched a lot which meant tons of ideas to sift through. Probably also a result of being in design consulting for most my professional life. Now, I find joy in carefully selecting and refining ideas rather than generating hundreds. This is probably the natural transition for most designers as well. The real excitement in the process really comes from validating and knowing that your ideas work. I'll leave you with a few thoughts on building and validating: 1) Physical prototypes unlock tactile insights: CAD can't replicate the feel of a product in your hand. Build early to understand ergonomics and user interaction. 2) Context is king: Seeing a prototype in its intended environment reveals design flaws or opportunities invisible on screen. 3) Rapid iteration beats perfection: I've found that creating 3 quick, rough prototypes often yields better results than obsessing over one "perfect" version. 4) User feedback on physical objects is revealing: People interact with physical prototypes in unexpected ways, providing insights you'd never anticipate from sketches/CAD alone. 5) Prototyping develops your designer's intuition: The more you build, the better you become at predicting how 2D concepts will translate to 3D reality. Alright, that's it! happy building! #industrialdesign #productdesign

Manufacturing Automation – Stuck In Automation, Prototype Hardware Disproves False Assumptions in the Design! -- Nothing beats throwing a handful of parts in a Bowl Feeder to see how they behave. In Automation, Prototype Hardware Disproves False Assumptions in the Design! Let's figure it out together! What are you working on that I can help with? -- "Assuming we will be building a system that will be in operation for some years, the investment in the design and build of the automation can be significant. As such, an often overlooked or rushed step is the need to prototype certain parts of the automated process prior to committing to the final product design so that automation is anticipated and planned for at least to some extent. In some cases, this step is gating as it allows many of the assembly automation questions to be answered with some level of functionality as provided with pilot or prototype tooling, (semi-automation), that allow us to test concepts and process sequence permutations while also defining more subtle but no less important attributes such as the user interface with the system and the overall system form factor. ... In addition, prototyping helps us to empirically define key parameters such as forces, temperature cycles, “dwell time” durations, etc., that may be integral to the process and need to be controlled to achieve a “good product” output at the production rate required. Slight design modifications that do not impact product form, fit or function but improve the product’s ability to be automatically assembled can be identified and implemented after identifying those on the prototype tooling or system. ... The costs and schedule impacts of the prototype phase can vary and depend on how much of the system we want to prototype and in which areas but it is very much worth the effort! In practice, most of the questions listed above can be answered by our experience, theoretical analysis and previous development of similar systems and we choose to invest in and prototype only those “high risk” areas which either push the envelope of some parameters in the operation or present some other unfamiliar functionality that needs to be tested under automated conditions. Identifying those high risk areas can be as much art as science but they can involve parts feeding, precision, speed, materials compatibility or control algorithm attributes ..." -- How do you use Prototyping in your Automation Design Process? Your thoughts are appreciated and please SHARE this post if you think your connections will find it of interest. 👉 Comment, follow or connect to COLLABORATE on your automation for increased productivity. Adding value on the WHY, WHAT and HOW of Automation! What are you working on that I can help with? https://lnkd.in/e-46rdgh #automation #productivity #robotics #innovation #tariffs