How to Turn Your Concept Into a Prototype? 55
Synced0 asks: "Like a lot of people who post/read on this site, I am a software developer. I have experience developing handheld applications and am quite knowledgeable about the hardware that are in various handheld devices , these days. I have been toying around with the idea of building a device that is based on a handheld platform. I have the basics for what I need such as what OS, and platform I will base it on (motherboard, CPU, storage, display panel, etc). The biggest question in my head is where do I go for the actual design of casing, and who I can get to do the final hardware design. I have never designed hardware before, but now that I have my platform and such, where do I go from here? I have some ideas on what the device should look like, but I have no skills of molding plastics. I have all the pieces working on the desk but am clueless how I progress from this stage.Is it very expensive for someone to take concept into a prototype?"
Here's a partial answer (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Here's a partial answer (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Here's a partial answer (Score:2)
The r
Re:Here's a partial answer (Score:2, Interesting)
However, the issue that may arrise here is (at least at the time I was going to use them for a unique project) in the process of using them, you agree that the designs you submit to them become their property. If he is trying to build a prototype, using emachineshop.com effectively hands the rights to the design to someone else.
Re:Here's a partial answer (Score:1)
Here is what is in their current (or close to current, I haven't installed the latest update):
Customer retains all rights to submitted designs and emachineshop retains no righ
Four Easy steps (Score:2, Insightful)
2. Wait for some unsuspecting party to develop prototype.
3. ???
4. Profit.
Thats what I was going to do (Score:2)
Re:Thats what I was going to do (Score:2, Interesting)
Assuming you're filing in the US, you can do it all online [uspto.gov]. I've not done it personally, so I have no idea how easy or difficult it actually is, but you should be able to find enough information [uspto.gov] to get it done if you really wanted to.
Re:Thats what I was going to do (Score:2)
Re:Thats what I was going to do (Score:2)
You could always hire a patent attorney...
Re:Four Easy steps (Score:1)
Time to profit...
Re:Four Easy steps (Score:1, Interesting)
1) Talk to an intellectual property lawyer (look in the phone book or get a personal recommendation). There is more to IP than patents, he or she will be able to advise you on patents, design rights, copyrights, trademarks et al.
2) Avoid "Invention promotion" companies who promise to put you in touch with "teh profit". Again just look in the phone book, trade journals or ask for a recommendation for proper product development companies.
3) Ensure that the development company respects
Re:Four Easy steps (Score:2)
0. Check in all the patents ever filed to the USPTO for a patent that may cover part of your idea.
1. Too bad. It is a chance you have found that and were able to pull out before any harm was done. The fact is that people violating other people's IP are more and more considered as having links with terrorists. Of course, since they are actively trying to destroy the american capitalist economy (who could deny that?)
It doesn't look insanely hard or expensive (Score:5, Informative)
These guys [emachineshop.com] have also occasionally been recommended on soekris-tech, and also offer free software to help you design and submit projects to them.
Good luck!
Casing... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Casing... (Score:1)
It sounds to me like you have some basic hardware specifications and some ideas of how the device will be used - which will influence the hardware design. But need guidance in getting it from a rough pile of wires to a slick finished product.
Unless you have all the skills - board design, human factors, industrial design, materials engineering, etc. etc., you're best served by working with some professionals. Try Nectar [nectardesign.com], Frog [frogdesign.com], or IDEO [ideo.com] for starters.
Some answers (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Some answers (Score:5, Interesting)
Before you submit your plans to a molding shop or machine shop. have someone who knows something look at them! Yes, it is easy to draw something and have it made, but someone who has gone through this process a couple of times will be able to spot common pitfalls that most new designers fall into, namely:
mnmn is referring here to a rapid prototyping machine, which is a really slick option for early prototypes because of the rapid turn-around time. CNC machines might be a second option, since the parts they make will be durable and very solid (unlike a rapid prototyping machine's output). At my undergraduate institution, we had a rapid prototyping machine (one of the first in the nation at university, by the way), and they would sell time on the machine to individuals/companies who wanted to have things made (Remington Firearms was a steady customer, if I recall correctly). I would suggest asking around at the local Mechanical Engineering departments if I were you, since they are likely to be much less expensive than a professional firm, and much more forgiving of design errors. They will also have access to CNC machines that they may be willing to sell you time on, provided you buy the materials and have everything ready to go (CNC machines don't just take 3D model files, you have to specify cutting paths, depths, and cut orders).
All in all, I'd suggest going to a bar near the local university on a Friday afternoon and waiting for the Mechanical or Industrial Engineering graduate students (they won't be hanging out together) to show up. Start talking with them or buy a few rounds, and they'll have better specific information for you.
Re:Some answers (Score:3, Interesting)
well.. (Score:1)
Spooky you forgot (Score:2, Funny)
My problem (Score:1, Offtopic)
Re:My problem (Score:2, Funny)
Re:My problem (Score:1)
Two words... (Score:2)
Re:Two words...(also) (Score:2)
Re:Two words... (Score:2, Interesting)
They have about everything you need, most of it dirt-cheap (not everything though!) Make sure to look at the catalog page (PDF, or hard copy) and not just the website, since prices on idential items will range depending on the manufacturer.
Identical quad op-amps could cost $0.07-3.00 as i recall (different manufacturers, same specs)
they don't have minimums to order on most parts, and the shipping is flat.
Re:Two words... (Score:1)
Re:Two words... (Score:1)
Re:Two words... (Score:2)
He wants a project box. RS has plenty of basic project boxes in stock, even if the sales staff has no idea what they are for.
Check the yellow pages (Score:2, Interesting)
You need a "Product Development House" (Score:3, Informative)
online RFQ (Score:4, Informative)
local high-school? (Score:2, Interesting)
Just go to the school and see if they have any students looking to make a bit a cash.
Big Blue Saw (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Big Blue Saw (Score:2)
mechanical engineer here... (Score:4, Informative)
Rapid Prototypes: SLA, FDM, SLS, etc. Google those terms to see what they are. No tooling involved. Companies all over the place make them. I'd suggest FDM prototypes from quickparts.com or redeyerpm.com. Probably $25-150 per part. Several days for turnaround.
Rapid injection molding: niche filled by Protomold.com. Cheap tools (between $2k and $10k for most things), relatively cheap parts ($5-$15). 1-3 week delivery depending on price.
Real injection molding: Jillions of suppliers. Tools take 4 weeks or more. Don't count on less than $10,000 for a tool. Parts will be as cheap as they can get.
All three avenues need a 3D CAD model at some point. You can hire a consultant engineer for ~$100 an hour in some areas to model it up if you have decent sketches with some dimensions. How pretty you want it will determine how long it takes. Figure a few grand for something decent. You might be able to find software on the web to do it yourself if you don't have the money.
If you have a big pile of money, you can hire a company to design the parts, order the tools, and fabricate your whole product. Figure many tens of thousands of dollars for labor if you go that route.
Metal machining (Score:2)
These guys can do some pretty amazing things with their equipment, check out the "Produktbeispiel" (product examples). They cut and fold metals with lasers, drills and water jets. No idea what they charge, but you give them an Autocad file and they turn it into something real (if it's creatable). Last time I visited they were doing cases for large-scale image scanners (a-la 10ft by 5 ft).
This isn't a fab problem (Score:5, Informative)
Actually, at this point you need to build two things. One is a functional prototype that fits in some standard case. The other is a non-functional prototype that shows the desired look and feel of the product.
The functional prototype you put in some standard case. It will be bigger than the final product, but it will work. Get a good catalog of boxes (Mouser and Digi-Key have good selections.) You'll have to drill holes and grind things down, which you do with hand tools and maybe a Dremel tool.
The look and feel prototype you have designed by someone who understands industrial design. It may be a clay model. There are polymer clays that can be fired in an oven to make a hard object. The model is then painted, and perhaps glue-on stickers are applied, followed by a clear coat. There are other approaches; you can machine the mockup out of a block of Delrin, or build it up in a stereolithography machine. Or if you just want to have pretty pictures, you can design the case in some 3D system and generate renderings. But for handheld devices, a solid object is more useful.
Now you can get user opinons on the thing. You'll make some mods, and may do another version of either prototype. Marketing and funding efforts begin.
Once you have a basic design that seems to work, you're faced with designing the real thing. This is a packaging job, and you have to think about things like design for assembly, waterproofing, shock and vibration resistance, interconnects, and similar subjects. If you can get the whole thing on one PC board, do so. If you can't, you get into interconnects, always a big hassle. Try for one PC board with surface mount components and a clamshell case that holds it in place; that's straightforward to fabricate in quantity. If your idea is any good, by this point you have some funding. So you get this done by somebody who knows how.
Incidentally, having custom membrane keyboards [melrose-nl.com] or rubber keyboards like a cell phone [newenglandkeyboard.com] made isn't that big a deal, and you can get much of your job done by a supplier in that business.
It's difficult (Score:3, Informative)
Re:It's difficult (Score:2, Funny)
You have to network, network and make deals (Score:2, Insightful)
Before you jump out and start hyping your project, making connections and start signing people, you have to make your own homework. You have to put your idea of a device and it's usage into an simple and clear message that is convincing, after that make atleast some calculations about the cost o
Case design (Score:1)
Doug Hall? (Score:3, Informative)
Focus on your customer (Score:1)
A few additional points (Score:1)
Assuming you haven't done that (since it implies the case size will be constrained by your already selected board), you need to do some serious electronics work to get the circut board to a suitable shape and size for your handheld.
Once you have it working on your desk, you need to do the following
Re:A few additional points (Score:1)
Re:A few additional points (Score:1)
Back in 1991, one of our (electronics) hardware guys also had a talent for doing enclosure d
Hobby or business? (Score:2)
It is just another engineering cycle. (Score:2)
Think of -how many- widgets you want to build. If you can make a living doing 100 of them, it's senseless to make plastic parts. If you need to make a million of them, it is senseless to make anything but the minimum plastic part that will satisfy the requirements, even o
TechShop.WS (Score:2, Informative)
Bringing products to market (Score:1)
I am currently going through this exact same process. I have no outside investors, so I am 'bootstrapping' it.
Here's what I've learned so far.
There's more details to consider than I would have thought possible. Packaging, technical manuals, repair manuals, software CD's, shipping, warehousing space, final assembly space, not to mention the actual product design.
I have it easy I suppose. My product is relatively simple for an electronic device. Circuit