Advanced prototyping
Academic course I School of Design I Doon University
Project outline
Duration - 1 month
Faculty guidance — Ankur Khare
Project objective
To understand the right prototyping process and decision-making involved behind each product in the stage of prototyping.
Process
Choosing product
Taking measurement
Orthographics view
Choosing the material
Understanding material properties
Building froms
Choosing product
Keeping the process in mind I had planned to focus more on learning the process and steps involved rather than focusing on making a detailed prototype of any complex product so I preferred choosing one plus adapter without the cable.
Gauging measurement
Measurement was performed accurately and efficiently to reduce the chances of errors
Examples of Measuring Instruments
- Vernier calipers
- Micrometers
- Measuring microscopes
- Roughness meters
- Optical CMMs
- Profile measurement systems
- Coordinate measuring machines
I had considered the scales technique with 1:1
The filleted lines were considered 2mm in radius approximately due to a lack of tools(radius gauge).
Orthographic view
The orthographic view was made to understand three-dimensional objects into two-dimensional and also to understand the Importance of alignment and no of views in order.
On paper
Digital
Rapid prototype (Paper modeling)
Rapid prototyping was done to quickly fabricate a scale model of a physical product to understand the product better in three dimensions.
The rapid prototype also helped me understand which material I should consider for the prototype of the product.
Also helped me Understand the disadvantages and errors that can occur in the final stage of prototype form.
Choosing the material
Terracotta clay
The terracotta clay was chosen since it is an appropriate refined clay that can be formed to the desired shape.
Understanding material properties
The clay comes in two states one is sand and the other one Is like dough After drying it is placed in a kiln or atop combustible material in a pit.
I have been able to receive the material in a sand state which helped me understand how the material behaves when mixed with water.
To achieve a symmetric shape and reduce the chances of form errors a cavity was made in a high-density thermocouple to use as a mold keeping in mind the measurements.
To provide a good amount of strength within two parts a cavity was made to adjust the pins later.
To make the parallel 2 pins form the same process was applied with thermocol but this time wooden pieces were kept in between to provide strength
Final Form
Experimenting more products
To explore the material properties and learn to make the prototypes forms I did the process with one more product (Logitec mouse) To explore more possibilities of learning with the same material.
Making the detailed edges was challenging on the first try so I tried it from a much thin and sharp blade next time and the results were pretty much better this time this also helped me understand how to add details on the surfaces and how do tiny details matter.
After drying it is placed in a kiln or atop combustible material in a pit but due to the lack of a proper kiln, I tried to explore the material properties like how it behaves when treated with heat and the results were not that impressive, to be honest maybe I need to explore more in this regard so I skipped this process for a while.
Final Visuals
Conclusion
It was super interesting learning each step of the process there were too many dimensions to explore and learn I realized using the right tool is a must while making the detailed prototype because there were cases where I made uneven surfaces which was due to air gaps and material properties which also I would like to resolve in the future prototypes. I am looking forward to prototyping more products in the future with more detail and the right approach. I also realized how important is to understand the material properties how it behaves in different states and what tools to consider with which material.
Thank you.
