Seeing is Believing
Sketching and 2D CAD development has served well so far, however it has limitations to what you can see and limits the ability to visually view potential issues or areas for refinement.
The next stage of my development was to produce some prototype models of my product.
Using the image below and the use of a laser cutter loaded with a piece of corrugated card I was able to create a card model of my intended design.
###############
Card Model
Creating the card model proved useful straight away and highlighted several flaws with my design, one major flaw of the casing being too small to provide adequate material walls around the circuit board, this was combated by increasing the size by 120% of the original drawings.
Below are a series of images with annotations of issues discovered by the creation of this model.
Below are a few of the key point requiring refinement that were highlighted by creating this model.
###############
Acrylic Model
The card model previously created was a good starting point for design refinement, the next stage was to create the acrylic model shown below.
Made from a transparent acrylic this allowed to see through to the circuit board to check dimensions and securing of the circuitry.
This also allowed to make a rough working prototype including a detached cap, allowing usability testing to take place.
Below are some of the key points identified by creating this model.
###############
Summary of Model Making & Refinements
This model making process served several purposes, one was one that I had not foreseen, yet was extremely pleased with. This was the positive responses I was receiving from fellow students and onlookers who saw the model, and their identification with my product and Android, this was a good start for my product.
Below shows some of the main points that were discovered during the model making process that require some design refinement, this includes fixing methods, securing of the cap and previous design flaws.
Below shows the model being tested in a computer, which highlighted the clearance issue that will be revises in 3D development.
###############
