And the project is done! .....
But how did it go ??
Overall I am very pleased with A: how the project turned out, & B: my own personal development throughout this process.
Apart from a few minor imperfections of the USB stick I am extremely pleased with both the look and finish of the product, especially as only a few weeks ago I had never done any 3D CAD work and struggled with creating fairly simple shapes.
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The USB
Below is a few pictures of my finished USB Memory Stick
The USB with the cap (Droid Head) off - this functions perfectly and I am extremely pleased that the click 'on & off' feature has worked.
The USB in operation, although of a fairly novelty form the device still functions and allows insertion even into awkward positioned USB ports ... There is also a few bonus files on the USB stick
The USB indication light I feel was a great success, it was the product of some careful planning and I could not be happier with the result.
The overall finish of the product has come out well, I was worried when it first came out the FDM as there were quite a few imperfections that due to the small scale and fine detail of the product
I knew were going to be an issue to remove.
However through a bit of post CAM finishing I am very pleased with the overall finish, especially bearing in mind that the FDM was given the nick name of 'Rapid Prototyper' for a reason.
This machine was never intended to give an ultra high finish, it is for prototyping purposes and that is what my product is!
A visual aid to show others what my intended design is and enable further designing to take place to be able to produce the product on a larger mass production scale, where the casing would most likely be made through injection moulding.
Injection moulding would provide a much finer finish than the FDM and should require no post production finishing, except for painting and detailing etc, below shows and example image of the injection moulding process
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The Bad Points
It was inevitable from the outset that as this is a prototype it was never going to be 100% perfectly finished, I feel it got quite close but there are still a few slight imperfections with my product.
The Text
Below shows a picture of the product information that was transferred onto the product, when this was first applied it was near perfect, however an unforeseen reaction to the thinners in the lacquer caused the text to slightly ghost and warp, this has still come out ok, but not to the quality it was prior to applying the clear lacquer.
If the product was to go into production it would most likely not have the product information applied via lazertran transfer paper, instead a process such as direct printing onto the product would most likely be used with a machine like the one shown below.
This would most likely solve this problem and the text would be much clearer as intended.
Wandering Adhesive
Although I designed the USB to be self joining and supportive through the use of the posts and rebates I applied a small amount of adhesive to help permanently join the parts for reinforced strength.
This worked well however unfortunately during compression a small amount seeped out onto the surface, and as this was solvent based attacked the paintwork leaving a small mark like the one shown below. This is only a very small mark in one of the recess', but still has detracted from the overall quality of the product.
This is down to human hand manufacturing error rather than error of the CAD/CAM process, again this would be another issue that may have been avoided had the product been made in a full automation process like in the image shown below.
Tests would have been performed and a more suitable adhesive would have been used, perhaps a hot applied and quick cooled adhesive in a controlled automation process.
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The Packaging
Overall I am fairly pleased with the packaging, there were a few issues that I was unable to resolve and had to make a compromise however the overall look and functionality of the product is good.
The concept behind the working of the packaging was that it was to be small, attractive and easy to put in a pocket or 'goodie' bag and I based my idea around that of a purpose fit matchbox design.
Below shows the completed box as a whole and with the inner box slid out to access the USB stick, as far as a functioning product aspect is concerned I am happy with this aspect of the product.
Below shows my preferred weight of card to make the packaging form, as the picture below shows when compared to the one above it is a lot more rigid and holds its shape but it had such a poor print quality that I felt it unsuitable for the prototype, should the product go into production it would be a card of this sort of weight that would be used.
Below shows my preferred could resolution, again this was something that I was unable to achieve on a decent weight card, only on paper or photopaper which was not strong enough to make a working prototype box from, but would be something that I would aim to achieve when the product goes for production.
Below is an example of a high quality printing press used in industry to create typical box's and packaging, this has the capabilities of producing higher quality images on heavy weight card which is something I was unable to achieve at the university, in addition it also has the capabilities to cut out the nets without the need for additional process'
Below simply shows the PVC cable tie system in operation, this turned out just as I had hoped and functions perfectly retaining movement of the USB Stick to hold it in the desired place for display purposes.
The images show this system from both the front and the rear, I did however only tie down an earlier prototype that I handed in as the final prototype requires removing form the packaging for inspection and trial purposes, at least the earlier prototype can remain tied in.
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The Display
The display was created solely through CAD/CAM with no post manufacturing finishing required, only assembly was required as a hand finish process.
I am very pleased with the overall presentation and quality of finish, and I feel its novelty and slightly cheesy form will attract passers bye at its intended exhibition location.
Below shows a series of images with the final display on show.
The smaller display stand for the packaging and the clear shelf have worked well as intended and due to them being clear I feel are un-intrusive and do not draw too much away from the main figure.
The supports have worked well, holding the display at a suitable angle, whilst remaining un-intrusive.
The Bad Points
All that I feel I am not 100% pleased with is again down to handcraft letting down the quality, something that again I believe can be rectified if this product went into production.
Below shows the rear of the product and despite being compression clamped I was unable to expel all air bubbles from the adhesive, something that in a manufacturing process would perhaps be achieved through a vacuum process.
Despite my best efforts to be as neat as possible with the adhesives during assembly, I still got a few unwanted splashes on little areas of the display.
These were only minor but due to the properties of the adhesive permanently marked the acrylic.
Again this was down to human error, something that I believe could be avoided through a sophisticated CAD/CAM process.
And finally, a small tragedy ...
Despite being extra careful with my display and transporting it from home to University for hand in without a scratch, moments before I was to hand in I accidentally broke one of the antenni from the Android display.
This has been repaired, but also highlighted that I should have perhaps made the antenni slightly wider for additional strength.
