THE ROBERT BEARD COLUMN

PLASTIC MEDICAL APPLICATIONS : PRODUCT PROTOTYPING

WHY PROTOTYPES ARE NECESSARY

There are a number of reasons why prototypes are necessary.  When the product was designed there were functional, aesthetic, marketing and cost goals that were incorporated into the design.  Prototyping is a means to validate the design concepts, correct any errors and improve the product before money is spent on costly production tools.

FIRST STAGE or “VIRTUAL” PROTOTYPE

In today’s technology, designing a product with paper, T-square, and drawing board is obsolete.  Computer Aided Design (CAD) software allows the designer to design faster and more accurately.   Nothing can be done with a 2D CAD model after it has been completed, which is why it is also becoming very close to obsolete.  Designing a product in 3D CAD provides the designer with many tools.  One of the tools is that the designer can check an assembly of mating parts for the proper clearances and fits.  Another tool is that the designer can render the product to produce a photographic quality picture of the product that can be rotated 360 degrees so that it can be seen from any angle.  In today’s technology, this is really a first stage prototype. 

This first stage prototype can be printed out in color and given to the Marketing Department or the Customer to critique.  This is better than a 2D drawing, because many people cannot read engineering drawings but can critique a photograph.  Let’s assume for a moment that you are interested in getting to the market as fast as possible with a product that would be used on a hospital laboratory bench.  A photograph could be taken of a laboratory and scanned into a software program.  The technology exists to take the 3D model of the product and color it, label it or texture it anyway you want and then import it into the picture of the laboratory.  The software adjusts the perspective of the 3D model to match the perspective of the photograph so that there is a “real” product sitting on the laboratory bench.  Yet no physical prototype has been made yet.  Marketing can use this to talk with prospective customers and to obtain their feedback.  They can also start to design their marketing brochures.

NEW TECHNOLOGY

Rapid prototyping techniques have been developed over the last ten years that have revolutionized our ability to validate a design and get to market considerably faster than ever before.  Stereolithography technology allows us to produce very complex prototype parts in a few short days.  The two market leaders in stereolithography technology are 3D Systems and DTM Corporation.  The technology is similar, but different. 3D Systems uses a liquid photo polymer that turns into a solid when exposed to a laser light.  The 3D CAD file is sliced into layers that are .005 inches thick.  The laser is programmed to shine everywhere that needs to be solid in the .005 inch thick segment.  The bed is lowered .005 inch and the process is repeated until the model is produced.  The DTM Corporation’s system uses a fine powder of actual thermoplastic resins and uses a laser to fuse the particles together.   A third system is made by Cubital.  Stereolithography has become so important to product development that almost all 3D CAD software has the ability to export 3D models out in a stereolithography file format designated as *.stl. ........[ Next Page ]

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