How to Turn Your Concept Into a Prototype?

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

[UncleFluffy]

These people can help with part of your problem: http://www.emachineshop.com/ [emachineshop.com]

It doesn't look insanely hard or expensive

[petard]

I was looking into something similar for a Soekris-based project recently. ProtoCase [protocase.com] looks promising. I haven't actually placed my order, so I can't comment on quality just now. I did download their software and do a quick design to estimate costs. Looks like, for a typical soekris-sized project with a couple serial ports and a couple ethernet ports I'd be facing approx. $130/unit in very small quantities with about $70 in one-time setup fees.

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...

[Chapium]

This isn't necessarily a specific organization, but for casing, you might need to find someone with Industrial Design [wikipedia.org] background.

Some answers

[mnmn]

Sorry for not giving you a link, but there are plastic moulding companies that offer samples albeit at high prices. You'll give them an Autocad drawing with all the specs. They will clarify the tolerances they can offer. Now before you go off and pay for a mold, they commonly have this device that can create any solid plastic shape in 3D using lasers.

You need a "Product Development House"

[EmbeddedMan]

One example is Logic Product Development. (My employer - shamless plug) We do exactly what you are asking for. Sometimes (when everything is custom) it is expensive. Sometimes it is not. There are many other product development houses out there (also called contract engineering houses) that can take your prototype and turn it into something that can be mass produced. You'd then have it manufactured at a CEM (Contract Equipemnt Manufactuer) either here or overseas.

online RFQ

[jayrtfm]

mfgquote.com [mfgquote.com] lets you put your job up to get bids from 1,650 suppliers performing over 200 manufacturing processes

mechanical engineer here...

[Anonymous Coward]

There are three basic levels of plastic part volumes and costing outside the realm of machining from a block of plastic.

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.

This isn't a fab problem

[Animats]

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

[Alex Belits]

It took me years to get to this point: http://mars.illtel.denver.co.us/~abelits/images/td 44-testing/td44-assembled-pipes-1.jpg [denver.co.us]

Re:Here's a partial answer

[senatorpjt]

I noticed emachineshop doesn't list example prices for any of their example parts. A simple washer came to $130. They wanted something like $800 for a steel plate with holes cut in it (for a test tube rack). I guess it's still useful, but I find it hard to believe I couldn't get a better deal talking to a machinist in person. In fact, considering I would need two plates, it would be cheaper to just buy a milling machine [grizzly.com].

Doug Hall?

[bluprint]

He's one of the judges from that show American Inventor. His website is here [doughall.com]. At the bottom of the page, is a link to a company he recommends called Evergreen IP [evergreenip.com], who can supposedly help with this kind of thing. I have no personal experience with any of this, just happen to know about this guy.

TechShop.WS

[mhamrick]

If you're in the Bay Area, you may be interested in TechShop (http://www.techshop.ws/). They're up in the industrial complex across highway 101 from Menlo Park off the Marsh Rd. exit. Like the Crucible in Berkeley, they're a place with a bunch of tools for prototyping: PCB etchers, 3d printers, electronically controlled lathes, CNC milling machine, etc. They're scheduled to open their doors in August, I think. $30 gets you a "day pass" to use all the equipment in the building. $100 gets you a monthly membership.