The Right Way to Prototype...

[Scrupulous]

The Right Way to Prototype...

by Scrupulous » Tue Dec 08, 2009 4:55 pm

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I wanna open up a discussion on prototyping for typical mechanical items. Feel free to add your own input, so we can fine tune this bad boy.

Let’s say you have a cool idea for a simple product that seems to have a very handy physical use. What steps do you take to pursue this idea, get it as far as you can without wasting money, time and effort? What order should you take those steps? Well, maybe the following sequence will work for you:

PRELIMINARY PATENT SEARCH: If you can read this post, then you can probably do a decent preliminary patent search yourself, especially if you’ve ever done a keyword search. A patent database is a well-organized listing of products, which includes ideas that have never even been marketed.

Do you need to file for a patent, in order to benefit from a preliminary patent search? No, and you can avoid unexpected curve-balls and pitfalls later on down the line, regardless.

Are you hoping to find any and all files having to do with your idea, that have ever been published? Not necessarily. You just want to find one or more that would knock your idea out, if it can be found rather easily. That way, you can stop right there, let go of the idea, and move on to another project without having spent a dime.

Could you still pursue the idea, even if there are patents similar to it but nothing in the stores? Sure, but that’s no reason not to know about the patent landscape before doing anything else.


ROUGH PHYSICAL PROTOTYPE: …and by ‘rough’ I mean go to the hardware store and pick up some friggin plumbing materials, or plywood, or steel bars. Get some liquid nails or a cheap stick-welder. You want to throw something together that provides you with the benefits of your idea. You don’t care how it looks. You don’t care how much it weighs (necessarily). You can even scale it up or down in size, if possible, to make better use of the materials or expenses available. You need to know what you cannot visualize, and the only way to do that is by building the darn thing.

Should you skip this step, and go straight to making a CAD model of the item? Almost never, because there is no sense in spending the hours or dollars it would take to generate the model, when you don’t know if there isn’t a real snag to the concept itself. Even if you’re a proficient CAD designer, you would never know of a snag that could only be discovered by trying it out in real life.


ROUGH CAD MODEL: Okay, so your rough prototype does what you hoped it would do, and you’ve got that giddy feeling because you’ve made something cool, no matter what happens to it. What next? Well, think of it this way…regardless of how you plan to make your godzillions off of your idea, you’re probably gonna need a 3-D model of it anyway. Whether you want to make some sell sheets, or a plastic rapid prototype, or file for a patent, or just email the entire world…the best way to make clear images of a commercial design from any angle, environment or lighting is probably by making a digital model of it.

There are college students in every city that would love to make a little extra cash by taking your baby to the next level. The assumption is that it CAN indeed be made, and that all the little intricate details regarding materials and assembly can be worked out later. NOTE: One alternative here, would be to have nice 2D sketches made of the product, for sell sheets or a patent application, but this starts branching off...

So what next?


RAPID PROTOTYPING: Even if you have a great CAD model, no sensible businessman is going to fork over a ton of money before getting some feedback from the end-user of the product, or middleman. In my opinion, you need to be prepared to “show the device” as they say. Let prospects know that you mean business, that you have a vision, and that you have worked out the kinks. Let them hold it. You need to have available at least a handful of commercial-looking prototypes. In my opinion, you need to hand over a beautiful, shiny, painted product…something they would be proud to use themselves, pay money for, or keep as a gift. It shouldn’t rattle, leak, or what have you. It should be the finished product.

Then, it kinda depends on what you would want to do with your idea…make it, or license it.



If you wanna license it, then

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS: It doesn’t matter how you slice it…too many people have learned the hard way that any idea worth selling, is an idea worth stealing. Most often, it is the people that partner up with you that eventually gank you, believe it or not. By then, it’s too late to take action if you didn’t have IP rights established before you partnered up. Don’t mess around. The law is on your side. And, there’s a lot to it (too much to summarize in a paragraph or two) So, be informed.



If you wanna make it, then

ENGINEERED CAD DESIGN: If you’re lucky, then you can use the rough CAD model for this. Either way, you’ll need to have the production-ready model for testing and refinement. It’s an expensive road from here, so we’ll leave it at that. You can drive production on your own, but you’ll need some partners and manufacturers onboard, anyway. And they’ll want to be heavily involved, one way or another.

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[Michelle]

Re: The Right Way to Prototype...

by Michelle » Tue Dec 08, 2009 8:01 pm

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Can't add much substance to this topic, but cool topic idea!

Michelle

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[MississippiInventor]

Re: The Right Way to Prototype...

by MississippiInventor » Fri May 21, 2010 4:26 pm

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Regarding the rough physical prototype, I sometimes recommended people use the green floral foam to cut and make a model and then paint with acrylic paint.

I do this because some people are so hesitant to make a physical model, or they don't have the tools to make physical model.

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[MississippiInventor]

Re: The Right Way to Prototype...

by MississippiInventor » Fri May 21, 2010 4:30 pm

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I also recommend that before doing the CAD model, that you determine the value of your invention to a company.
The three components of the value of your invention to accompany are:
--the manufacturing cost
--the retail price
--enter the estimated sales volume

all three of these should be determined and then consideration should be given to whether it is worth proceeding or not. Otherwise you waste a whole bunch of money because that prototype is not going to help you make any money since your idea isn't worth anything to anyone in the first place.

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[Scrupulous]

Re: The Right Way to Prototype...

by Scrupulous » Sun May 23, 2010 9:40 am

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...Otherwise you waste a whole bunch of money because that prototype is not going to help you make any money since your idea isn't worth anything to anyone in the first place.

Did you mean digital model?

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[Scrupulous]

Re: The Right Way to Prototype...

by Scrupulous » Sun May 23, 2010 9:47 am

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Regarding the rough physical prototype, I sometimes recommended people use the green floral foam to cut and make a model and then paint with acrylic paint.

I do this because some people are so hesitant to make a physical model, or they don't have the tools to make physical model.

Yeah, that's a good approach, especially for models that are "bigger than a breadbox", and prolly fun too.

For smaller carvings, you can get some of that new lightweight Crayola modeling clay, and shape it by hand. Let it dry, and then carve/sculpt/sand it to the shape you like.

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[Work2XL]

Re: The Right Way to Prototype...

by Work2XL » Thu Jul 01, 2010 2:03 pm

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As usual you are long winded. I didn't read your entire post, as I assume I'd probably agree with it. Brilliant minds think alike and all that. I would probably point out that you have intentionally gone past the beginning step for the purpose of this thread. Long before prototyping, you should get a general idea of market size, competition and have a decent idea of the manufacturing cost. I get calls several times a year from inventors who have 3D models made that cost the quite a bit of money. (and we still have to fix them because they weren't made for molding, draft, undercuts, radii, steel thickness, etc) and ask me to quote a mold for them. I have one that I'm quoting for a guy that is $68,000 for just 1 of his tools. When I gave him the mold price, he was gut shot. Also, he wants to sell his product for $3.00 to compete with a current product on the market. The material he spec'd is $6.40 per pound and his part weighs 1.7 lbs each. You do the math. I hated to be the one to tell him that he just wasted several thousand dollars on prototypes, 3D models, provisional patents, attorneys fees, business plan software, etc. Nobody had the heart to tell him upfront, there was a HUGE elephant in the room. He honestly expected the mold to cost $5,000 to $8,000. The $68K was my cost to have it made in China without any of my time in engineering or project management.
I told him I'd help him privately (not through the company I work with) try to trim down the costs, and spec different cheaper material. I think I told him that so he wouldn't go find a bridge when he walked out of my office.
What I'm trying to say is do ALL of the legwork BEFORE you spend a dime. A thorough business plan that YOU write yourself with HONEST information is worth it's weight it gold.

Ok, I just scrolled up a bit and saw Mississippi inventor said the same thing. Guess I'm getting lazy.

Work2xl

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[JoeWaisman]

Re: The Right Way to Prototype...

by JoeWaisman » Thu Jul 01, 2010 8:37 pm

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Long before prototyping, you should get a general idea of market size, competition and have a decent idea of the manufacturing cost.
[...]
What I'm trying to say is do ALL of the legwork BEFORE you spend a dime. A thorough business plan that YOU write yourself with HONEST information is worth it's weight it gold.

This is actually something I've wondered about a bit. Sometimes it seems useful to create a rough prototype so that the function and flaws of the product can be understood. I guess the real question is what are the organization methods for this, and which situations do they suit best?

For example with a toy I would probably create it first and test it with a small trusted audience second. In this case prototyping would preclude market research...which should be much more extensive than the steps above by the time the toy gets to market.

I would probably label this a tangible driven product. This would be "tangible driven" because interaction with the product would obviate it's need/appeal. Market research is often flawed and limited by the accurate imagination of those surveyed. This innovative product is created in spite of market research. Consider Henry Ford: "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses."

With computer software I would probably look at the market first, figure out the user/client needs and build the product to suit that if there was an obvious need. I would label this a market driven product.

Are there any other categories, or guidelines that would be useful when looking at it this way?

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