Medium Fidelity Prototype Part 1: Planning¶
Our next step is to quickly build and test the essential elements of the machine performance. However, the goal is to make this more than a bare-bones ‘proof-of-concept’ test and produce an artifact which can produce a simple performance. We will use the language ‘medium-fidelity prototype’ to refer to a physical test of a machine concept which answers essential questions regarding mechanism and behavior without getting bogged down in every detail of technical implementation.
Milestones¶
Each project will have specific unknowns which need to be resolved in order for the design to work. Even a single prototype proceeds through several smaller proof-of-concept demonstrations which test specific elements early.
Please carefully consider which critical elements are necessary for success and plan to test them first. It is tempting to begin designing the parts which are most familiar or likely to work, but that will be wasted effort if a fundamental assumption doesn’t hold.
Bill of Materials¶
Purchasing parts and materials frequently represents a key rate-limiting milestone on the critical path.
A Bill of Materials or BOM in engineering is a complete accounting of every component of a manufactured product. It is a useful tool for managing the complete set of material requirements involved in fabricating a device.
A Bill of Materials is generally presented in tabular format; a Google Sheet is
recommended. A rough template is available as BOM-template.xlsx.
For our purposes, a bill of materials typically involves three categories:
Fabricated parts, e.g. parts you will laser-cut or 3D print. These may conceivably involve special materials not typically stocked, e.g. fabric.
Stocked lab parts, including both electronics and mechanical. A product manufacturing BOM will include every last fastener, but for our purposes this is not needed. For more details on available parts please see Creative Kinetic Systems F26 text/materials/index.html and the Physical Computing Lab Inventory, although there is additional stock not listed.
Special components not available in the standard lab stock. These may require purchasing or are sometimes available from the private class inventory. Individual selections will be negotiated, since we would prefer to expand the current stock with re-usability in mind.
Note: as per IDeATe practices, all re-usable materials from lab and course supplies are considered as loans to be returned after the final show.
Deliverables¶
Please post a brief report to the appropriate shared folder. Please include the following:
a working title for your project (updated as needed)
brief concept statement (updated as needed)
short prioritized list of project milestones
a bill of materials identifying all purchased and fabricated components
updated sketches sufficient to explain the BOM
Medium Fidelity Prototype Part 2: Design Progress¶
As we move ahead into the longer project it is too easy for the objectives to get lost amidst the weekly mire of class deadlines. For this reason, we will have several brief progress report assignments summarizing current progress and stating new week-by-week objectives.
The complete design and build cycle is quite short. Results will vary by group, but by the end of this week I’d expect you to have at least a detailed design and some test parts.
Deliverables¶
Please post a brief report to the appropriate shared folder. Please include the following:
a brief paragraph summarizing weekly results
supporting photos, videos, and sketches
new objectives for the upcoming week
if needed, a purchasing list