[3D Printing News] Rapid Iteration and New Methods in Engineering Design

[3D Printing News] Rapid Iteration and New Methods in Engineering Design

Honeybee Robotics is a design engineering and consulting firm renowned for its contributions to critical planetary analysis technologies in NASA's three past Mars missions. Their designs are "destined to work on Earth, Mars, and elsewhere." Their work also extends to other industries, leveraging expertise in design mechanics and robotic systems to operate in challenging environments. Through Ultimaker 3D printing , Honeybee Robotics can rapidly develop prototypes to test design concepts at early stages and facilitate more efficient internal replacements.


"When we're building a new type of robot, there's no need to use metal components when designing new items because it's too expensive and time-consuming. We print some things out on the same day, put in the bearings, bushings, and other components, and attach the motors to them. This allows us to explore different parts of the robot and modify any designs that don't work," said Yoni Saltzman, a robotics engineer at Honeybee Robotics.

The Challenge <br />Initially, Honeybee Robotics' engineers and staff were searching their offices for fast, low-cost manufacturing solutions to support multiple modifications and replacements during the early design phase. At the same time, they still needed to continuously validate concepts and establish project parameters.


Solution: On-site use of the Ultimaker professional desktop 3D printer can improve the productivity of new mechanical design projects, enabling engineers and designers to quickly and cost-effectively produce functional mechanical studies from the initial stages of project development.


Results

Exploring new mechanisms to test robotic systems before fully understanding the project's limitations helps engineers and designers quickly learn what works and what doesn't; with this process, teams can iterate freely without straining the budget.


Shared improvement design cannot address every client and project stakeholder issue with drawings and updated project briefs. Provide your collaborators with physical models to maintain and interactive reviews to offer a richer and deeper understanding of the subject matter.


Creating concept models differs from traditional model building. Desktop 3D printers allow engineers to adjust scale during manufacturing: miniaturize large components to represent the overall goal, or enlarge individual key elements for discussion and investigation.


With the increasing number of successful applications of 3D printing across a wide range of fields, we are happy to share various knowledge and possibilities related to innovation. If you are interested in 3D printers, please check out our product page ; for manufacturing or design needs, we also offer customized printing services (and we've added large-size model templates for the Ultimaker S5!).
Want to learn more about 3D printing applications? Feel free to check out other articles on our website.

Original link: https://ultimaker.com/en/knowledge/12-rapid-design-iterations-for-the-early-project-stages