prototyping thoughts – post 3
Last semester, I tried going straight to 3D printing for my first prototype. It failed pretty miserably to say the least. I spent so much time trying to get the machine to work and before you knew it, 2 weeks had gone by.
I felt a similar push this semester, but thought otherwise since I had that past experience. Our ‘final’ prototype actually has no 3D printed parts, and had honestly turned out a lot better than any of my designs turned out last semester.
While a lot of people claim 3D printing is a feasible prototyping strategy, I disagree in most cases. After having what I would consider very successful prototyping sessions, I think my preferred order of things to work with (at least for our design – I know they’ll change depending on what one need to make) are:
- Tape!!! This has been so helpful in holding things together and also for layering it to form shims.
- Pens/Pencils/Popsicle Sticks
- Foam
BME Design 