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user16
user16

I think that it depends upon what your purposes are.

If you're looking to pitch the concept to investors, then there are a couple of routes to consider.

The most obvious route, as you mentioned, would be to build a second, more refined prototype. It may be worth giving this another consideration despite the investment of your time. Nothing sells a concept to an investor quite as well as an actual, functioning prototype.

For perspective, Dyson claims that he went through over 5,000 prototypes in designing his first bagless vacuum.

Another route to consider is that sketchup appears to support creating animations. If you eventually want to ship this concept off to a machine shop, then you'll need to invest the time to create digitized plans. This is likely the fastest path to having a refined presentation of the concept.

One other concept to consider is to create a video recording of the existing prototype. That will both demonstrate the moving portions of the concept as well as digitizing the concept so it is more easily shared.

Rebuilding the prototype in a non-functional way (leaving out motors) with a material that you never intend to use for production doesn't seem like a great approach. That seems like a step backwards from where you're currently at.

Another option to consider is to contract with a mechanical design shop. Not all CNC shops have mechanical design capabilities, so you may need to shift who you are talking with at this point. A design shop should have an engineer or draftsman that can work with you on the concept and then build a specification. It's worth noting that this can appear to be an expensive option, but you are paying for their expertise in creating schematics.

I think that it depends upon what your purposes are.

If you're looking to pitch the concept to investors, then there are a couple of routes to consider.

The most obvious route, as you mentioned, would be to build a second, more refined prototype. It may be worth giving this another consideration despite the investment of your time. Nothing sells a concept to an investor quite as well as an actual, functioning prototype.

For perspective, Dyson claims that he went through over 5,000 prototypes in designing his first bagless vacuum.

Another route to consider is that sketchup appears to support creating animations. If you eventually want to ship this concept off to a machine shop, then you'll need to invest the time to create digitized plans. This is likely the fastest path to having a refined presentation of the concept.

One other concept to consider is to create a video recording of the existing prototype. That will both demonstrate the moving portions of the concept as well as digitizing the concept so it is more easily shared.

Rebuilding the prototype in a non-functional way (leaving out motors) with a material that you never intend to use for production doesn't seem like a great approach. That seems like a step backwards from where you're currently at.

I think that it depends upon what your purposes are.

If you're looking to pitch the concept to investors, then there are a couple of routes to consider.

The most obvious route, as you mentioned, would be to build a second, more refined prototype. It may be worth giving this another consideration despite the investment of your time. Nothing sells a concept to an investor quite as well as an actual, functioning prototype.

For perspective, Dyson claims that he went through over 5,000 prototypes in designing his first bagless vacuum.

Another route to consider is that sketchup appears to support creating animations. If you eventually want to ship this concept off to a machine shop, then you'll need to invest the time to create digitized plans. This is likely the fastest path to having a refined presentation of the concept.

One other concept to consider is to create a video recording of the existing prototype. That will both demonstrate the moving portions of the concept as well as digitizing the concept so it is more easily shared.

Rebuilding the prototype in a non-functional way (leaving out motors) with a material that you never intend to use for production doesn't seem like a great approach. That seems like a step backwards from where you're currently at.

Another option to consider is to contract with a mechanical design shop. Not all CNC shops have mechanical design capabilities, so you may need to shift who you are talking with at this point. A design shop should have an engineer or draftsman that can work with you on the concept and then build a specification. It's worth noting that this can appear to be an expensive option, but you are paying for their expertise in creating schematics.

Source Link
user16
user16

I think that it depends upon what your purposes are.

If you're looking to pitch the concept to investors, then there are a couple of routes to consider.

The most obvious route, as you mentioned, would be to build a second, more refined prototype. It may be worth giving this another consideration despite the investment of your time. Nothing sells a concept to an investor quite as well as an actual, functioning prototype.

For perspective, Dyson claims that he went through over 5,000 prototypes in designing his first bagless vacuum.

Another route to consider is that sketchup appears to support creating animations. If you eventually want to ship this concept off to a machine shop, then you'll need to invest the time to create digitized plans. This is likely the fastest path to having a refined presentation of the concept.

One other concept to consider is to create a video recording of the existing prototype. That will both demonstrate the moving portions of the concept as well as digitizing the concept so it is more easily shared.

Rebuilding the prototype in a non-functional way (leaving out motors) with a material that you never intend to use for production doesn't seem like a great approach. That seems like a step backwards from where you're currently at.