Accelerating product prototyping through hybrid methods: Coupling 3D printing and LEGO

David Mathias; Chris Snider; Ben Hicks; Charlie Ranscombe

doi:10.1016/j.destud.2019.04.003

Accelerating product prototyping through hybrid methods: Coupling 3D printing and LEGO

David Mathias^*, Chris Snider, Ben Hicks, Charlie Ranscombe

^*Corresponding author for this work

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33 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

This paper introduces Hybrid Prototyping as a way to couple different prototyping methods; combining their complementary affordances and mitigating their limitations. To characterise and investigate this approach, a simulation-based study was conducted into the coupling of low cost 3D printing and LEGO. Key benefits hypothesised are reduced fabrication time and increased reconfigurability. Six primitive 3D shapes are simulated using a continuum of hypothetical brick sizes. Results show a reduction in fabrication time of 45% and a reconfigurability of 57% at the optimum. A case study highlights the compounded improvements over 3D printing for an iterative prototyping process. These findings mean that increases in prototyping iterations can be made due to reduced time and material costs, accelerating the product development process.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	68-99
Number of pages	32
Journal	Design Studies
Volume	62
Early online date	4 May 2019
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2019.04.003
Publication status	Published - May 2019

Keywords

product development
design process
simulation
technology
prototyping

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abstract = "This paper introduces Hybrid Prototyping as a way to couple different prototyping methods; combining their complementary affordances and mitigating their limitations. To characterise and investigate this approach, a simulation-based study was conducted into the coupling of low cost 3D printing and LEGO. Key benefits hypothesised are reduced fabrication time and increased reconfigurability. Six primitive 3D shapes are simulated using a continuum of hypothetical brick sizes. Results show a reduction in fabrication time of 45% and a reconfigurability of 57% at the optimum. A case study highlights the compounded improvements over 3D printing for an iterative prototyping process. These findings mean that increases in prototyping iterations can be made due to reduced time and material costs, accelerating the product development process.",

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AU - Snider, Chris

AU - Hicks, Ben

AU - Ranscombe, Charlie

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AB - This paper introduces Hybrid Prototyping as a way to couple different prototyping methods; combining their complementary affordances and mitigating their limitations. To characterise and investigate this approach, a simulation-based study was conducted into the coupling of low cost 3D printing and LEGO. Key benefits hypothesised are reduced fabrication time and increased reconfigurability. Six primitive 3D shapes are simulated using a continuum of hypothetical brick sizes. Results show a reduction in fabrication time of 45% and a reconfigurability of 57% at the optimum. A case study highlights the compounded improvements over 3D printing for an iterative prototyping process. These findings mean that increases in prototyping iterations can be made due to reduced time and material costs, accelerating the product development process.

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KW - design process

KW - simulation

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DO - 10.1016/j.destud.2019.04.003

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Accelerating product prototyping through hybrid methods: Coupling 3D printing and LEGO

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