Biomimicry - Design Inspired on Nature

January 22, 2018 0 Comments



Biomimicry or biomimetics ist the examination of nature, its models, systems, processes, and elements to emulate or take inspiration from in order to solve human problems. The term biomimicry and biomimetics come from the Greek words bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate. 

And how can does help building machines or enhance the ones that we have already created?

The examples are all around, we just need to look closely and pay attention. Leonardo da Vinci made the sketches from “Flying Machines” based on bird anatomy, Velcro was based on the hook structure from a plant called Bur, swimmers suits that emulate shark skin, air conditioning design enhancement based on termite’s colonies in Africa, echolocation modeling in bats led to a cane for the blind, among various others examples worldwide. 

As a conclusion we can say that engineered products and systems can be somehow optimised using new methodologies and techniques that Biomimicry could provide. 
Isn´t for some cases thousands of years of evolution the best R&D department? 

The videos bellow contains more accurate examples and provides more information about Biomimicry. Enjoy!






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Accessibility, Inspectability, Disassembly and Maintenance on Machine or Product Design

January 21, 2018 0 Comments


Every product or machine has their own Critical Point(s) where “failure“ is predictable during the machine life cycle. These points need to be constantly checked to prevent unscheduled downtime. During the Design stage it is extremely important that designers configure machine components, subassemblies, and fully assembled machines in order that the critical points established during the functional design process are accessible and inspectable.
Also, every maintenance and service requirements should be carefully examined by the designer in the early stages of the design to assure minimal downtime and maximal functionality during the life cycle.

As the design advances, the responsible over the design should make a list of critical points, categorized and prioritized them as well.

Depending on the type of project it is important for a designer to have knowledge, or the support of the maintenance department, of nondestructive evaluation techniques and equipment that might be used to implement the inspection process.

Life Cycle maintenance and service requirements should also be examined by the designer with the objective of configuring components, subassemblies, and the overall assembly so that the maintenance and service are easy as is practical. That being said, it is important at this stage to identify and correct potential problems such as assembly and disassembly interference, insufficient clearance for wrenches, pullers, or presses. Predict the use of special tools and assure that the expendable or recyclable maintenance parts such as filters, wear plates, belts, and bearings are easily replaceable.




Here are some guidelines in designing for more efficient maintenance:

  • Make available for use access ports and inspection plates 

  • Equip the machine with accessible gripping sites, jacking sites and all types of clearances that could help the assembly and disassembly process. 

  • Use integral fasteners, such as studs or tabs, in order to replace loose parts that are easily lost.

  • Avoid using permanent or semi-permanent fastening methods such as staking, welding, adhesive bonding or irreversible snap-fits 


At this stage the design for resource conservation and minimization of adverse environmental impact are important. Design for recycling, reprocessing and remanufacturing should be taken in consideration. It is the designer obligation not only optimize the design regarding functionality, performance and maintenance requirements but also the conservation of resources and preservation of earth’s environment.




References :

Mechanical Design of Machine Elements: A Failure Prevention, Jack A. Collins, Henry R. Busby, Gearge H. Staab, Nov 2009, 2nd Edition, Wiley

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Main Steps of Product Development

January 13, 2018 1 Comments
IDEA DEVELOPMENT, CLIENT NECESSITY 


Every new product starts its life as an idea. Normally, It all starts with a client wish, a necessity, a problem or obstacle to be solve on our daily life or in the urge to make tasks efficiently and as quickly as possible; it can also start being part of a side project taking place on other department (marketing, R&D, engineering, production) result as a direct response to a market need or a response to a competitor product. 


RESEARCH PHASE

After the Idea framework and guidelines are established, the projects kicks off with the research of similar products on the market (parameters like form, size, user demographic distribution, ergonomics, materials, price etc..) if applicable within the product itself or product range. 

For completely new products the written above parameters are also important to determine on which direction the product evolves. 

In case of industrial machines (production lines machines or machines made for specific products or parts) the same research can be performed, but normally these machines are one of a kind, made for specific parts to be assemble or redirected on the production line for specific situations with sometimes leads us to different steps during the product development, where the prototype phase can be set aside. 


PRODUCT SCREENING

Once the idea generation and research phase ends, the ideas must pass throughout a screening process to crop out all but the best ideas. The screening process typically includes a variety of general projections including cost, strategies, marketing trends, market reception and profitability. This is the step where normally the company determines if the chosen ideas are compatible with the business objectives and if later the product offers a viable return on Investment. 


CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING

Now that the idea is chosen we need to turn it into a concept and make it ready so it can be tested afterwards. 

A concept is a detailed description or blueprint version of the idea. Basically, when an idea is developed in every aspect so as to make it presentable, it is called a concept.

The concept is now brought to the target market. Getting the perspective and feedback of your customers helps the business to develop the concept further. A list of questions should be elaborated in such way so that the business knows what the customer feels about the future product. “Will you buy this product when it´s launched?” – That´s gold pot at the end of the rainbow, and should be taken in consideration all the reasons that make the customer buy the product or simply rejecting it. 


BUSINESS STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT

At this point a business strategic plan must emerge based on the target market and where is the product being commercialise. Along other aspects the budget  represents now the most important limiting condition for the development of the business strategy. Target market positions and planned investment budgets must be seen as provisional in character, as one possible outcome of the process of developing business strategies may be that the financial means available is shown to be insufficient for meeting the targets. If this happens, the corporate strategy has to be revised. 


PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING

Now form is created using preliminary ergonomic research, concept schemes, virtual reality and creating sketch models. At this point is decided the design objective. Components fitting and location as well as weight balance, materials colours, component strength and how to connect them, are all composed through this process. 

Once all the strategies are approved, the product concept is transformed into an actual tangible product. For complete accuracy of the final model form, a CAD program is normally used to create a virtual model of all components and finally attach them together in order to achieve the product´s final form.

This development stage results in building up of a prototype or a limited production model. All the branding and other strategies decided previously are tested and applied in this stage.

Unlike concept testing, here the actual prototype is introduced for research and feedback. Actual customers feedback are taken and further changes, if required, are made to the product. This process is of utmost importance as it validates the whole concept and makes the company ready for the launch.


COMMERCIALISATION

So, finally the product is ready. At this point all the final decisions are to be made. Which are the main Markets, what are the objectives, what to expect and which measures to apply to each one of them, are some topics for the final briefing involving different departments before introduction Stage. 


INTRODUCTION

This is the point where the product is launched. At this stage, normally the sales are slow and difficult, and the selling company must incur heavy promotional expenditure to convince the public. The main objective is to generate primary demand (for the product class) instead of the selective demand (demand for a specific brand). Prices may be set high to make a market selection (skimming strategy) before imitators appear, or set low prices to deter imitators with low margins (penetration strategy).



References :


Business Strategy Formulation: Theory, Process, and the Intellectual Revolution, Anthony W. Ulwick, 1999, Quorum Books.

www.BusinessDictionary.com

www.entrepreneur.com



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