Hello RP folks!
I am a part-time MBA student at Boston University. Myself and 2 other
students are working on a project for a client who has a technology
that they think could be used to do rapid prototyping. In order to
assess the feasbility of the technology, we need to begin by gathering
some customer requirements. We've already spoken to some folks at
design firms and service bureaus, and then I stumbled across this list!
Different from most other RP technologies which have a "additive" or
building approach, this machine would instead sculpt material (a
"subtractive" approach). However, they claim that it would be
extremely fast (1/2 hour for a small prototype), inexpensive and
have high resolution.
If you could take 10-15 minutes to respond to the following questions
and survey, we would really appreciate it. Please respond to me
personally at "lferrant@avid.com" - since I will be taking myself
off of the mailing list after sending this message (I can't keep up
with all of the wonderful information on the list!). Any and all
comments welcome! All responses will be kept completely confidential.
Thank you in advance for your time... Lisa Ferrante-Walsh.
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Questions
1) Describe your ideal RP system - unconstrained by the limiations
of the current technology, cost, etc.
2) What systems to you use today and why? Do you own or use a service
bureau? What would it take for you to buy a system?
3) What do you see to be the advantages and limitations of a sculpting approach
to making prototypes vs. the existing building approach?
4) Where do you see the RP marketplace going in the next 5 years?
(technology trends, costs, machine size, service bureaus, etc.)
Survey items
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The following criteria are separated into 2 groups: a) the requirements for
the prototype itself, and b) the requirements of the process/machine.
If you've never seen or operated an RP machine, feel free to skip b).
Please weight the following criteria from 1 to 10 (10 being most
important). Then, if you have experience with one or more
technologies, pass through the list again and weight how good the
technology is at each requirement (and please identify the technology).
a) Prototype Requirements
-------------------------
Resolution/detail
Accuracy (multiple prototypes are exactly the same)
Strength
Precision (the prototype is exactly as spec'd)
Material Choice
Color Choice
Size limitations (small and large)
Turnaround time
Total cost of prototype
Ability to do cavities
Non-linear shapes
Multi-color models
Multi-material models
Support for ABS
Take STL 3D model input
Use for real parts
Machine/Process Requirements
----------------------------
Environmental concerns (toxic waste)
Time to build
Size of machine
Need for supports
Setup time
Training
Post-processing (washing, removing supports, sanding, painting, etc.)
Machine cost
Material cost
Temperature restrictions
See the item while it is being built
Machine in office environment (vs. lab)
Ability to stop and start the same model
Ease of use
Labor intensiveness/automation
Maintenance
Aesthetics of the machine
Any other comments?
Thanks again for your time!
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : Tue Jun 05 2001 - 22:47:21 EEST