As part of the V&V test procedure, we designed a gravimetric means to characterize the volumetric and flow-rate accuracy of a couple of precision injection instruments. With this setup, we’re able to achieve measurement resolution of just 0.1 milligram and reduced the error due to water evaporation to 40 times better than using a mineral oil emulsion.
Making progress feels good, but when progress slows or I’ve hit a roadblock, it can be frustrating. When I need some fresh ideas, it’s time for a distraction.
Key Tech accomplishes prototyping by leveraging a network of approximately three dozen prototyping vendors, selecting the method and vendor based on the best match to your application. Multiple suppliers keep us current with the state of the art technologies and allow for flexibility and speed in the prototyping process.
Prototypes are essential to testing system performance. However, due to the current technological constraints of creating microscale prototypes, compromises in the characteristics of the prototype usually must be made, which can lead to unforeseen, expensive problems on the production line. Fortunately, basic, fundamental models of significant aspects of the system (first-principles modeling) can be “calibrated” through the use of focused CFD models and empirical data. The result is improved models that allow the designer to bridge the knowledge gap between paper and production.
Is asking the right questions something that can be taught, or do you have to be born with this twisted skill?
Thanks to Jessica Hagy at Indexed for inspiring the format. Some ideas are just better depicted graphically.
You’d probably like to hear that Key Tech has already built a product just like yours, but if that were true, you might not end up with much competitive advantage in the marketplace. Instead, we go to great lengths to hire and retain talented engineers who seek out new challenges.
Without robust design processes, it is all too easy to lose track of critical design issues – the consequence of which is usually schedule delays, added costs, and/or undesirable design compromises.
Creating a detailed Product Specification is one of the most important steps one can take at the beginning of new product development. If the spec defines the entire sphere of possibilities, what needs to be included (and excluded) here?
Recently, I published an article in MicroManufacturing Magazine about the challenges of designing microparts for manufacture. Not unlike any collaborative process, good communication is the key to a successful project.
