

Lean Prototyping Techniques for Hardware - graeham
http://www.graehamdouglas.com/lean-prototyping-for-hardware/

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mercuryrising
I have been amassing stuff for a long time. My friends call me a hoarder, but
I shrug it off. Every time I move I have boxes and boxes of stuff to bring
with me. It's a pain.

But, I am getting ever so close to the day when I wake up in the morning with
a good idea, and before I go to bed at night I have a functional prototype.
Talk about momentum, if you can go from nothing to functional (for something
somewhat complicated) in a single day. It's easy to do with software, all the
parts are there, there are zero expenses to getting a prototype working, but
oh so much harder with all the things you could need in the real world.

There's nothing that puts out creative fire like waiting for parts. When you
first think of something, your mind is most easily changed. I like thinking of
thoughts as crystallizing idea space. The more you think about something, the
more real that idea becomes. When you need to wait a week, and you have only
your thoughts to throw at your project, you'll start to put the fire out. Your
mind will be less able to change because it's creating a thought structure
based on only your first ideas and how you will implement the parts that are
on the way. Experience fuels the fire, thoughts put it out.

~~~
graeham
I mostly agree with you, including the pains of moving my hoards of parts (or
junk, as my friends call it). Ideas need time to ferment, but they spoil if
they are left in the mind for too long without manifestation.

This is exactly why I advocate early prototyping at the dollar store (or
hardware or electronics stores). Often a lot of that stuff can be sourced
quickly and locally, or something close to it. Let the hoard stay in someone
else's place. Beyond that, McMaster-Carr, EBay, and Amazon have delivery times
under a week to Canada, I expect its only a day or two to the USA.

This is also why I advocate CAD prototyping. You don't need any parts around,
but once you are happy with your design, it is quite quick to order or make
parts, unless something particular is required.

~~~
mercuryrising
I'm working on making a 3D printer to speed it up (and to force me to learn
CAD). But most of the stuff I do is electronic, so if I don't have a specific
part that a) I don't have, and b) the surplus store doesn't have, then I need
to wait a while and pay $7 in shipping for a $0.35 part.

If I had more money where the $7 convenience fee of storing the junk at
someone else's house wasn't a big deal, I would totally keep it all there.
It's kind of like Amazon Glacier, it takes a while to get it, and it's
expensive, but you can put everything there. If it's on disk drives in your
garage you can store a bunch, but it takes a little bit to find. If it's on
SSD storage on your desk, it's the quickest to iterate, but then everything is
right there.

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mcshaner1
I'm sure this isn't what Graeham had in mind with this post, but I'll comment
anyway: Steven Spear identifies rapid experimentation as one of Toyota's
strengths, not necessarily in product development, but developing how they
build the product. An example given in his book was checking to see if
adjusting the height of a source of parts. Rather than welding it a new
position, bolting it, or even using duct tape, the fastest way to check is to
just hold it there. It's cheaper and faster. When you lower the costs (both
money and time) of experimentation, learning happens more quickly. Or as this
post puts it: "the more you can build quickly, the faster you can find what
you don’t know"

Rapid prototyping/experimentation leads to rapid feedback, which in turn can
lead to rapid learning.

~~~
graeham
Well put. Toyota's lean manufacturing was in fact what I had in mind when
referring to the origins of the term. I wasn't familiar with that particular
example, but was referring in general to Toyota's reputation for trying to
reduce various forms of "waste" in their production.

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ChuckMcM
There is a huge benefit from 'getting your hands' on something. For folks who
are visually challenged (verbal thinkers) having a prototype or a way to
provide a sense of scale and design is really really important.

Steve Roberts clued me into a really useful way to prototype an enclosure,
basically corrugated cardboard and fiberglass. Make your "thing" out of
corregated cardboard (some sturdy boxes) and then cover it with fiberglass
dipped in resin. (be sure and where a respirator mask though, the fumes are
nasty).

~~~
orangethirty
That's how I build the base part for most of my little robots. Be aware that
fiberglass can cause allergic reactions in your skin. Wear long sleeved shirts
and gloves. You may also prototype with cardboard, wooden sticks (like those
used in popsicles), duct tape, and a hot glue gun. If you want to mess with
plastics, you can go to the junkyard and buy some inner fender covers from
wrecked cars. Then just use a heat gun to mold or melt the plastic to whatever
shape you need. If you make a mold with fiberglass, you can easily fill it
with this plastic. It is quite durable and can be drilled/tapped. Bondo is
another great thing to use, but be aware that it is very dusty and messy.

