Form Loves Function

There are 433 Parts in your Telephone

admin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:46:31 +0000

We’re not talking about that Android phone, Windows phone, or iPhone in your pocket. This 1947 video from Bell Telephone Systems shows all the pieces of a 300 Series phone, designed by Henry Dreyfuss, coming together. If “Tommy Telephone” annoys you the way he annoyed me, skip ahead to about the 3:15 mark when the phone parts make their appearance.

It’s interesting to see no only the parts, their geometry and how they fit together, but also the materials used. Not surprising to see copper, nickel, and gold on the list. The lead surprised me for the moment before I realized the product was designed in the 1930′s. Wax, leather, linen, cotton? Yes.

Seeing all the pieces of such an iconic, ubiquitous product come together reinforces the great respect I have for early industrial designers.

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Less and More – Dieter Rams Exhibit at SFMOMA

admin — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:23:34 +0000

If you haven’t see it yet, you have a month to visit SFMOMA for

“Less and More – THE DESIGN ETHOS OF DIETER RAMS,” closing on February 20, 2012.

Widely regarded as one of the most influential industrial designers of our time, Dieter Rams produced iconic works and innovative ideas (in particular his advocacy for “less but better” design) that have proved seminal for our contemporary design culture. For more than 40 years, Rams was the lead designer for the German household appliance company Braun. He has also been the active designer for German furniture company Vitsœ since his start there in 1959. This exhibition includes more than 200 models and objects by Rams and his team, as well as contemporary designs inﬂuenced by his Ten Principles of Good Design, such as Apple computers.

The show is well worth the $18 admission fee for anyone involved in bringing products to life; industrial designers, engineers, marketers, manufacturers.

Hours:
M-Tu: 11-5:45
W: CLOSED
Th: 11-8:45
F-Su: 11-5:45

Map:

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BMW Motorcycle Designer with the Quote of the Week

admin — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 06:12:50 +0000

The quote of the week this week comes from Ola Stenegard, lead designer of the BMW S1000RR, in an interview with BikeExif:

Q: What motorcycle do you despise?
A: None. There is no bike out there that a good blowtorch, angle grinder and TIG welder can’t fix.

That’s a spirit Form Loves Function can get behind.

Feast on some tasty concept sketches of the S 1000 RR:

image: BMW Ducati Husqvarna Motorcycles of Atlanta

image: Pelican Parts Forum

… and the final product:

image: BMW Motorrad

But Stenegard isn’t just a go-as-fast-as-you-can kind of guy. He has a real passion for two-wheeled machines. A passion that shines in his “Forsaken Shovelhead,” hand crafted by the man himself:

image: Exclusive Choppers

Engineer vs. Designer Podcast Josh Mings of Solidsmack and Adam O’Hern of CadJunkie.com have...

Engineer vs. Designer Podcast

admin — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 12:18:22 +0000

Josh Mings of Solidsmack and Adam O’Hern of CadJunkie.com have been getting together every week and choppin’ it up over some design and engineering topics, tips, tricks, interviews with special guests, recording it, and publishing the conversation as “Engineer vs. Designer.” Episode 7 airs today with a little insight into the philosophy behind Form Loves Function along with their usual industry news, tips, and tricks. Check it out at http://evd1.tv/

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Cam-driven Automation

admin — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 13:32:37 +0000

Back before nearly every piece of manufacturing equipment shipped with computers and motors, automated equipment was driven by cams; mechanical cams not “Computer Aided Machining.” I saw such a machine when I was a young man. Remembering how impressed I was watching this machine execute a dozen or so movements all driven by a single cam shaft with multiple cams, I set out on a video search for footage of such machines. After way too many hours this is the best I could find. It’s footage of a vintage multi-spindle lathe from a now-defunct machine shop in the UK.

It might not be as exciting as watching a 5-axis machine cut a motocross helmet from a block of aluminum, but at about 90 seconds in you can see one of the cam shafts driving some movement. There is a good overview shot at about 2:01 and an interesting close-up on about 5 axes of movement at about the 2:30 mark. There are 7:15 minutes altogether with footage of a few machines.

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Deus Ex Machina 1200 Street Tracker

admin — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 12:37:56 +0000

Deus Ex Machina transforms vintage motorcycles into modern machines of mayhem while staying to true the original heritage. Check out the step-by-step photos of this 1200 Street Tracker:

And while we’re on the topic, why not check out some of the Deus creations rippin’ at Harold Park Paceway:

Deus Ex Machina – Harold Park Paceway Revisited from Deus Customs on Vimeo.

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If you were a solid rocket booster

admin — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 16:47:12 +0000

…on the final launch of the NASA space shuttle program, this is what you would see:

SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR FINAL LAUNCH from Northern Lights on Vimeo.

(watch full screen for maximum awesome)

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Steel. What was true in 1938 is true today.‬‏

admin — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 02:56:28 +0000

The equipment may be a bit different, but the process fundamentals are mostly the same. This vintage 1938 film takes you on the journey from ore to industrial steel with a lot of furnaces along the way.

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Creature Design Enabled by 5-Axis CNC

admin — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 17:23:50 +0000

Details on the product design and build process are rarely presented in the comprehensive, concise fashion of this video from John Cox’s Creature Workshop. Sure, he’s building limited run sculptures for the entertainment industry but the process of sculpting, scanning, processing, machining, and assembling is common to many design industries. Plus, I love seeing practical applications of 5-axis CNC machining.

Here are some photos of the process:

Scanning

Processing

Machining

Comment

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Beautiful Deconstruction

admin — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 19:29:08 +0000

Photographer Todd McLellan takes the product take-apart to a new level by artistically arranging the parts and photographing them, then photographing the parts, presumably, being tossed into the air.

The products he takes apart are a few technological generations old but it is still insightful to see how they look on the inside and marvel at the complexity. Younger engineers will be amazed at the level of detail achievable in the pre-CAD era.

More at http://www.toddmclellan.com/; click the “New Work” link on the left and have a look at the video of the deconstruction and photography process.

Comment

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Search by Shape

admin — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 06:05:34 +0000

Partbrowser allows you to search your 3D library using a rough 3D shape as a search query:

PartBrowser – Browse-by-shape for CAD files from Andrew Sherlock on Vimeo.

This technology will be REALLY interesting when we’re downloading 3D files and printing them at home.

Comment

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Dieter Rams’ 10 Principles of Good Design

admin — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 22:33:35 +0000

It’s a classic that you have probably seen before and here it is again for quick and easy reference:

Good design is innovative
The possibilities for innovation are not, by any means, exhausted. Technological development is always offering new opportunities for innovative design. But innovative design always develops in tandem with innovative technology, and can never be an end in itself.

Good design makes a product useful
A product is bought to be used. It has to satisfy certain criteria, not only functional, but also psychological and aesthetic. Good design emphasises the usefulness of a product whilst disregarding anything that could possibly detract from it.

Good design is aesthetic
The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its usefulness because products we use every day affect our person and our well-being. But only well-executed objects can be beautiful.

Good design makes a product understandable
It clarifies the product’s structure. Better still, it can make the product talk. At best, it is self-explanatory.

Good design is unobtrusive
Products fulfilling a purpose are like tools. They are neither decorative objects nor works of art. Their design should therefore be both neutral and restrained, to leave room for the user’s self-expression.

Good design is honest
It does not make a product more innovative, powerful or valuable than it really is. It does not attempt to manipulate the consumer with promises that cannot be kept.

Good design is long-lasting
It avoids being fashionable and therefore never appears antiquated. Unlike fashionable design, it lasts many years – even in today’s throwaway society.

Good design is thorough down to the last detail
Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance. Care and accuracy in the design process show respect towards the consumer.

Good design is environmentally friendly
Design makes an important contribution to the preservation of the environment. It conserves resources and minimises physical and visual pollution throughout the lifecycle of the product.

Good design is as little design as possible
Less, but better – because it concentrates on the essential aspects, and the products are not burdened with non-essentials.

Back to purity, back to simplicity.

Copyright Dieter Rams, amended March 2003 and October 2009

Though Dieter was primarily an industrial designer every one of these points are equally applicable to product engineering.

Check out the interview for some additional context.

Comment

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Gesture-Based 3D Modeling Interface

admin — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 04:12:02 +0000

Arduino + Kinect Hack + PureData = Minority Report + Real-world Productivity

I can’t imagine modeling with this interface at this pace all day but this is still an impressive mashup of technology.

Comments

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Moldflow and FEA

admin — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 03:24:51 +0000

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, there’s nothing like having a prototype to evaluate (The Value of Physical Prototypes & Moldflow and Part Visualization). This is mostly due to the fact that simulations that represent real-world performance are timely and costly to develop. I can’t remember an instance when I relied on FEA alone without empirical testing to establish actual performance of the simulation.

Autodesk is getting closer to bridging this gap between simulation and the real world by integrating key features of its large software portfolio. The first thing they did that impressed me was their integration of Moldflow and Showcase to aid in the visualization of cosmetic defects on plastic parts (re-link: Moldflow and Part Visualization).

Even more interesting and, in my opinion, useful, is their interoperability between Moldflow and Algor (FEA/mechanical simulation) which addresses the issue of simulated material properties vs. real-world material properties. Typically material properties are applied to FEA models with the assumption they are isotropic. But most injection molded plastics are anisotropic. The real material properties of injection molded plastic parts are dependent on many factors. Flow of material through the mold is an important one since it is the material flow that determines fiber and molecular orientation. This is especially important in the case of glass-filled resins; the strength in the direction of the glass fibers is greater than in the transverse direction. The magic bit of the Autodesk offering is that Moldflow results can be imported into Algor where they are used to calculate material properties at each point in the FEA mesh, better representing the plastic part coming out of the mold. Different gate locations and process parameters can be simulated through both Moldflow and Algor to determine how to maximize the performance of the part in critical areas.

It’s not going to eliminate the need for empirical testing of final parts but it definitely helps in optimizing designs early in the process.

{Update February 22, 2011: Thanks to Bob Williams (@ADSKsimulation) for the link to the video}

Have your say in the forums

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Injection Mold Actuator Video

admin — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 13:31:56 +0000

I just came across this video on actuators in injection molds. It’s a pretty good overview of how transverse action is achieved in mold tools and I found the visualizations incredibly helpful in understanding exactly what is happening mechanically out-of-sight.

Join the discussion.

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Injection Molded Part Tolerances

admin — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 06:48:13 +0000

Continuing the discussion of geometric variation on mechanical components, it’s time to talk about plastic. Before getting into details of injection molded plastic part tolerances, you might want to have a look at these two posts that provide a foundation for the following discussion:
Injection Molded Plastic Parts Checklist
EDM Tolerances

Let’s have a look at the major factors that affect plastic part tolerances.

Part Design
As a general rule the achievable tolerance on any given dimension is a function of feature size; roughly ±0.2% to ±0.5% depending on some other factors we will discuss below. It’s easier to hold tighter absolute tolerances on smaller parts and features than it is on larger parts.
Material
All engineering thermoplastics shrink as they cool, providing a challenge for the tool designer who must create a mold at the size the part will be at the time of molding. The adjustment can be made via non-uniform scaling of design geometry based on the material specified. Since each material has a unique shrink rate it can be difficult or impossible to run a different material without significant tool modifications.
Tool Design and Construction
Injection mold tools can be incredibly complex and sensitive and designing them is an art. The design must compensate for the material shrink as mentioned above, and that’s just getting started. Tools can require mechanisms to provide transverse motion, water lines and heaters for thermal control, and geometry to accommodate the molding press. Tools with multiple cavities for the same part are quite common. Depending on how each cavity is cut and the tolerances required there can be significant variation between cavities.
A complete description of tool design concerns is far beyond the scope of this article. Understanding the complexity and importance of the tool design and construction is the point. So give your tooling engineers a cookie next time you see them.
Processing
A mold press can be quite complicated with many moving parts, sensors, heaters, fluid channels, and control systems. The process of getting all these parameters dialed in to produce a good part can be tricky. Once dialed, any deviation may cause a change in part geometry after the part cools. Like tool design, a complete description of processing is far beyond the scope of this article and simply understanding the complexity and importance of processing is the point.
Equipment
Just as variations in processing result in part geometry variation, variations in equipment will also result in more variation in geometry. Expect wider tolerances on parts coming off of older, more worn equipment. The same goes for older tools; variation increases with tool-wear.
Cost
Tight processes typically require longer cycle times which results in less capacity (parts-per-hour per tool) so you can expect to pay more. On the other hand, if you run the process fast you get more capacity but with higher geometric variation. Finding the sweet spot between cost and tolerance range takes time and effort. So give your tooling engineers another cookie next time you see them.
You now know that part geometry drifts as tools wear out. Newer tools produce more consistent parts but new tools are expensive and the expense of tooling usually gets rolled into part cost.

All of these aspects will play a part in the overall geometric variation. You won’t know the actual limits of your part size until tools have been cut and T0 parts have been run and inspected. So where do you begin when you’re in the early design phase? The Form Loves Function Plastic Part Design Checklist is a good place to start.

There are several good resources available:

{image: Roberto Bouza}

Have a comment? Post in the forum.

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Clean New Look

admin — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 07:49:38 +0000

Update March 16, 2011 – less clicking while keeping it clean:

Previously:

New logo, new layout, new features with more on the way. Not only is the new layout crisp on your desktop, it scales nicely for mobile devices. Give it a try on your Droid, iOS device, etc.

New content is in the queue so check back in a day or two or subscribe to the feed.

Enjoy the whitespace.

Comments are happening on the new Form Loves Function Discussion Forum.

No related posts.

Creo – PTC’s New Take on Product Development Tools

admin — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 12:17:45 +0000

Looks like PTC is serious about integrating their somewhat disparate technology holdings with their new “Creo” suite which includes renamed versions of Pro/ENGINEER, CoCreate, and Product View. Using direct modeling tools on a history-based parametric model would be incredibly enabling for Pro/E users. I’m also digging their role-based approach to the offering and I’m looking forward to learning more about how they break out the apps and licensing for different user types.

The intro video:

Click here to watch the intro event.

Develop3D has a good summary of features.

Click here to tell us what you think in the discussion forum.

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James Dyson on Building Innovative Culture

admin — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 22:14:18 +0000

When a designer as successful as James Dyson talks about engineering and manufacturing as one of the cornerstones of innovation I tend to listen:

… Mr. Dyson is an adviser to Prime Minister David Cameron on how to accelerate Britain’s development of new technology and build up its manufacturing and export prowess.

Prominent business leaders in America have recently pointed to the same issue — that modern manufacturing, and the scientific and engineering skills that make it possible, are a crucial pillar of a healthy economy. The two most notable and outspoken on this subject have been Andrew S. Grove, the former chairman of Intel, and Jeffrey R. Immelt, chief executive of General Electric.Relying on services alone and neglecting manufacturing, they say, is short-sighted and pushes good jobs abroad.

Dyson’s Ingenious Britain, linked in the article, is also an insightful read.

Read the full article at NYT.com: How to Make an Engineering Culture

As always, comments are welcome in the discussion forum.

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ID Resource List at Product Design Hub

admin — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 05:19:31 +0000

I just now noticed a great list posted by Waikit over at Product Design Hub. Hit the link for details on:

Textures
Free Stock Images
Persona Collage Creator
Color Inspiration & Tools
Portfolio Hosting
Image Hosting & Sharing
Salary/Hour Rate Indicators
Invoicing Tools
Patents Databases
Material Databases
Anthropometric Data
Survey Tools

There is a pretty good discussion going in their forum.

IDES is a good materials resource I didn’t see on the list which is a great complement to MatWeb.

Comments are welcome in the Form Loves Function Discussions Forum.

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