These results underscore the importance of physical prototyping in design.
Experiment early, rapidly, and frequently, with computer models and physical prototypes, in controlled and real-life customer environments.
The possibility to send data over the Internet for the reproduction of physical prototypes in different geographic locations is very attractive, especially in the context of globalization and distributed manufacturing.
Hence, the key control parameters of an RP process, such as part orientation, layer thickness and hatch space, may be effectively tuned up for optimal fabrication of physical prototypes in subsequent product development.
This projectile-to-band impact model can serve as the physical prototype of applications in engineering such as cable-membrane architectures and seat belts.
Major outcomes of the proposed approach stand in a better quality of the final product, in a shorter involvement of the amputee implying a lower psychological impact, in a limited use of physical prototypes, and in a shorter development time.
So a new design file from Beijing can be transmitted in minutes to the test center in Mumbai, to the corporate lab in Chicago and to the potential market in Cape Town and teams can have physical prototypes ready in a day without having to wait for shipping, customs and other delays.
Engineers can virtually test and predict real-world behavior of new and existing designs and eliminate expensive physical prototyping cycles in the lab.
The development of the serious public participatory game NextCampus resulted in a physical prototype, user interface design, and a computational model of the game.
Following the preliminary aero-structural sizing of the concept, a physical prototype is developed and tested in the 7′×5′ wind-tunnel at the University of Southampton.
