Prototyping

What to do

• Start by building version 1 of your prototype

  • • 1. Take your sketch and all of your materials, and just go ahead and try to assemble a working prototype of your build.

      2. If this is your first time working with certain materials or tools, this might be intimidating. But, don’t let that stop you. Instead, just jump in (while being safe!) and figure it out as you go. This is the best way to learn.

      3. It’s best to “fail fast, and fail often.” You can learn a lot from a very quick prototype, and it can be more useful to do a few cheap models than to spend a lot of time on one really nice one.

      4. you can even opt to make a prototype of the prototype if helpful. Right now, your goal is to learn as fast as possible and apply these learnings to your build as you go.

      5. Remember, your prototype should be cheap and easy to make, easy to reconfigure, and as close as possible to your complete design for the build, in terms of how well it meets the requirements.

• Once your first prototype is assembled, test it and iterate

  • • 1. So much of engineering is “trial and error.” Now that you’ve built a first prototype, there are likely opportunities to make it work better (or to make it work at all!).

      2. Test your first prototype to see how it works. Which essential requirements does it meet? Which requirements are still unmet? What works as expected? What works less well?

• After you complete the first round of tests and have your findings, you need to analyze the results and figure out what changes and optimizations you want to make to your design

  • • 1. What could you change or add to resolve any problems that came up during testing, add functionality, or improve your design overall?

      2. Keep testing and iterating until your prototype is functional and meets the necessary requirements. Focus on getting to a level of reliability with your prototype that you feel good about — it doesn’t have to be 100% perfect, but it should be close enough that you feel confident you can make it as reliable as it needs to be for your final build.