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Prototyping

    Prototyping Editor's Picks

    • How to Attach a USB Joystick Up to a Microcontroller

      Video games are a fun past time. It is a great way to relax and pass the time. However, you cannot always bring your gaming consoles everywhere you go, and there may be times you would want to play your games on your computer as opposed to using a gaming console connected to your television. This article will show you one of the ways... more »

    • How to Attract Startup Money for Your Business

      Inventors and entrepreneurs with great ideas for business startups may be shocked when it comes to finding funds. The chasm between a startup idea and the consuming public is filled with product tests, meetings with venture capitalists and efforts at regional distribution. Unless you have personal finances to fund production and... more »

    • How to Become a Physical Design Engineer

      A physical design engineer works with a team of engineers in layout and design contexts to develop new products, as well as help determine the direction for a design project. The physical design engineer can work as a contractor, or for a company to design technical projects for a variety of manufacturers and vendors. This job... more »

    • Definition of Prototype Development

      Prototype development is a stage in the new product development process. A new product originates as an idea. The idea is a descriptive statement that can be written or only verbalized. The idea is refined into a product concept that includes consumer benefits and features of the product. The concept is developed into a prototype,... more »

    • How to Find Someone to Make a Prototype

      A prototype of what? That's the first question to ask before trying to find someone to make one. There are prototypes to be made of nearly everything from buildings to cars to newspapers to microprocessor chips to software, so how you start searching for a builder depends on what you want done, as the final bill from prototype makers... more »

    Prototyping Articles

    • How to Make a Prototype

      Making a prototype is one of the most crucial steps in creating and marketing an invention. A prototype allows you to test how an invention works... more »

    • Advantages of CNC Machines

      CNC stands for "computer numeric control" and refers to many different manufacturing processes. Since the technology was developed in the 1970s,... more »

    Wikipedia

    Prototype

    A prototype is an original type, form, or instance of something serving as a typical example, basis, or standard for other things of the same category. The word derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον (prototypon), "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος (prototypos), "original, primitive", from πρῶτος (protos), "first" and τύπος (typos), "impression".

    Semantics
    In semantics, prototypes or proto instances combine the most representative attributes of a category. Prototypes are typical instances of a category that serve as benchmarks against which the surrounding, less representative instances are categorized (see Prototype Theory).

    In many fields, there is great uncertainty as to whether a new design will actually do what is desired. New designs often have unexpected problems. A prototype is often used as part of the product design process to allow engineers and designers the ability to explore design alternatives, test theories and confirm performance prior to starting production of a new product. Engineers use their experience to tailor the prototype according to the specific unknowns still present in the intended design. For example, some prototypes are used to confirm and verify consumer interest in a proposed design whereas other prototypes will attempt to verify the performance or suitability of a specific design approach.

    In general, an iterative series of prototypes will be designed, constructed and tested as the final design emerges and is prepared for production. With rare exceptions, multiple iterations of prototypes are used to progressively refine the design. A common strategy is to design, test, evaluate and then modify the design based on analysis of the prototype.

    In many products it is common to assign the prototype iterations Greek letters. For example, a first iteration prototype may be called an "Alpha" prototype. Often this iteration is not expected to perform as intended and some amount of failures or issues a read more at » http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prototype

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