Capturing Prototype Progress in Digital Fabrication Education

Abstract

The early (pre-requirement) stages of product development can provide relevant insights into the creative design process. At these stages, the communication of ideas during the prototyping process can serve as a rich source for information. In this paper, we attempt to document physical prototypes generated during the design process. We describe the design and preliminary testing of Protobooth Oulu: a system that can be used for documenting the process of prototyping products through capturing process output 'snapshots' in time at the early stages of product development. Our primary motivation is to facilitate documentation and reflection from an educational perspective. We tested the system during a course on digital fabrication in a FabLab environment, where ten teams documented their coursework over the course of six weeks. Managing to capture prototypes over time, analysis of the captured data showed evolution and major changes in the prototypes. Such data can be used for understanding the process of prototyping and consequently provide means to improve prototype and overall creative performance. We outline a future Protobooth system in terms of functionality.

A Comparison of Structured Light Scanning and Photogrammetry for the Digitisation of Physical Prototypes

“…As such, attempts have been made to aid the process of revision control during a prototyping process through the development of tools for capturing digital representations of each iteration of a prototype. Work in this area has, to date, focussed on capturing 2D images of prototypes to produce a 'snapshot' of each iteration (Barhoush et al, 2019;Erichsen et al, 2020). Whilst 2D representations can certainly provide an indication of a physical artefact's design, their efficacy in communicating the intricacies of each iteration is limited by their inability to capture and convey the detailed geometry of a physical artefact.…”

Tools for Recording Prototyping Activities and Quantifying Corresponding Documentation in the Early Stages of Product Development

“…We can compare the number of captures/posts by each team throughout the course. In an earlier study conducted by (Barhoush et al, 2019), it was found that only three of the ten teams actively posted progress using Protobooth. In comparison, the present case study found that eight out of ten teams reported progress in all three stages of prototype development (idea, development, and conclusion) (see Figure 8).…”

“…(iv) The communication module is responsible for communicating information between the on-site system and the repository. Most of the automated systems mentioned in Figure 1 use a Wi-Fi module to communicate information (Barhoush et al, 2019;Sjöman et al, 2017). Other technologies, such as Zigbee and Ethernet, can also be used, depending on the topology and bandwidth required for communication.…”

“…The repository is also connected to hardware with a webcam to upload the pictures and metadata of the prototypes. Barhoush et al (2019) described another system for capturing prototyping progress: Protobooth Oulu. In this system, the authors attempted to create an effortless tool to report prototype progress using a snapshot.…”

“…Digital fabrication techniques spearheaded by maker movements and fabrication laboratories (FabLabs) (Barton et al, 2017;Georgiev, 2019;Gershenfeld, 2012;Ylioja et al, 2019), have changed the way we think, ideate, create, materialise, and interact with one another in our current data-driven society (Georgiev and Milara, 2018;Milara et al, 2017;Soomro et al, 2021). Numerous studies have sought to elucidate the different aspects involved in the prototyping processes in digital fabrication (Barhoush et al, 2019;Soomro & Georgiev, 2020). Recent research has also sought to describe creativity in the context of making (Georgiev et al, 2016), highlighting the pivotal role of documenting digital fabrication projects 'while-doing' (Milara et al, 2019).…”