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If you’ve ever been to Fictiv HQ, either to pick up parts for one of our events, or simply just to say hi and chat about hardware, you may have seen our drone prototypes. For those unfamiliar with them, these prototypes are a series of material samples in the form of mini drone bodies and […]
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In the product design world, it’s common to use a tool called a Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) to improve a design or process. FMEAs are commonly separated into two different categories, depending on their application: A Design FMEA (D-FMEA) is used in product design to identify possible design weaknesses and failure modes. A […]
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You just spent the last six months traveling to the red planet, Mars. You sit down for your first meal and you reach down to pick up your fork…but you realize you forgot it! Rather than waiting months or possibly years for the next group of people and supplies to come, you can simply upload […]
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We’re taking a look at two lower resolution and cheaper 3D printing materials for prototyping: ABS and PLA. When will PLA suffice? When do you gain much more by going with ABS? A lot of people look at price and automatically choose to print in PLA because hey, it’s the cheapest material! But depending on […]
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What would you say to an entrepreneur who wanted to make a product that customers could use for literally just nine months? We’re not talking about planned obsolescence; we’re talking about a literal, physical inability to use the product. Not too smart in terms of user engagement, right? Of course, when we say “prenatal,” it […]
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Imagine a box in space that’s about the size of a long tissue box and capable of taking pictures of the Earth. That’s exactly what Planet Labs is doing: They’re using a 3U (a 10×10×34 cm CubeSat) called a Dove that takes pictures of the Earth to learn how daily imagery helps one move from […]
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If you work professionally in product development, or even if you tinker in your free time, you already know that a single misstep can be the difference between releasing your product on time or being late to market. Sometimes, that’s the difference between success and failure in hardware design. It’s for this very reason that […]
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The camera is one of those things that is not only a long-standing historical item (the first one was invented in 1021 AD, if you want to get really technical) but also one that continues to attract innumerable entrepreneurial efforts. You’d think every variation on the camera that could possibly be invented already exists. But, […]
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While the tool marks left on metal parts produced using CNC machining services are visually appealing to some, in many cases, some additional post-processing may be desired or even required. There are a variety of finishes that one can use to add functionality or aesthetic appeal to parts, and the glossary below will help you […]
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Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS), a fancy way of 3D printing metal, is the new trend in aerospace engineering. DMLS uses a Ytterbium fiber laser to fire into a bed of powdered metal, welding the material together to create a solid structure. It’s great for complex metal parts that you can’t build with conventional manufacturing […]
