We strive to offer comprehensive services for creating prototypes the way you want it, whether large or small, rough or polished. Combining mechanical, electrical and software aspects enables us to design and create a wide variety of prototypes to best suit your needs.
3D Modeling
We design working 3D models of your idea or prototype while receiving your feedback throughout the project. We can also validate your models based on specifications such as mechanical properties, color, surface finish, size, weight, and later manufacturability and give you comments on what might need to be improved to enhance functionality or allow prototypes to be 3D printed. We also can furnish 2D drawings, simple renderings, and patent drawings depending on the application.
3d printing
We design the 3D models to be made from a wide selection of 3D printers in plastic or metal so you can see your idea in real life! We know what works and what doesn't and we adhere to design guidelines based on functional specifications you give us and the materials we decide to use. By partnering with Sculpteo we can select from a plethora of materials, detail, textures, material properties, and colors to best match your particular application. Below are just a few examples of the types of parts we can design:
- Strong and flexible parts with intricate detail and a variety of colors and finishes
- Highly detailed parts with extremely smooth surface finish (comparable to injection molding)
- Translucent parts with high thermal stability
- Full metal parts for complex parts with high strength requirements
- Multi-colored sandstone parts for artistic works
For a more detailed list of materials, please visit Sculpteo's 3D printing materials page here.
If you are interested in printing your own designs or wish to have us design or modify something for you, feel free to do so!
(Use the promo code "MYFIRSTPRINT" to get $7 off your first 3D print from Sculpteo)
laser cutting
Perhaps you want to laser engrave a cool fit-together gift, or want to prototype flat metal parts for a product that would otherwise cost more and take longer to produce with 3D printing or CNC machining -- we can design that too! Laser cutting is a very affordable and efficient technique and yields very accurate results for flat pieces with cutouts and engravings, and Sculpteo offers a wide variety of choices, including fiber-based materials, plastics, and metals:
- Plywood - comes in a variety of wood types
- MDF - fused fiber composite that is dense and inexpensive
- Acrylic - transparent plastic with great weatherability
- Cardboard - many selections, great for inexpensive prototyping
- POM - automotive and industrial thermoplastic
- Aluminum - lightweight, strong, and looks nice!
- Steel - great where mechanical strength is a must
- Stainless Steel - doesn't rust and is great for outdoor use and aesthetics
For more details, please visit Sulpteo's laser cutting materials page here.
Electronics
Many times a project requires the use of electronics to achieve the goal, so this is an invaluable asset, especially when meshed with the mechanical side of things! We are very familiar with a variety of Arduino-based platforms and off-the-shelf components and modules for proof-of-concept prototypes and can source the best parts for your particular application, whether it be compact size, low cost, low power, wireless connectivity, or flexibility. For quick and dirty prototypes where proof of concept is all that matters, we can provide an electrical schematic of off-the-shelf parts and a drawing of how to wire it all up physically as well as provide any code. We can later refine these and turn them into custom production-ready PCB's as discussed in the next section.
For more dedicated prototypes we can design, route, assemble, code, and test custom printed circuit boards (PCB's) with full component sourcing, Bill of Materials (BOM), and electrical schematics to suit your project's needs. We also make custom EAGLE PCB parts libraries in case you want to save time creating component footprints.
If in case you want to get artsy with your electrical projects, we can handle that too! For example, a custom pet tag PCB with your pet's name in gold-plated text and cool designs on it, fun design of PCBs that actually work, or a geeky plaque to display on your bedroom door. If you have any other cool ideas, let us know and we'll see what we can do!
custom pcb's
Connect your project wirelessly with a custom Android app! For projects that require interfacing the prototype with a mobile device, we create fully-functional Android apps. We can make apps to pull real-time data from the web to monitor your IoT project, control your gizmo with the press of a button, or change system settings remotely.