Rapid prototyping for biomedical engineering: current capabilities and Challenges

A new set of manufacturing technologies has emerged in the past decades to address market requirements in a customized way and to provide support for research tasks that require prototypes. These new techniques and technologies are usually referred to as rapid prototyping and manufacturing technologies, and they allow prototypes to be produced in a wide range of materials with remarkable precision in a couple of hours. Although they have been rapidly incorporated into product development methodologies, they are still under development, and their applications in bioengineering are continuously evolving. Rapid prototyping and manufacturing technologies can be of assistance in every stage of the development process of novel biodevices, to address various problems that can arise in the devices' interactions with biological systems and the fact that the design decisions must be tested carefully. This review focuses on the main fields of application for rapid prototyping in biomedical engineering and health sciences, as well as on the most remarkable challenges and research trends

Modular product design and customization

Organised by: Cranfield UniversityThe paper deals with modular design architecture and its capabilities for easy and fast customization in products. The basic principles of modularity are mentioned and the most known methodologies and tools for modular product design are reported. The way modularity can facilitate a product’s customization is being addressed. With the help of a modular real test case, a motorcycle helmet, the capabilities of modularity in customization are illustrated and a customization procedure is described. The conclusions drawn in the final section of the paper indicate that although many modular design methods exist none of them is capable to provide the optimum design solution. However, all of these methods undeniably facilitate the customization of products.Mori Seiki – The Machine Tool Compan

On an Empirical Investigation of the Structural Behavior of Robots

AbstractIn the paper, the structural behavior of industrial robots is investigated. The objective is the development of a model, capable of predicting the robot's accuracy, under certain arm positions and loading conditions. The Finite Element Method (FEM) is used for the model's development. An extended investigation into the total robot accuracy of the joint effect is conducted. The accuracy of the robot, under ranging loads at different positions, has been mapped and discussed

Modular design applied to beverage-container injection molds

[[abstract]]This work applies modular design concepts to designating beverage-container injection molds. This study aims to develop a method of controlling costs and time in relation to mold development, and also to improve product design. This investigation comprises two parts: functionality coding, and establishing a standard operation procedure, specifically designed for beverage-container injection mold design and manufacturing. First, the injection mold is divided into several modules, each with a specific function. Each module is further divided into several structural units possessing sub-function or sub-sub-function. Next, dimensions and specifications of each unit are standardized and a compatible interface is constructed linking relevant units. This work employs a cup-shaped beverage container to experimentally assess the performance of the modular design approach. The experimental results indicate that the modular design approach to manufacturing injection molds shortens development time by 36% and reduces costs by 19∼23% compared with the conventional approach. Meanwhile, the information on modularity helps designers in diverse products design. Additionally, the functionality code helps effectively manage and maintain products and mol