Skip to main content

Rapid Prototyping comes to life

You may be familiar with the zoetrope used in the Spring Valley campaign using junk that comes together at night, or the soccer inspired zoetrope used by Sony Bravia featuring FIFA world player of the year Kaka - So what is a zoetrope?

It is a 19th century device used to create short films from a series of static images or sculptures. Essentially, it is a living wheel. The wheel spins in a circle and the result is a moving picture.

RapidPro recently worked with Megafun and Krome Studios to build the characters for their TY the Tasmanian TigerTM zoetrope.

From Concept to Model

3D CAD drawings of each of the characters were supplied to RapidPro; however, it was not as simple as just building the models. Several prototyping materials were tested to see which material would suit the sculptures requirements for colour and strength.

After several trials, plaster was selected and instead of printing each character in monocolour, they were printed in full technicolour. Some design modifications of each character were necessary for strength and durability, as well as colour modifications to ensure vibrancy.

RapidPro worked with John Aitchison from Krome Studios to ensure that the zoetrope was as colourful and exciting as their preliminary sketches.

Traditional methods for infiltrating and strengthening plaster prototypes were not acceptable due to the intricacy of the characters, so RapidPro devised a new method to ensure the parts were strong and the finish flawless.

Specifics

The TY zoetrope contains seven different characters from the video game of the same name. Each of these characters has from 17 to 32 slight variations to simulate movement once fixed into position on the moving zoetrope. The individual characters vary marginally as they move around the wheel, and once the wheel is set in motion, the effect is illuminating.

Rapid prototypes can be used as models to show a product or part, they can be used for testing (form, fit, function), and they can be used also be used as a functioning part or prototype, just like the characters on the zoetrope.

For more information contact Rapidpro on 1300 559 454.


Popular posts from this blog

Delivering High Quantities of Prototypes Fast

Objective3D Direct Manufacturing produces parts using a range of additive and conventional manufacturing technologies. We offer tailored solutions for your project’s needs. If your project requires larger quantities of small parts – fast, Laser Sintering is the best technological solution for you. Per-part pricing is reduced as quantities increase, but there are more advantages to using Laser Sintering for small prototypes than price alone. Laser Sintering (LS) provides strong, versatile and geometrically intricate components made from filled and un-filled nylon materials that are ideal for fit and form verification and functional testing. Prototypes made with LS are created quickly and offer robust solutions for your project. FAST Delivery Laser Sintering can provide sturdy, functional prototypes as little as 24 hours. Multi-component designs can be incorporated into single structures, allowing engineers to produce complex features and geometries in one print, and elim...

How Artec Space Spider helps measure the shape-shifting of birds in response to climate change.

Challenge:  In the past century, researchers have been studying a variety of birds in Australia to see how their bodies have changed as a result of global warming in order to determine how to adjust. In order to document the exact dimensions of thousands of beaks of 86 different species of birds in museums in a fast, accurate, and convenient manner, they needed a fast, accurate, and convenient method. Solution: Artec Space Spider, Artec Studio Results: By using the handheld 3D scanner Artec Space Spider, each bird can be scanned in submillimeter colour 3D in approximately two minutes. This makes it easy to scan anywhere from 30-50 birds in one museum visit. Scan processing takes just under six minutes for each bird. PhD candidate Sara Ryding 3D scanning an Australian galah (Eolophus roseicapilla) with Artec Space Spider (image credit: Sara Ryding) One of the most startling impacts of global warming has taken place for decades now: multiple species of birds around the world have b...

3D scanning and reverse engineering streamline original furniture design and production

MU Form Furniture Design is an Oakland-based company that designs, manufactures and distributes furniture products for the modern home and business. The company is never short of orders since good and original design is sought after by architects and interior designers. The main material MU Form works with is high-quality bent ply, which is one of the most widely used materials in this industry due to its ability to create a variety of shapes for chairs, stools, and tables. The company’s specialists seek to create great designs that pose a challenge for other manufacturers to copy or replicate. The V Dining Chair in red and grey, designed by MU Form’s Po Shun Leong. “Our designers are tasked to develop furniture designs that require a significant amount of trial and error by developing physical prototypes of chairs and stools,” says Mark Leong, CEO of MU Form. To produce a new original piece of furniture, MU Form would normally ship a physical prototype model to a factory ...