Project Type
Design, Prototyping, Manufacturing
Team Members
Russel Bradley, Rui Li, Tanach Rojrungsasithorn
Affiliation
MIT Device Realization Lab
Motivation
Make FrED accessible for educational institutions, enabling hands-on learning. By reducing production costs and scaling up manufacturing, the project aimed to meet the growing demand for FrED units in teaching environments at MIT, Monterrey Tech, and beyond.
My Role
Design and manufacturing of the extruder, heat block, tower frame, cooling system
Decision Making
Making timely decisions with the right amount of data which have a huge impact on hundreds of people and millions of parts.
Fail Fast
Quick and dirty prototyping to test, eliminate and improve ideas.
Drawings
I mastered creating clear, practical drawings for high-volume production by collaborating with suppliers, metrology, and manufacturing teams.
Design and Manufacturing
They are interconnected yet often siloed. I bridged this gap by embracing a hands-on approach, fostering collaboration, integrating DFM feedback, and addressing pain points for seamless, successful hardware solutions
Keep It Simple
Solutions do not always have to be high tech and expensive. Some times, a simple poke yoke in Design saves thousands of dollars in production
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Lunar ESS
Lunar Energy is a solar energy storage start up. I work as a manufacturing engineer focused on scaling our inverter program. The inverter is the most complex part of our ESS with 7 PCBAs.
Here are some of the skills I have learnt so far:
DFM
Driving design changes for improved manufacturability with data and ideas
PCBA Manufacturing
Manufacturing should be kept in mind while planning board layouts and component selection
Documentation
Documenting work instructions and troubleshooting guides is important while working with a CM
CM Partnership
Hands-on experience at the CM to identify their main pain points
Us vs Problem
Aligning cross functional groups to focus on solving the most impactful problems
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DFM
Driving design changes for improved manufacturability with data and ideas
PCBA Manufacturing
Manufacturing should be kept in mind while planning board layouts and component selection
Documentation
Documenting work instructions and troubleshooting guides is important while working with a CM
CM Partnership
Hands-on experience at the CM to identify their main pain points.
Us vs the Problem
Aligning cross functional groups to focus on solving the most impactful problems.
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Fixture Design
Fixtures for each process are defined by first thoroughly understanding the drawings and the critical characteristics. Datum Strategies need to be aligned with Design before starting to design the fixture. It is important to trial the fixture using parts and iterate on the design before finalizing the design.
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Process
A systematic product development life cycle (V-model), as listed below, was defined for the development of a low-cost variant of FrED.
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Defining functional requirements
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Conceptual design of the low-cost variant of FrED
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Iterative cycles of prototyping and testing
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Process plan and sourcing plan
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Assembly line setup and pilot production
Keeping in mind the principles of Design for manufacturing and assembly (DFMA), the following four points were focused on while design the low-cost variant of FrED:
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Usage of standard parts wherever possible
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Reducing the total number of parts while still meeting the functional requirements
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Taking a modular approach for easy deployment, repair and if required replacement of modules
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Integrating parts as much as possible
Safety
Line safety issues are important to identify and mitigate. Fixture anti-topple mechanisms, Fixture hard stops, anti-pinch mechanisms and ergonomic lift assists are different ways to mitigate these risks.
New Design
Existing Design
New Design
Results
Cost reduction of 95% and weight reduction of 50% was achieved. The prototypes of the design were built and tested extensively. The process plan has been defined and documented. The supply chain for the materials has been set up. The assembly line has been set up in MIT Building 35. 25 FrEDs have been successfully manufactured and are ready to be deployed to the end users.
Old Design | New Design | |
|---|---|---|
Minimum Extruded Fiber Diameter | ~0.2 mm | 0.15 mm |
Weight | ~10 lbs | 5 lbs |
Unit Costs | $5428 | $269 |
Line Design
The manual assembly line was optimized by doing the following:
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Understanding the customer demand and defining the takt time
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Identifying value added activities at each station
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Calculating the efficiency of each process
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Labor Allocation
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Line Balancing
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AnyLogic Simulations
