Case Study

Complete Product Development A Projection Machine having Computing Capabilities

2

Building on a Concept

Block Diagram lay out of Magic Studio

In 2007 one of our clients, a projector manufacturer, approached us with the vision to build a projection device with computing capabilities or a computing device with projection capabilities. Either way nothing like that existed in the market, for us to get a working idea of the equipment or do reverse engineering on some part. We understood the concept and build equipment that is part projector & part computer. It is named Magic Studio and is selling in the Indian market as of today. Very soon the client is planning to take it to the international market.

1. Normal 220 V, 5 A AC – In from wall outlet; 2. Spring return type Power-on switch for make &

break type operation; 3. Conditioned DC power supply of 5V, 12V, G

from SMPS to Processing Unit; 4. Conditioned DC power supply 5V, G from SMPS

to TV Tuner; 5. Conditioned DC power supply 5V, 12V, G from

SMPS to Projection engine; 6. Conditioned DC power supply 6V, 12V, G from

SMPS to Amplification Unit; 7. VGA-out from Processing Unit to Projection Unit

video-in port 1; 8. RS 232 connection between the processing unit

& the projection engine for managing the later from the former;

9. Connection between the TV Tuner unit & the processing unit carrying power from the processing unit to the TV Tuner unit, Audio/Video feed from the Tuner unit to the processing unit, control signals from the processing unit to the Tuner unit;

10. Line level audio generated by the processing unit sent to Amplifier;

11. Output of the video scalar cum switcher to the projection engine;

12. Video-in from any external playback device like camcorder/VHS/VCD/DVD to the video scalar cum switcher unit;

13. VGA-in from any external computer or document camera to the video scalar cum switcher unit;

14. LAN connection to processing unit; 15. Four USB 2.0 connections to the processing unit

for connecting external storage devices like pen drives and the receiver of the wireless keyboard & mouse;

16. RF connection to the TV Tuner unit for watching of cable television;

17. Audio-in to pre-amplifier & then to amplifier (RCA x 2);

18. Line-Out from Amplifier (RCA X 2);

3

Wood Patterns

HAND SKETCHING-THE PRIMARY STEP TOWARDS DEVELOPMENT FROM A

CONCEPT

PRODUCT CONCEPT (DESIGN & ENGINEERING)

In the process of generation of product concept, the concept of the Magic Studio was developed keeping in mind the following issues:

• Number of standard components • Fitment with the now defined child parts • Minimum number of components • Reduce cost of mold • Planning for future accessories/up

gradations

To give the client a look and feel of how the finished machine might look like, this process involves cutting of wood with the utility of CNC machining into the product shape. Wood patterns were cut to view the overall appearance and check the working of some basic gauges. This helped save the repeated cost of prototypes and ensured a mechanically true design

Mock up

4

Assembly consideration with the following points

• Detailed assembly drawing • Cross check solid interference • Child parts nesting and mounting • Model validation of individual component by means of

product life and mold manufacturing • Maintaining weight and wall thickness of individual

components • Molding cost (Approximately as subjected to tool design) • Material cost, etc.

We produced the dimensional detailed drawings to freeze dimensions along with appropriate tolerance, which improves the quality of the product while manufacturing.

5

Prototyping

After the client was satisfied with the shape of the product from the wood pattern and the dimensions were found ok from the 3D model, we made a prototype of the equipment to cross check the actual fitment of various child parts. Prototypes are necessarily made from transparent plastic to facilitate the crosschecking of child parts before & after fitment. Below are some photographs with the fitment checking in progress:

6

Tool Design

Amongst other things, tool design involves the selection of the material composition, issues like heat resistance of various materials, their typical shrinkage after cooling, the mold flow, the finish of the material after it exits the mold etc. are to be considered. There can be a mixture of various types of material that goes into the making of the final product body, as happened in this case. Part of the product was molded in PC and part in ABS, transparent parts like the remote IR sensor windows were molded from SAN. Below are some diagrams of the tool design.

Molds Manufacturing

For the tool Manufacturing, JIG has partners in Shenzhen, who are proficient in their own rights and who have been finalized by JIG after visiting their tool rooms, inspecting them in action, understanding their capabilities & infrastructure. Finally, their understanding of concepts towards job allocation. We have also inspected their end products to understand their esthetics in terms of designing parting lines, flow marks that relate to rejection of molding. Below are some photographs of the tool designed for our client for this product.