Overview

In the Rapid Prototyping and Tooling specialization, students learn how to make effective prototypes. Why is rapid prototyping important, and how does it facilitate the overall engineering design process? At what point in the process should rapid prototyping be employed? How can electronics bring a prototype to the next level? When is it appropriate to make a prototype out of cardboard rather than aluminum? When should you use 3D printing instead of a laser cutter? Real examples provide answers to questions like these and highlight best practices on when to use different materials and manufacturing equipment. You can see an overview of the specialization from Dr. Frank here.

Syllabus

Course 1: Using Rapid Prototyping in the Engineering Design Process
Course 2: Adding Electronics to Rapid Prototypes
Course 3: Rapid Prototyping Materials and Tooling

Courses

0 reviews
2 hours 32 minutes
View details

Hello, everyone! Welcome to this course on Using Rapid Prototyping in the Engineering Design Process. This is part of the Rapid Prototyping and Tooling specialization. In this course, I’ll cover the engineering design process and how it can be used to solve open-ended problems. I’ll discuss the different stages of prototyping and why it is advantageous to produce prototypes rapidly. I’ll then discuss engineering drawings and how to communicate information about 3-dimensional objects on 2-dimensional mediums such as paper or a computer screen. Finally, I’ll end this course by discussing computer-aided design, also known as CAD, and how it can greatly assist in making prototypes. By exploring many examples from different robotics projects I’ve had the opportunity to work on, by the end of this course, you should have a better understanding of the engineering design process and where rapid prototyping fits into it, as well as some tools to help you with developing high-quality prototypes. There’s a lot of awesome content to cover, so without further ado, let’s dive into the world of rapid prototyping!
0 reviews
4 hours 1 minute
View details

Hello, everyone! Welcome to this course on Adding Electronics to Rapid Prototypes. This is part of the Rapid Prototyping and Tooling specialization. In this course, I’ll cover the basics of electric circuits, breadboards, and multimeters. I’ll then discuss different options for connecting electrical components as well as discuss different types of motors and actuators. Finally, I’ll end this course by discussing microcontrollers and how to use them to make even more sophisticated prototypes. By exploring both electrical simulations and many examples from different robotics projects I’ve had the opportunity to work on, by the end of this course, you should have a better understanding of the basics of electronics and how to add them to your designs to create high-quality prototypes. We have a lot of great content to cover, so without further ado, let’s dive into the world of rapid prototyping!
0 reviews
4 hours 51 minutes
View details

Hello, everyone! Welcome to this course on Rapid Prototyping Materials and Tooling. This is part of the Rapid Prototyping and Tooling specialization. In this course, I’ll cover the characteristics and appropriate uses of a variety of prototyping materials, including cardboard, plastic, wood, and aluminum. I’ll also cover some of the common forms of traditional machining used in making prototypes, as well as more advanced manufacturing tools such as 3D printers, laser cutters, and more! By the end of this course, you should have a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of common prototyping materials and manufacturing processes, as well as the situations in which their use is most appropriate. The hope is that by having a better understanding of these materials and machines, you will be able to better develop high-quality prototypes. I’m excited to teach this course as I am really passionate about the content in it. So without further ado, let’s dive into the world of rapid prototyping!