Rapid Prototyping Based Design: Creation of a Prototype Environment to Explore Three Dimensional Conceptual Design

Much research and several papers have been written in the field of Rapid Prototyping by engineers with a focus on its capability to increase design and manufacturing process and performances. However only few have addressed the use of Rapid Prototyping in the early stages of the design process. Recently with designers using this technology, a new role is beginning to delineate. This paper looks at Rapid Prototyping as a tool for design thought. All design experiments were conducted by the author working in team with design student colleagues. The experiments focussed on non-trivial design problems and were conducted in parallel with the research on the tools used. The design was inspired by questions raised by the research and similarly the research questions were informed by the development of the design. The first section attempts a summary of technical evaluations by the author of selected rapid prototyping based design environments where the experiments occurred. This section reflects the point of view of the operator. The five environment selected are ordered according to their increasing level of sophistication. By providing an account of several experiments, the second part of the paper highlights the areas of the early stages of design where rapid prototyping appeared to be a unique tool in providing valuable feedback to the designer