About
This toy build was an undergraduate project in which we transformed a group of fourth graders’ toy concept into a physical product. This project shows a bit of my early exposure to design-for-manufacturing, and hands-on tuning of injection molding parameters.
Tools/Skills: CAD (NX), CAM, Design-for-manufacturing, injection molding, data analysis
CAD Design and Mold Machining
The first part of the process involved transforming the concept sketch to 3D models that could be manufactured.
4”x4” blocks of aluminum were carved out part cores and cavities. A CNC program was created in order to mill out the precise geometry needed for the plastic parts to snap together nicely.
Manufacturing and Final Product
Using our CNC-milled part molds, we manufactured 180 globe toys. As part of the production process, we measured a critical dimension on one of our parts and monitored its shift as we intentionally introduced a parameter change. The charts below show our manufacturing data over the production run.