Product development: the E-Ring

The Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) is a research university with engineering science & technology profile. Their main focus is science for society, science for industry and science for science. Sean van Zuidam, a student at the Technical University from Eindhoven, Master Innovation Management: Product Development Management – needed to design a product together with his team in order to build a business case.

E Ring, Leapfrog, 3D printing, Bolt Pro 3D printer

Sean approached our team earlier this year to see if we could help them print their project. We accepted the challenge and the result is an incredible functional prototype called the E-Ring.

What is an E-Ring and what’s it’s use?

“It’s called the E-Ring. It’s an AC clip for consumers with which you can measure the power of each electronic household device via an app. Data is collected by a company and will advise you how you can save on electricity.”

E Ring, Leapfrog, 3D printing, Bolt Pro 3D printer

How did 3D printing improve the process in this specific case?

In this case we 3D printed a mock up. This mock up enabled Sean to demonstrate the product at the University. 3D printing enables product designers to create a mock up in a time and money saving manner.

E Ring, Leapfrog, 3D printing, Bolt Pro 3D printer

After we sliced the model and had the printer going Sean was able to continue with other projects. Also the moving parts and ergonomic friendly design plus the real life scale are quite complicated to create out of wood for example or by any other prototyping technique. This also really helps creating a realistic impression of the physical product which is important to get approval to start the creation process.

E Ring, Leapfrog, 3D printing, Bolt Pro 3D printer

With the Bolt Pro Sean was able to print the mock up with a high accuracy, two different materials and also very fast. Next to this, the parts are movable and really show its practical use.

 Technical specifications:

Material:

  • Grey = Engineering PLA
  • Black = PLA

Printing time: 7 hours