Mechcircuit Siostam Prototaidhpeadh Eadar-ghnìomhach by Weijia Lin and Shuyue Feng

Mechcircuit Siostam Prototaidhpeadh Eadar-ghnìomhach by Weijia Lin and Shuyue Feng is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2023 Duais Airgid A' Design Award in Innleadaireachd Thoraidhean agus Dealbhadh Teicnigeach Competition Category.

AirgeadInnleadaireachd· 2023

Mechcircuit Siostam Prototaidhpeadh Eadar-ghnìomhach

by Weijia Lin and Shuyue Feng

Client: Zhejiang University

Duais Airgid A' Design Award Winner in Innleadaireachd Category

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The Design

About Mechcircuit Siostam Prototaidhpeadh Eadar-ghnìomhach

'S e siostam prototaidhpeadh a th' ann am Mechcircuit airson innealan eadar-ghnìomhach a tha a' cothlamadh cuairtean dealanach agus structaran meacanaigeach. Tha magnaitean neodymium an dà chuid magnaiteach agus giùlaineach, agus mar sin bidh iad nan altan gluasadach agus nan ceanglaichean dealain aig an aon àm. Tha gluasadan cuairteach agus dìreach air an coileanadh gun phàirtean meacanaigeach traidiseanta. Tha uèirleadh agus sàdaireachd air an cur an àite le magnaitean agus sliotan air an gearradh le leusair, agus mar sin bidh pàirtean a' ceangal agus ag atharrachadh gu luath. Tha na prototaidhpean air an gearradh à duilleagan aicriolaig 2 mm, agus tha inc airgid ghiùlaineach a' cruthachadh nan cuairtean. Tha bathar-bog dealbhaidh le taic coimpiutair a' cur taic ri luchd-cleachdaidh nach eil nan eòlaichean.

The Recognition

About the Duais Airgid A' Design Award

Tha Mechcircuit Siostam Prototaidhpeadh Eadar-ghnìomhach air Duais Airgid A' Design Award a bhuannachadh, aithneachadh gu math urramach a bheirear do dhealbhaidhean den chiad ìre, àlainn agus drùidhteach. Tha buannaichean Airgid nan obraichean anabarrach boillsgeach agus gu math cruthachail a nochdas sàr-eòlas, tàlant agus geurchuis an luchd-dealbhaidh. Thathar an dùil gum bi Mechcircuit Siostam Prototaidhpeadh Eadar-ghnìomhach na obair mhìorbhaileach, na sàr-eisimpleir a tha gu sònraichte proifeiseanta agus gu domhainn ùr-ghnàthach. Tha an dealbhadh seo a bhuannaich Duais Airgid A' Design Award na innleachd glè fhaicsinneach, ion-mholta a bhrosnaicheas crìochan ealain, saidheans, dealbhaidh agus teicneolais. Tha Mechcircuit Siostam Prototaidhpeadh Eadar-ghnìomhach na chruthachadh air a bheil mòran eud, a dhùisgeas miannan, a bheir faireachdainnean math agus a thogas iongnadh is miorbhail.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Mechcircuit enables non-expert users to design and fabricate interactive prototypes with electronic circuits and mechanical structures. Users can achieve mechanical functions like rotary and linear without using traditional mechanical parts. Meanwhile, instead of involving complicated operations like wiring and soldering in conventional electronic circuits, Mechcircuit applies magnetism and laser-cut slots to connect the components, making connecting and replacing quick and easy.
Dimensions & Packaging: Mechcircuit uses acrylic sheets with a thickness of 2mm. Usually the prototype is no smaller than 10mmX10mmX5mm. the size of the prototype varies depending on the actual design.
Tags: Interaction Design, Magnetoelectric Materials, Prototyping, Computational Aided Design
Production Technology: Taking advantage of the fact that rubidium magnets are both magnetic and conductive, we have designed mechanical structures with magnets. It is much easier to design and assemble than the traditional mechanical structure. At the same time the mechanical structure is still interactive. To facilitate user design and generation, we have developed computer-aided design software. The software integrates various modules for user-friendly prototyping. We used a commercial grade laser cutter for cutting and processing and conductive silver ink for the circuitry.
Design Challenge: Mechcircuit wanted to integrate the design of structures and circuits, while simplifying the design and manufacturing process. It was challenging to use a different design and fabrication approach than traditional ones and to use materials that were readily available. Based on several attempts, we finally chose rubidium magnets as the magnetoelectric material and used conductive silver ink paint to replace the traditional Dupont wire.
Research: Mechcircuit leverage the neodymium magnet’s natures of magnetism and conductivity to integrate electronics and mechanical structure joints into prototypes. We conduct the evaluation to explore technological parameters and assess the practical feasibility of the fabrication pipeline. And we organized a user-observing workshop for non-expert users. Through the outcoming prototypes, the result demonstrates the feasibility of Mechcircuit as a useful and inspiring prototyping method.
Inspiration: In prototyping, the design of electronic circuits and the design of mechanical structures are often carried out separately. In addition, the electronic circuitry and the mechanical structure also affect the prototype's styling. This makes the design often not optimal.
Project Duration: The project starts in July 2022 and ends in December 2022 at the School of Software, Zhejiang University, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, China
Operation Flow: The mechanical structure composed of magnets allows the user to design and assemble easily. As the user manipulates the structure, the circuit signals change. The user can interact with the circuit by manipulating the structure.
Patents: All photos/videos are from Shuyue Feng, Department of Industrial Design, School of Software, Zhejiang University
Team Members: Weijia Lin
Shuyue Feng
Jiayu Yao
Jiayi Ma
Masulani Bokola
Ziyu Fang
Guanyun Wang
Cheng Yao