Mechcircuit Sistem Prototipe Interaktif by Weijia Lin and Shuyue Feng

Mechcircuit Sistem Prototipe Interaktif by Weijia Lin and Shuyue Feng is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2023 A' Design Award Perak in Desain Rekayasa Produk lan Teknis Competition Category.

PerakRekayasa· 2023

Mechcircuit Sistem Prototipe Interaktif

by Weijia Lin and Shuyue Feng

Client: Zhejiang University

A' Design Award Perak Winner in Rekayasa Category

1,218,946

Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #148666

View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Mechcircuit Sistem Prototipe Interaktif

Mechcircuit yaiku sistem prototipe kanggo piranti interaktif sing nggabungake sirkuit elektronik lan struktur mekanik. Magnet neodymium duweni sifat magnetik lan konduktif, mula bisa dadi sendi obah lan uga sambungan listrik. Gerakan puter lan gerakan lurus bisa digayuh tanpa perangkat mekanik tradisional. Kabel lan patri diganti nganggo magnet lan slot potongan laser, saengga bagean-bagean bisa nyambung lan diganti kanthi cepet. Prototipe dipotong saka lembaran akrilik 2 mm, lan tinta perak konduktif mbentuk sirkuite. Piranti lunak desain berbantuan komputer nyengkuyung para pangguna sing dudu ahli.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award Perak

Mechcircuit Sistem Prototipe Interaktif menang A' Design Award Perak, pangenalan sing prestisius banget sing diparingake marang desain tingkat dhuwur, endah lan nggumunake. Pemenang Perak iku karya sing sumunar banget lan kreatif banget sing nggambarake kaprigelan, bakat lan kaweruh para desainer. Mechcircuit Sistem Prototipe Interaktif dikarepake dadi karya sing nggumunake, conto teladan, profesional banget lan inovatif banget. Desain sing menang A' Design Award Perak iki iku panemuan sing luar biasa banget lan dikagumi sing paring manfaat lan nyurung maju wates seni, sains, desain lan teknologi. Mechcircuit Sistem Prototipe Interaktif iku ciptaan sing akeh sing ngirenake sing nggugah kekarepan, nggawa perasaan positif lan nuwuhake gumun lan kagum.

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