Mechcircuit 交互式原型制作系统 by Weijia Lin and Shuyue Feng

Mechcircuit 交互式原型制作系统 by Weijia Lin and Shuyue Feng is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2023 A' Design Award 银奖 in 产品工程与技术设计 Competition Category.

银工程· 2023

Mechcircuit 交互式原型制作系统

by Weijia Lin and Shuyue Feng

Client: Zhejiang University

A' Design Award 银奖 Winner in 工程 Category

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Verified Award Winner
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View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

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The Design

About Mechcircuit 交互式原型制作系统

Mechcircuit 是一套用于制作交互设备原型的系统，它将电子电路与机械结构融为一体。钕磁铁既具磁性又能导电，因此可同时充当活动关节与电气连接点，无需传统机械零件即可实现旋转与直线运动。布线与焊接被磁铁及激光切割的插槽所取代，零件得以快速连接与更换。原型由2毫米亚克力板切割而成，电路则由导电银墨水绘制形成。配套的计算机辅助设计软件让非专业用户也能轻松上手。

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award 银奖

Mechcircuit 交互式原型制作系统是 A' Design Award 银奖得主，这是授予顶级、华美而令人印象深刻的设计的极为崇高的认可。银奖得主是极其卓越、极具创造力的作品，展现出其设计师杰出的专业技能、才华与敏锐。预计Mechcircuit 交互式原型制作系统将成为一件出色的典范之作，兼具非凡的专业性与深刻的创新性。这件赢得 A' Design Award 银奖的设计是一项备受瞩目、令人钦佩的发明，造福并拓展艺术、科学、设计和技术的边界。Mechcircuit 交互式原型制作系统是一件令人羡慕的创作，它唤起渴望，带来积极的情感，并激发惊叹与赞叹。

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