I have been amassing stuff for a long time. My friends call me a hoarder, but I shrug it off. Every time I move I have boxes and boxes of stuff to bring with me. It's a pain.
But, I am getting ever so close to the day when I wake up in the morning with a good idea, and before I go to bed at night I have a functional prototype. Talk about momentum, if you can go from nothing to functional (for something somewhat complicated) in a single day. It's easy to do with software, all the parts are there, there are zero expenses to getting a prototype working, but oh so much harder with all the things you could need in the real world.
There's nothing that puts out creative fire like waiting for parts. When you first think of something, your mind is most easily changed. I like thinking of thoughts as crystallizing idea space. The more you think about something, the more real that idea becomes. When you need to wait a week, and you have only your thoughts to throw at your project, you'll start to put the fire out. Your mind will be less able to change because it's creating a thought structure based on only your first ideas and how you will implement the parts that are on the way. Experience fuels the fire, thoughts put it out.
I mostly agree with you, including the pains of moving my hoards of parts (or junk, as my friends call it). Ideas need time to ferment, but they spoil if they are left in the mind for too long without manifestation.
This is exactly why I advocate early prototyping at the dollar store (or hardware or electronics stores). Often a lot of that stuff can be sourced quickly and locally, or something close to it. Let the hoard stay in someone else's place. Beyond that, McMaster-Carr, EBay, and Amazon have delivery times under a week to Canada, I expect its only a day or two to the USA.
This is also why I advocate CAD prototyping. You don't need any parts around, but once you are happy with your design, it is quite quick to order or make parts, unless something particular is required.
I'm working on making a 3D printer to speed it up (and to force me to learn CAD). But most of the stuff I do is electronic, so if I don't have a specific part that a) I don't have, and b) the surplus store doesn't have, then I need to wait a while and pay $7 in shipping for a $0.35 part.
If I had more money where the $7 convenience fee of storing the junk at someone else's house wasn't a big deal, I would totally keep it all there. It's kind of like Amazon Glacier, it takes a while to get it, and it's expensive, but you can put everything there. If it's on disk drives in your garage you can store a bunch, but it takes a little bit to find. If it's on SSD storage on your desk, it's the quickest to iterate, but then everything is right there.
I'm sure this isn't what Graeham had in mind with this post, but I'll comment anyway: Steven Spear identifies rapid experimentation as one of Toyota's strengths, not necessarily in product development, but developing how they build the product. An example given in his book was checking to see if adjusting the height of a source of parts. Rather than welding it a new position, bolting it, or even using duct tape, the fastest way to check is to just hold it there. It's cheaper and faster. When you lower the costs (both money and time) of experimentation, learning happens more quickly. Or as this post puts it: "the more you can build quickly, the faster you can find what you don’t know"
Rapid prototyping/experimentation leads to rapid feedback, which in turn can lead to rapid learning.
Well put. Toyota's lean manufacturing was in fact what I had in mind when referring to the origins of the term. I wasn't familiar with that particular example, but was referring in general to Toyota's reputation for trying to reduce various forms of "waste" in their production.
There is a huge benefit from 'getting your hands' on something. For folks who are visually challenged (verbal thinkers) having a prototype or a way to provide a sense of scale and design is really really important.
Steve Roberts clued me into a really useful way to prototype an enclosure, basically corrugated cardboard and fiberglass. Make your "thing" out of corregated cardboard (some sturdy boxes) and then cover it with fiberglass dipped in resin. (be sure and where a respirator mask though, the fumes are nasty).
That's how I build the base part for most of my little robots. Be aware that fiberglass can cause allergic reactions in your skin. Wear long sleeved shirts and gloves.
You may also prototype with cardboard, wooden sticks (like those used in popsicles), duct tape, and a hot glue gun. If you want to mess with plastics, you can go to the junkyard and buy some inner fender covers from wrecked cars. Then just use a heat gun to mold or melt the plastic to whatever shape you need. If you make a mold with fiberglass, you can easily fill it with this plastic. It is quite durable and can be drilled/tapped. Bondo is another great thing to use, but be aware that it is very dusty and messy.
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[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 24.8 ms ] threadBut, I am getting ever so close to the day when I wake up in the morning with a good idea, and before I go to bed at night I have a functional prototype. Talk about momentum, if you can go from nothing to functional (for something somewhat complicated) in a single day. It's easy to do with software, all the parts are there, there are zero expenses to getting a prototype working, but oh so much harder with all the things you could need in the real world.
There's nothing that puts out creative fire like waiting for parts. When you first think of something, your mind is most easily changed. I like thinking of thoughts as crystallizing idea space. The more you think about something, the more real that idea becomes. When you need to wait a week, and you have only your thoughts to throw at your project, you'll start to put the fire out. Your mind will be less able to change because it's creating a thought structure based on only your first ideas and how you will implement the parts that are on the way. Experience fuels the fire, thoughts put it out.
This is exactly why I advocate early prototyping at the dollar store (or hardware or electronics stores). Often a lot of that stuff can be sourced quickly and locally, or something close to it. Let the hoard stay in someone else's place. Beyond that, McMaster-Carr, EBay, and Amazon have delivery times under a week to Canada, I expect its only a day or two to the USA.
This is also why I advocate CAD prototyping. You don't need any parts around, but once you are happy with your design, it is quite quick to order or make parts, unless something particular is required.
If I had more money where the $7 convenience fee of storing the junk at someone else's house wasn't a big deal, I would totally keep it all there. It's kind of like Amazon Glacier, it takes a while to get it, and it's expensive, but you can put everything there. If it's on disk drives in your garage you can store a bunch, but it takes a little bit to find. If it's on SSD storage on your desk, it's the quickest to iterate, but then everything is right there.
Rapid prototyping/experimentation leads to rapid feedback, which in turn can lead to rapid learning.
Steve Roberts clued me into a really useful way to prototype an enclosure, basically corrugated cardboard and fiberglass. Make your "thing" out of corregated cardboard (some sturdy boxes) and then cover it with fiberglass dipped in resin. (be sure and where a respirator mask though, the fumes are nasty).