Vancouver 2010 Medals

(VANOC photo)

Over 30 steps, representing 2,817 hours (402 days) of precision manufacturing are required to produce the medals of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. The circular medals have an undulating surface inspired by ocean waves, drifting snow and the mountainous landscapes found in the Games region and across Canada and the graphics are based on a large master artwork of an orca whale by Corrine Hunt, a Canadian designer/artist of Komoyue and Tlingit heritage. Each of the medals has a unique hand-cropped section of the abstract art, making every medal one-of-a-kind. Some of the processes include:

• computer-sculpting and milling 12 undulated dies for striking medals into their unconventional shape
• casting, milling and rolling bars to cut blanks of a precise width and thickness
• triple striking each blank three separate times, with polishing and annealing
• laser etching an individual design and text on 1014 different medals
• cladding each medal in a transparent protective coating to prevent premature wear and tarnishing

Thirty-four Canadian Mint engineers, engravers, die technicians, machinists and production experts collaborated with the designers and artists to create a truly unique series of athlete medals for these games. Take a look at the videos and interactive tours at the Vancouver 2010 web site.

Vietnamese Manufacturing

(Via Core77)

During a recent trip to Asia, Core77-contributor Brit Leissler visited a number of manufacturing centers in Vietnam that specialize in coiled bamboo manufacturing and lacquering, and ceramics. Visit Core’s gallery to get a better understanding of the production methods, working conditions, and everyday experience of the Vietnamese bamboo and ceramic factory worker.

MOTO: Materials Make the Difference

(Via Core77)

Chris Porter, MOTO’s Director Supply Chain & Logistics, writes about his observations of the innovative use of materials and manufacturing processes at CES 2010. The intro really does say it all:

In today’s crowded marketplace, device-makers should realize that using standard materials in standard ways won’t help them stand out. It takes extra investment in supply chain logistics, tooling, and unusual manufacturing processes to create products that seem truly unique. Yet when done right, the extra money spent on materials can become the key differentiator that makes a product successful.

Oh sing it, baby…

In this article, Chris talks about overmolded rubber texturing, in-mold decoration, machined aluminum, Corning’s Gorilla Glass, bio-plastics, reclaimed plastic and bamboo. Now THAT’S a fun list.

I think I just felt a little shiver… What? Haven’t you read this blog before?

Industrial Design Process at Giro

(Via SolidSmack)

Hilgard Muller, the Industrial Design Manager at Giro, talks about their design process of creating a pair of world-class sunglasses. While they have a lot of technology at their disposal, it’s the industrial designer and his sketching that brings the right blend of art, design and engineering to bear in these beautiful products.

Watch the workflow from sketch, to 3D CAD and rapid prototyping to production and notice how intimate the ID’s connection with the material and minute details that make a good product great. There’s no throwing it over the wall here, just handing off the final design to manufacturing with all the details specified. Now that’s what design is all about.

Check out the video at Design Futures quickly before it’s moved to “subscription-only”.

Greener Gadgets Feb 25 in NYC

The Greener Gadgets Conference tackles all of the issues surrounding energy efficiency and sustainable design, from innovative advances in packaging and product manufacturing to end-of-life recycling solutions. It also highlights ways in which electronics make a major impact by utilizing renewable energy in developing nations.

The conference closes out with the incredibly popular Greener Gadgets Design Competition, highlighting a new class of sustainable product concepts, from those that create their own energy to those that minimize the need for any electricity at all. The event takes place February 25 from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. at the McGraw-Hill Conference Center in NYC.

Lexon’s Bamboo and Bio-plastic Products

[Via Core77]

Well this seems to make sense. Pair my favorite natural material, bamboo, with the up-and-coming corn-based bio-plastic and what have you got? A simple, but lovely line of appliances from Lexon. Oh yeah, did I mention they were renewably-powered? The radio is juiced with a crank and the others are solar. Designed by Elium Studio, known for designing kitschy products using foam and rubber, these products make no apologies for the sparse, Asian-meets-Scandinavia aesthetic of machined bamboo fronts on natural bioplastic.

Course on Automotive Plastic Part Design

Plastics expert , Paul A. Tres, IDSA, will present a 3-day state-of-the-art seminar at University of Michigan during April 7-9, 2010, entitled Automotive Plastic Part Design. The seminar will have detailed discussions, examples and step by step methodology on how to design with plastic materials in automotive segments such as seat systems, safety systems, powertrain, interior components. He’ll address issues such as  squeak and rattles, integral seals, in-mold assembly, etc.

The course is targeted at automotive designers, product managers, project managers, research engineers, material engineers, graduate and undergraduate students, or anyone involved in the development and manufacture of automotive plastic products and systems. If you have the time (and the $1390 for early registration), it well worth your time is you’re a designer in this market.

[more info]

Material Properties Databases

I’ve had a number of requests for online materials database and I just tripped over a pretty good list on the Core77 discussion boards. Some have already been mentioned in previous posts, but it’s probably good to build a list…

MatWeb – Pretty heavy-duty, but it’s free… The sticky part is that if you don’t know how to quantify a particular material property (like, say, flexural modulus), you’re not going to find the material you need… Kinda a Catch-22 actually.

IDES – Check out Prospector. It’s another powerful database like MatWeb, but limited to plastics only. You might also have to register to use this one.

CES Selector – Looks powerful, but I think you have to pay for this one.

ASM’s /Mtrl – A nice alternative to having to know all the pesky numbers for the material properties… How about “squishy”? I did a post about this one. Check it out here.

PolyOne’s Material Search Tool – I’m guessing this one;s limited to what’s in PolyOne’s line card, but I’m not sure.

Plastics International’s Database – Another material supplier’s database (Minnesota Plastics). So, like PolyOne, probably limited to what they carry… But nice interface.

CustomPart.net – This site has a bunch of cools stuff like a part cost estimator for a wide range of processes.

Inventables – Always fun and now a lot of it is free for the browsing. This more about unusual materials and components, but definitely worth a visit.

Materia – Another more expansive web site dedicated to all things material for products, interiors, etc. You need to join (for free) to access their Material Explorer.

Transmaterial – Architect Blaine Brownell’s expansive site of all things material. This site is the online companion to his books by the same name.

Ecolect – Browse through sustainable materials.

The Wood Explorer – Lets you browse wood species with pictures.

Selecting Materials – A database of material databases… sounds redundant…

Hope this helps. Let me know if you find any others you find useful.

What’s That?: Extruded Aluminum Drive Housing

I was over at the NC State College of Design (my alma mater) participating in a final crit for a Junior Industrial Design studio, and someone brought me a part to ask me about it. It was the housing from a Maxtor OneTouch portable drive (the first series)…

Mesmerizing Tube Bender Looks Like It’s Pooping Steel…

[Via Core77 and LiveLeak]

Okay, this is just stupid cool… Watch this CNC tube bender from Nissin. The bend geometry is translated into a set of instructions that control the position of the moveable die as the material slides out. There’s another (less grainy) video from a tradeshow. The formed tube is covered with grease because of the ridiculous amount of force and friction between the material and the die.

It really does look like it’s “pooping steel”.