Product development with LinoPro: Drafting the concept
04.11.2019 - Carsten Gäbel
In the concept phase, the development team must first find out product requirements and necessary functions. Moreover, it has to analyze the market situation as well as trends and clarify which technologies and implementation options are promising.
In the concept phase, the development team must first answer the following questions:
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Which task should the product fulfil and which functions are necessary to create a high user acceptance?
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What is the current market situation and what are future trends?
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Which technologies and possibilities for implementation exist and are promising?
The development team of our engineering office analyzes trends, customer needs and possible technologies. A multitude of factors are taken into account (existing technological implementation variants, patents, material selection, pricing), ideas are collected and finally evaluated. The requirements for the product and its manufacture are described in project objectives.
Based on the answers to the above questions, the engineers at LinoPro's engineering office develop a product concept. The resulting preliminary draft paints a clear picture of the product vision.
Using the example of the transport drone to be developed, the following requirements and basic conditions were determined and defined in project objectives:
Within a radius of 14 kilometers, the drone will carry and deliver goods with a total weight of up to 2 kilograms. The weatherproof transport box can be loaded and unloaded autonomously. The dimensions of the box were set at 30 x 60 x 15 centimeters to a size optimized for this payload. After an analysis of the target group and a rough calculation of the costs (material, manufacture, development and distribution), a sales price was aimed at, which, in addition to the product features, would facilitate an attractive and successful market placement of the drone. The possibilities of state subsidies were also taken into account.
The analysis of possible designs and a comparison with already existing transport drones has shown that an Octocopter design (8 motors) with an X-shaped arrangement of the rotors (see right version in the picture above) optimally meets the above-mentioned requirements with regard to power demand, load positioning and stability.
With an expected weight of approx. 6-8 kilograms, an initial design of the base frame and the aluminium motor jib proved to be too heavy for the planned application. After further analysis, the development team therefore decided in favour of a construction made of fiber reinforced composites (e.g. CFRP).
Further information about our CAD services for the design of a construction can also be found here. Talk to us! Our design office will be happy to assist you.