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> the cost to build physical prototypes has effectively fallen to 0. That's a bit of an exaggeration. The cost to build prototypes of soft plastic objects in u

> the cost to build physical prototypes has effectively fallen to 0. That's a bit of an exaggeration. The cost to build prototypes of soft plastic objects in unusual shapes has significantly diminished. The cost to build electronic prototypes has decreased only marginally, mechatronics, robotics and most types of actuation are still a big boys club etc.

ghaff 4y ago
While 3D printers have been very useful for certain types of prototyping, I'd have to say that overall the excitement/hype around 3D printing you saw 10 or so years ago has significantly diminished.
- grogenaut 4y ago
  Yes it's definitelyoved out of the hype curve into the are where it's actually useful. Which means it's actually doing stuff people aren't talking about yet or don't need to show off. I use my printers all the time and I'm Im only slightly more hyped now then when I figure out a new web framework, or a cool new way of thinking I about pandas. Just cause it's not hype doesn't mean it's not useful. How sexy is rail freight? Power grids. I don't see tons of hypes on my towns water supply.
nine_k 4y ago
As long as an electronic prototype can be made digital, things improved a lot with wide availability of Arduino, RPi, and ESP32 boards, and very accessible development tools for them. Many analog things can be modeled and evaluated using a fast enough CPU, which are cheaply available; see software-defined radios, for instance.
akiselev 4y ago
> The cost to build electronic prototypes has decreased only marginally, mechatronics, robotics and most types of actuation are still a big boys club etc. I strongly disagree. Not only have the non-recurring expenses in EE cratered thanks to extensive part libraries and reference designs but the cost of fab & assembly is easily a tenth of what it was a decade or two ago thanks to Chinese manufacturers. Open reference designs with design files are more common than ever, allowing anyone with a little EE knowledge to bootstrap even complex designs. The equipment necessary to solder BGAs at home have fallen to the hundreds of dollars, cheaper than a decent used Metcal. 6DOF robotic arms isn't even a big boys club anymore with several open source versions available off the shelf with fast turn around part availability from McMaster/Misumi and really cheap high tech parts like linear encoders, motors, stages, controllers, etc from Alibaba/express. All of these vendors allow hobbyists to prototype full blown industrial automation, let alone individual products. Open source 3d printers, CNCs, pick and places, and so on abound with plenty of quality open source firmware. People are even starting to tackle linear motors for high precision actuators, the kind you'd find in semiconductor fabs.

ghaff 4y ago

While 3D printers have been very useful for certain types of prototyping, I'd have to say that overall the excitement/hype around 3D printing you saw 10 or so years ago has significantly diminished.

grogenaut 4y ago
Yes it's definitelyoved out of the hype curve into the are where it's actually useful. Which means it's actually doing stuff people aren't talking about yet or don't need to show off. I use my printers all the time and I'm Im only slightly more hyped now then when I figure out a new web framework, or a cool new way of thinking I about pandas. Just cause it's not hype doesn't mean it's not useful. How sexy is rail freight? Power grids. I don't see tons of hypes on my towns water supply.

nine_k 4y ago

As long as an electronic prototype can be made digital, things improved a lot with wide availability of Arduino, RPi, and ESP32 boards, and very accessible development tools for them. Many analog things can be modeled and evaluated using a fast enough CPU, which are cheaply available; see software-defined radios, for instance.

akiselev 4y ago

> The cost to build electronic prototypes has decreased only marginally, mechatronics, robotics and most types of actuation are still a big boys club etc. I strongly disagree. Not only have the non-recurring expenses in EE cratered thanks to extensive part libraries and reference designs but the cost of fab & assembly is easily a tenth of what it was a decade or two ago thanks to Chinese manufacturers. Open reference designs with design files are more common than ever, allowing anyone with a little EE knowledge to bootstrap even complex designs. The equipment necessary to solder BGAs at home have fallen to the hundreds of dollars, cheaper than a decent used Metcal. 6DOF robotic arms isn't even a big boys club anymore with several open source versions available off the shelf with fast turn around part availability from McMaster/Misumi and really cheap high tech parts like linear encoders, motors, stages, controllers, etc from Alibaba/express. All of these vendors allow hobbyists to prototype full blown industrial automation, let alone individual products. Open source 3d printers, CNCs, pick and places, and so on abound with plenty of quality open source firmware. People are even starting to tackle linear motors for high precision actuators, the kind you'd find in semiconductor fabs.