The Age of Rapid Hardware Prototyping

Texatronics
Jun 27
4 min read

Updated: Aug 24

In this blog we explore the prototyping phase of mechanical hardware since a lot has changed in recent years in the advent of new technologies available. SUBTRACTIVE MANUFACTURING

Traditionally the hardware development phase of the product life cycle used to be very long and iterative. A design would be drawn and the prints would be sent to a machine shop where the technicians would manually program a mill or CNC machine to carve out the model design from a block of material. After several days or weeks the designer would get the machined part for a fit and function test and it would take again another few days or weeks if changes were needed. This was a very serial lengthy and expensive part of product development. Machining has a lot of limitations and there are models just impossible to make without splitting them in different pieces. This process also often requires the development of a holding fixture just for the part to be made. Due to all the above points, subtractive manufacturing is better suited for full production or for beta level prototypes.

FORMING AND SHAPING MANUFACTURING This is discrete mass production type. The most widely known is injection molding. A very durable mold is first design with mirror features for containing the intended part. Very careful considerations for temperature and flow dynamics have to be considered so the molten or maleable material can flow evenly through the mold. The ejection of the mold from the part has to also be carefully engineered. These molds should be good for several thousands of repetitive castings of parts.

Injection mold

ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, otherwise known as 3D printing, has made a huge impact in shortening the cycle of product development. It is now possible to 3D print (grow) any model which would be impossible to do on a CNC machine.

There are two main-stream technologies for 3-D printing:

FDM ( Fuse Deposition Modeling): These are the economical printers many hobbyist have in their garages. It melts a thin polymer filament material and layers it down on flat surface with a nozzle moving very precisely in the X-Y-Z envelope. A wide variety of filament materials is now available at very affordable prices. The machines have also gotten better hitting higher sub-mm accuracies and print speeds assisted with many sensors like lidar to stop a print when it goes bad. One disadvantage of this technology is the smoothness of the model where most layers are still noticeable and creating a surface that is water tight might require additional treatment.
Stereo Lithography 3D printer.
SLA ( Stereo LythogrAphy) This technology uses polymer resins which get fused with a high precision laser. This results in a much more precise and smooth model. The trade of with this technology is having to deal with messy resins and post clean up. The printers are also more expensive, although recently their prices are also coming down.

HYBRID MANUFACTURING

This type of manufacturing provides the best of both worlds where difficult pieces of a model are printed, but then completed by a machining process to remove material. This allows for a higher precision model built out of different materials when some of then are not suitable for 3D printing.

Advantages: Complex shapes, low waste, functional parts.
Disadvantages: Limited speed for mass production, post-processing required.

🧬 Generative Design + AI-Driven Prototyping

This is Computer Aided Design (CAD) software enhanced with AI/ML algorithms that generates lightweight, optimized designs based on performance goals.

It is Often paired with additive manufacturing for lattice or organic structures.

Example: Autodesk Fusion 360 generative design, Siemens NX, nTopology.

🌐 Digital Twins for Prototyping

Instead of making multiple physical iterations, digital twins simulate real-world performance.

It Integrated with IoT and AI for real-time feedback loops. It Reduces the need for costly physical prototypes before final production.

🖨️ 4D Printing (Programmable Materials)

These are prototypes that change shape, color, or function over time when exposed to stimuli (heat, water, electricity).

Some Applications Include: medical stents that expand in the body, self-assembling structures, and adaptive textiles.

🧪 Rapid Bioprinting & Material Innovation

Bioprinting of tissues and organs (still experimental, but advancing quickly) is becoming available.

Some New functional prototyping materials used are: graphene composites, recyclable resins, high-temp polymers (PEEK, ULTEM).

🕶️ XR Prototyping (AR/VR/MR)

These are Virtual prototypes tested in immersive AR/VR before physical builds.

Engineers can “step inside” a design to validate ergonomics and usability.

It saves time and materials in early design stages.

⚡ Rapid Micro-fabrication & Nano-Prototyping

2-photon lithography and micro-3D printing allow prototypes at the microscale and nanoscale. Expensive lithography is needed this.

It is used for electronics, sensors, MEMS, medical devices.

🛠️ On-Demand Distributed Prototyping

Cloud-connected platforms options continue to grow (Xometry, Fictiv, Protolabs) allow designers to instantly source prototypes from global suppliers by simply uploading their designs, select fabrication process, material and volume to get quickly a quote.

This often integrates CNC, sheet metal, injection molding, and AM in one digital workflow.

CONCLUSION: Rapid Hardware Prototyping is gaining a lot of flexibility for the hardware developer as it now offers a wider range of technologies which were not available before. 3D printing was only the beginning of this prototyping revolution that makes many resources now available not just to industry, but also to the average DiY'er and hobbyist.

What will you design and prototype? Reach out to us if you need any advice or support to design and prototype your idea. texatronics.com August 2025