prototyping
functional prototype
Construction
To show the working functions, it was decided to produce two prototypes, one functional prototype and one design prototype.
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The functional prototype resembles the design and consists of the following parts:
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circuit board
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3 ultrasonic transducers
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water tank
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3D printed cylindric case
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rechargable battery ( with inductive charging)
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To see the functionality, watch the videos in the gallery below.
Circuit
The circuit consists of the clock generator (NE555) and a MOSFET circuit. The piezo discs are connected to the output of the MOSFET transistor.
In order to use only one voltage source, both for the NE555 device and for the MOSFET, a battery is used to supply the circuit with 15V.
The integrated circuit (IC), NE555, is operated as an astable flip-flop, this allows a frequency to be generated. This is needed to make the piezo discs oscillate. The frequency is set via the resistor R2 and the capacitor C1.
The MOSFET transistor IRFZ44N is connected to the flip-flop. This, in combination with the coil L1 and the capacitor C3, can provide the required current and voltage at the output so that the ultrasonic transducers oscillate.
design prototype
In the final stretch of our user testing we chose two final designs out of six prototypes to test usability, intuitivity, design, interactivity, customizability and versatile usage.
design 1
The first prototype showcased a rather simplified design that represented the outtakes from the first research and testing round. The points collected and concentrated on here were: a handle, big surface, oval shape form to see more of the usage, ring light, different options to hold and put down to stand.
design 2
After user testing, the first design was adjusted to the feedback and a new design was developed. It concentrated more on intuitivity and minimalised very practical looking usage such as the big handle, the oval surface, sizing in general and functional parts being very visible. This design has all functioning parts inside the product, is very easy to grasp on how to use, where to touch and how it can be modified and set up.