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Works-Like Prototype

A works-like prototype is different than the paper prototype in that it should "actually work", but it does not need to have any aesthetic resemblance to the final product. A works-like prototype could be a mess of wires on a breadboard. It could have certain parts that are stand-in for their final versions. The more finished a works-like prototype is, the more it will include the final components, but it is both "allowed" and expected that a works-like prototype will not be the exact same as the final prototype.

It is also common to have multiple works-like prototypes that work together to illustrate the final product. For example, if you are building a mechanism that will eventually be motor-driven, and you decide that one works-like prototype will be hand-driven to show off the working mechanism, and the other works-like prototype will be electrically-driven to show off the working control system, then that would be both "acceptable" and probably a very good design strategy.

The key feature of the works-like prototype really is that it "actually works". Whatever you build for this phase should fully illustrate all of the working components of your project, even if it has not come together for your final prototype. It would be acceptable, for example, to have an LED stand-in for a motor turning on if it helped illustrate your prototype better than a hard-to-see motor. It would not be acceptable to have an LED stand-in for a motor turning on if you simply had not bought the motor yet.

To make the requirement clear for this project, for this prototype, we will require you to have ordered and tested all of your electronic components by this deadline, and to have all of them included in some demonstrative prototype by this time. They do not have to be fully finished or linked together, but they need to be present and accounted for.

Requirements

At absolute minimum, you will need to hand in and demonstrate (during lab):

  1. One or more functional works-like prototypes that demonstrate all of your parts
  2. An operations manual, which includes:
  • A short summary of the overall project concept
  • A summary of purpose of this prototype (e.g., in contrast to your paper prototype)
  • Any updated paper prototypes needed to make sense of this prototype
  • An operations guide such as code, a script, storyboard, or workflow
  • A completed BOM that includes an annotated sketch of your parts and what you actually ordered and tested

Note that you are still NOT required to hand in a circuit diagram at this stage. You may make one if you find it helpful, but since we're still in the prototyping phase, we assume that your prototype will still change before the final prototype.