How are regular traditional prototypes different from rapid prototypes?

Prototyping is the process of creating a sample product model to test it in the real-world environment and to serve as the basis for other processes.
Traditional prototyping involves the design, development, construction, and manufacturing of a model of our product, typically by designers and developers using pen, pencil, and paper or a CAD design software file; while rapid prototyping (RP) involves additively 3D printing the scale model of the part or assembly using a 3D printer and 3D additive layer manufacturing technology, without planning and tooling of the manufacturing process.

Prototyping is the design verification and adjustment phase of product development as it tests and demonstrates the design. We want to be able to touch and feel, test and demonstrate a product before we make it, whether it’s in mass production or out of expensive material, and we want to make sure our design suits our needs and applications.
It allows us to show and display the new product, either to our managers, to our investors, to our designers and/or to our clients. It allows us to test our ideas and concepts to see if they can actually work in the real world, as well as test the design to see if it passes all requirements tests. We can also use a prototype to assess if and where we need to make improvements and changes if necessary.
We can build a partial prototype or we can build the actual part itself, looking and feeling like the complete product. It may or may not work, or it may only work partially to test only parts of the design. The final version will probably look good and work fine.

So how is a traditional “old school” prototype different from a fast one? The traditional method of prototyping involves making models from different materials, such as clay, foam, wood, plastic, and metal. You may have additional materials, such as cables, tape, etc. We can create it by hand, cutting, gluing, engraving or we can manufacture it with CNC milling machines. On the other hand, rapid prototyping includes technology that creates the 3D part from the CAD file itself (without paper designs) on a computer and 3D printer, using materials such as ABS, PLA, PETT, HIPS, HDPE, PVA, resin, etc. ceramics. , nylon, stainless steel and more.

3D printing is becoming more popular recently due to the fact that we can control the speed and precision of parts made with it, and we can create very complex prototypes with it that we may not be able to machine. The part made with a 3D printer can be almost identical to what the final product will look like, so it gives a much better idea of ​​the “real deal”. Also, there is much less waste material in 3D printing and it is usually a one person task, thus saving money on manpower and personnel. There can be a large number of designers working on developing a single prototype, which makes it challenging, but most 3D printing software offers sync options, so everyone can be on the same page.

Once we get past the prototyping phase and need to mass-produce parts quickly, then the additive manufacturing process is likely to be less efficient and slower (having to produce each layer at a time) than traditional manufacturing methods. of parts, such as CNC machining. with a CNC router. Also, sometimes it’s impossible to use the 3D printer to produce a large or large-scale part, and having to fabricate the parts in sections and then glue them together can be a hassle.
However, no matter if we are using traditional or additive rapid prototyping technology, a prototype serves us as a tool to learn, experiment, visualize and improve design and knowledge. This tool is especially useful in cases where the final product is very complex and may require multiple design changes, more specifically in industries such as medical, automotive, bioengineering, aerospace, marine, and more.