Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1073397
78 FLEX007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2019 factor. There are 10 rigid PCBs, and that's a function of the form factor requirements of Origin—the camera and display both need to be in one plane, and there are also handles, encoders, controls, motors, the main process- ing unit, the spindle motor, and the control- ler for the Z-axis. I don't have 20-layer boards in there with blind and buried microvias and things like that. What makes this complex is the integration between lots of boards fitting in electromechanically, which was the biggest challenge, along with making it highly manu- facturable, repeatable, and testable. Each tool is individually calibrated as it goes to the factory because we have to get the visual system perfect. This means designing the elec- tronics to enable automatic calibration routines in a fast and efficient way in the factory. Matties: What was the cycle time from concept to being ready to go to market? Blum: The earliest prototype of this tool from eight years ago included a single-axis correc- tion prototype. For many years, it was an aca- demic project. I joined about three years ago to help make it manufacturable. At that point, there was a prototype that had cameras fit- ted on, an external computer, and a bunch of stuff that allowed testing of the user interaction flow, but it was not manufacturable. About a year and a half ago, we started a pre-sale cam- paign to look for people who wanted to buy it, and then it started shipping to people a year after that. We first shipped the tool to people in October 2017. We fulfilled the orders for all of our pre-order customers. Then, we paused sales so we could expand our manufacturing capabilities to better meet demand. Origin is now available for sale again in the U.S. and Canada at shapertools.com. Matties: When you were looking at the manu- facturing, what was the greatest challenge in finding a supplier to meet your needs? Blum: It's kind of a weird product—it's simul- taneously a robot, power tool, and computer. It was challenging to find manufacturing part- ners who had reasonable expertise in those three things. Most manufacturers just focus on one of those things. We had to train our contract manufacturer on the processes for building a product like this, and we've devel - oped all of our own factory test fixtures. We spend a lot of time at the various factories in our supply chain teaching them how to make this product and it's various components effectively. Feinberg: So you have someone manufacture the entire device for you. Blum: It's like any other complex product. There are hundreds of parts in Origin. Some vendors are making subassemblies for it. How- ever, there's one place where the whole thing comes together—the final assembly location— which is where we do all the testing and cali- bration. Feinberg: Do you do it, or do you have it made for you? Attendees at the San Diego show got some hands-on time with Origin.