Rapid Proof of Concept

Autonomous vehicles must be capable of sensing their environment – including the movement of objects and people. So when Cranfield University needed a radar designed for its autonomous vehicle testing facility, the millimetre-wave (mmWave) radar antennas required waveguides to extend the effective range.

As the production volume was low and the geometry was difficult to achieve with machining, the Plextek team decided to 3D print the waveguides and use a novel process to copper-plate the plastic. As the facility was outdoors and the radars needed to be mounted permanently, the enclosure needed to be sealed to IP66 standards to protect against dust and water – and also be resistant to the sun’s UV rays.

The enclosure also had to allow the radar’s signals to pass through, so material selection and wall thickness were chosen carefully with regards to the wavelength being used. In addition, the system generated 15W of heat, which needed to be dissipated through a passive heatsink.

The heat dissipation requirements ended up being the biggest challenge. Testing of the thermal performance of the prototype revealed insufficient dissipation, so the Plextek team investigated and made modifications to improve the heatsink and then repeated the tests to confirm that the prototype could function in the full range of operating conditions.

When a manufacturer of insulin wanted to know more about the status of its equipment, Plextek offered to install a sensor inside the production facility.

Due to the strict requirements of the clean room classification to maintain the sterility of the product, the sensor had to be housed in a stainless-steel enclosure and supplied with proof of material grade and an anti-bacterial surface finish. The sterilisation process was also aggressive, so the enclosure had to be sealed to IP66 standards.

The maintenance schedule of the facility only allowed a fixed window of opportunity to install the sensor, which happened to be less than two weeks from the kick-off of the project. Rapid design, build, and test was essential to enable the timely proof of concept system to be delivered and installed in the available time.

A large automotive repair service business approached Plextek for help when it wanted to make its processes safer for its technicians.

It had identified the source of many of the injuries – a disposable razorblade, which was needed for every repair – and wanted to find a way to make the process safer without substantially increasing the cost.

After ruling out many other options, the Plextek team settled on a handle for the razor, which was designed to prevent the blade penetrating skin – without impeding the performance of the job.

Following experimentation with shapes and materials, the team were able to refine the concept down to a few different concepts, prototypes of which were produced and delivered to the client to enable the preferred design to be selected.