My first product brief was to design a new protective housing for an optional occupancy sensor. The housing needed to be IP66 water tight while visually complimenting the existing fixture.
The two main manufacturing concerns with this project were die-casting and injection molding. Before the final toolings were made the design was vetted using a number of prototyping techniques including additive manufacturing.
Pictured here is a first article version of the sensor housing undergoing a rain test. Throughout the prototype and testing process the design was run through various thermal and moisture verifications.
The second design brief was to design a recessed mounting system for SlenderForm Square fixture. Since the design wont be seen, this was mostly a mechanical exercise in fit and ease of use. In this case our customer wasn't a buyer but the technician who had to install the system and I tried to keep this in mind throughout the testing process.
Due to the user driven nature of this design we ended up going through multiple iterations and reviews, focusing on function and ease of instillation. Through this process we were able to minimize the number of steps needed to install the device as well as simplify the design from a manufacturing standpoint.
Cost was a major consideration with this fixture. While initial designs incorporated the use of die-cast components, through testing we were able to simplify the mounting mechanism with the final product being fabricated exclusively with sheet metal formation.
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SlenderForm Expansions
One of my first assignments for Philips-Gardco was to design a pair of product line enhancements for the SlenderForm series of luminaries. The goal being to add useful options an existing product line, expanding our potential market share.
Both of these designs will be released early 2013.