I have to say I agree with Perry. As a CAD designer I often have people who take a one hour job and turn it into a lifetime persuit. When working with one you should be as clear as possible as to what you want. A really good CAD software that I use is Turbocad. It is relatively cheap if you buy an older version (I bought turbocad 12 pro for 150 dollars because it was an older version and it didnt work with vista so I called the company who makes it and they upgraded me to versin 14 for free) It has its quirks but is easy to use and very forgiving.

Eduardo, What you should do is use a site like Elance where you can post your project and people bid on it. this way you can establish a base price and whoever you choose for the work will be bound by the price unless otherwise agreed upon.

Thank you again Perry! I will check out that link and let you know how everything goes. That’s cool you have a Zcorp also.

Sorry Perry, But I don’t bash anyone hard worker.the I say For the Rockie people like sometime we listen those Designer give there owned opinion. This is one of the biggest Mistake I made
spend $5000 in just a drawings without any guarantee.

@Margaret. I agree. Building the prototype is an integral part of the development process. It helps me learn which parts of the process should be patented, the difficulties I’ll run into during manufacturing and gives me a way to test my idea to see if it has any value. Long live the prototype! lol

@Eduardo… you can do the CAD work yourself. A little learning, a computer and free software is all you need to get started. Here is a list of “free” CAD software and demos/trials. (http://www.freebyte.com/cad/cad.htm)

I use SolidWorks which cost me a fortune but in the end… I’d have to say it was a great investment. It gives me precise parts and automates a lot of the CAD process.

I spent $5000+ for it and many weeks learning how to use it. I now make the drawings I need when I need them. You can do the same thing.

Eduardo, I don’t think its fair to bash CAD workers or Engineers because you spent money working with one. Typically a CAD operator will get paid between $60 – $120 an hour. If you don’t know exactly what you need you can easily run up a big bill. But is that really the fault of the CAD worker?

I see this type of thing all the time. New inventors, for some strange reason, think professionals should work on their inventions for free. There is often a lack of professionalism in this notion. Not all new inventors but enough of them to notice.

Consider this… A trained engineer or CAD operator will bring experience and insight into the project. If you hire them they should tell you what their fees will be. If you have a definite plan of what needs to happen they will, in most all cases, charge you what you contracted for. The problems arise when the inventor is not clear about what they want. So the CAD operator does one drawing and inventor says, “Hey that won’t work. Do another drawing with these changes.” Who should pay for the changes? Right, the inventor.

Think of it like this. You get into a Taxi and tell them to, “go to 5th and Main”. They bring you there and then you say, “Hey, this doesn’t look like Aunt Mable’s block. Bring me to 15th Second.” Is the Taxi driver going to do this for free? No. That is not how it works.

Eduardo, keep moving your project ahead. Make the prototypes like Frank suggested and you will be on your way toward getting the meetings you want. You may not get funding that way but you have a better shot than not doing it at all.

perrytheinventor.com

In the beginning of my journey. Become an inventor one of the biggest mistake I made is spend
A lot of money in just a Prototype Desing. But I’m still learning this process one of the good things I doing right now is made a home Prototype. And is easy to show any company when they asked for a Prototype or picture. How my idea work.

And please be careful with those cad Designer before start your design don’t listen there opinion they only want make there money just please thinking twice before spend a lot of money.

Thank you.

I can’t tell you how many times making a prototype has proved to me that my idea won’t work the way I thought it would. But that helps me refine the design. It can’t hurt to be able to show how your idea works in a video for EN. I generally buy existing things from the store, take the parts I need from them, and put them together the way I need them to make my works like prototypes. It’s a very inexpensive method!

@Brad… For electronics visit http://www.parallax.com.

For many toys you can use their inexpensive MCU kits. And they offer free Phone support. They also have vendors and consultants who can do your projects for you. But for like $100 you can buy an educational kit and learn how to do it yourself. RadioShack offers the kit for like $90 or something like that.

I’m using one of their MCU (Micro Control Unit) right now. I built my prototype using my Zcorp to make the case and mechanical parts. And the electronics are based on a Parallax BS2P40 chip.

If you run into a problem with any of the stuff, email me, I’m glad to help.

perrytheinventor.com

@Paul, cool video.

I own the Zcorp 310 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV2__3BD8_s&...)

Way cool technology. That Ultra looks awesome!

perrytheinventor.com

Even a crude prototype can help you prove proof of concept. It doesn’t always have to be pretty, but it always has to function if you want to get your point across to a reviewer/ manufacturer.
Check with your local college for students into graphic modeling. You can also put an ad in Craigslist for a prototype modeler.

http://www.rogerbrown.net

I’m going to have many of my precision prototype parts made on this machine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LwyLTBbpVQ

Crude / low-resolution parts are fine for early prototypes… and when brittle PolyJet parts just won’t do… the ZCorp Ultra should do the trick!

Thanks Perry! I will keep the machine shops in mind. Some of my toys are electronic in nature, so the costs go up and I’m not that handy. :)

Hi Brad,

For toys you typically don’t need to (and should not) spend thousands of dollars on prototypes. I make most of my own prototypes. If you are a little handy you can probably do the same thing.

Hit the library to brush up on any skills you might need or contact local machine shops near you. A small shop is a good fit for an inventor because they will not be bogged down with layers of staff trying to create a perfect final product. And many machine shops will sign and NDA and technology assignment agreement.

FYI: The furby prototype was a tennis ball with the electronics inside. And the prototype I’m making now cost just a few hundred dollars with the electronics, plastic and metal parts and all.

You don’t need to spend a fortune to make a great prototype.

perrytheinventor.com

Thanks Perry. I am banging my head against the wall because I do not have thousands of dollars to spend on a fully-functional prototype.

Are there companies you recommend working with?

I am targeting the toy industry for this.

Thanks again!

A prototype is typically mandatory for every project I work on. At some point I want to see it work myself. I find that prototypes, of all qualities, let me learn about my invention and the processes I will need to go through to get them working, manufactured and sold.

Without a prototype the pretty drawings and flowery words usually fall on deaf ears. Too many people have “great ideas” that never get off the ground. And buyers know this. Your new rocket powered lawn chair is just a fantasy until it performs its magic.

So I believe a prototype is necessary. Now, you may not need to have a production prototype but it depends on what you are trying to do. If you are seeking to raise money, file patents, attract a buyers interest then a prototype of fairly good quality will be needed. If you want to simply see if the concept works then a much lower quality prototype will do.

perrytheinventor.com

When the toy industry is looking to see a prototype, does it need to be/should it be a working one?

For the show they said it would be better not to have a prototype. The reason was because the show is all about showing the complete process from concept to finished product. What are your thoughts about going out to pitch to a company or submitting through the Everday Edison channel?

I suppose we’ll have to wait and see who makes it through final consideration. Clearly, a prototype wasn’t required in Season One, where a few of the applicants came in with nothing more than an idea on paper.

Maybe this season will be different, though, and all the people chosen for the show will have come through with a prototype. I suspect that a few will get through without one, though, just to keep the show balanced.

I think it depends on the invention. If you can describe it sufficiently and convince people it will work and be producable without one, why spend the money? In the case of my prosthetic hand idea, I fealt it was necessary in order to prove practicality and producability.