Dailymail.co.uk writes:

Measuring a tiny eighth of an inch by quarter of an inch, this carefully crafted piece of engineering is the world’s smallest working train model.

The five-carriage train, which is 35,200 times smaller than a real train, nips around an oval route even taking in a ride through a tunnel on its three-quarter inch track.

Created by New Jersey train enthusiast David Smith, the miniscule model was built using nothing more fancy than a craft knife and a steady hand.

He did it old school! Before the fancy software and state-of-the-art 3D design tools were created, this is how it used to be done for the most part! Keep it real! This is amazing.

Through innovative design software, prototyping has been changed forever. With programs like AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor and Alias, rednering the dimensions of an item is becoming a thing of the past because now with the right devices and 3D motion controllers, you do all that and more in a less amount of time. Those groups of people no longer work together to accomplish one project – but to accomplish several products individually.

That’s what Pure Prototyping Design is about: the devices, software and services that have made this pure world of prototyping design.

It appears as though 3D printing is getting bigger and bigger with promotional media!

According to Product Design & Development, the popular video game Rock Band is striving to bring the 2D character-based Rock band characters that you create into a third dimension!

Gamers who play Rock Band on a network enabled Playstation 3 (PS3) and XBOX 360 are not just virtually strumming, banging or singing along with the music. Gamers have the ability to create an avatar in the game, and as he/she becomes better at the game he/she earns money to buy accessories to outfit their rock star, such as clothes, shoes, haircuts and every other manor of decoration. A player can even draw logos for T-shirts or tattoos.

The gamer can then load their character information up to the internet and visit the Merch Booth on www.rockbandstore.com where he/she can pull their customized avatar up, pick a pose and order a 3D printed figurine that is about 6” tall and weighs 10 to 12 ounces (the collectables are dense, it’s like picking up a ceramic piece in similar dimensions).

With latest partnership between Harmonix and Z Corporation, the video game developers are collaborating with MA-based manufactueres with 3D printing to create fully customized 3D-printed figurines.

Using methods done with prototyping, The Harmonix team translates the video game data into 3D printable data. The orders are then sent to Z Corp’s facility electronically (like in a CAD-based file) where they use rapid prototyping and 3D printers to print out the designs. Like us, they print it out and then ship it off to the customer!

“All of the color data, including the avatar’s tattoos and insignia that are created within in the game, are applied to the character during the printing process,” says Scott Harmon, vice president of business development with Z Corp.

“We definitely are not advertising these as being toys, they are figurines, collectables,” adds Harmon. “They are durable enough that they can be shipped around.” According to Harmon, the rockers can be handled, but if you whack them hard enough on the counter top you could critically damage a Mohawk or custom guitar. Here’s to hoping the characters are placed in proper homes so any fatal blow to a pair of studded pants can be avoided.

The market for consumer printables is seemingly endless – with nearly every new video game environment operating in a virtual third dimension. With the current state of the economy, people have been hesitant to spend the $80 to $100 that it takes to make a figurine.

“We ship thousands of these things across the whole business, but it is clearly a consumer electable purchase,” says Harmon. “It’s not a must have, it’s a want. The market is potentially millions of pieces, but there are definitely sensitivities around how much people are willing to spend for them.”

Although they are still putting the finishing touches with aesthetics, figurine durability and safety issues, Harmonix and Z Corporation are looking forward to the eventual release of these consumer-customizable figures. It’s as if they are connecting the gaming world with human preference and actual 3D printing design!

“The idea that you can get something that is fully customized to the individual is a pretty novel concept so awareness is still quite low,” says Harmon. “There are customizations that you can make to hair, body type and apparel, but to get a real representation of yourself — you then start talking about scan data or 2D photo to 3D mesh conversion technology and in the not-too-distant future. You’ll soon see services where you can take photo data and get a 3D character out of it.”

We’re looking forward to the future with this one!

Credit Sources: pddnet.com | wb-3d.com

According to tmcnet.com:

Open source CRM provider SugarCRM announced that 3Dconnexion, a SugarCRM customer who manufactures 3-D control devices, has won a CRM Best Practices Award at an expo in Nuremberg, Germany.

The award was delegated to 3Dconnexion – a subsidiary of computing device manufacturer Logitech as a result of the company’s use of SugarCRM’s open source global customer management platform.

“This award is confirmation of the value SugarCRM delivers to its customers through best-in-class CRM capabilities and an incredible network of channel providers,” Liz Smith, vice president of SugarCRM Europe, said, adding that SugarCRM congratulates 3Dconnexion for its innovative use of SugarCRM.

Who knew that a 3D motion device would go such a long way, especially with a team of people behind them!

Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization (JIDPO) announced the results of the 2009 Good Design Awards on October 1.

Entries for this year opened on April 22 and received 2,952 applications.

As a result of first and second screening, 1034 items received Good Design Awards – including the Good Design Award Best 15 and other special awards.

Recipients of the Good Design Award Best 15 are selected as candidates for the Good Design Grand Award.

The winner of this year’s Good Design Grand Award will be selected from among those 15, at the Awards Ceremony to be held on November 6.

In celebration of this, a couple of the guys at WB Engineering thought they’d showcase a couple of their favorite industrial designs that made the Top 15 of this Japanese competition of design re-creation:

For Human Body: Panasonic EP-MS40 Design Chair
Panasonic EP-MS40 | Panasonic Electric Works Co., Ltd.

For Society, Public Equipment & Facilities: Toto Ltd. Public Restroom
Producer: Hiromichi Tabata, General Manager, Restroom Div., TOTO LTD.
Director: Koichi Yasuda, Yasuda Atelier, Tokyo Institute of Technology
Designers: Junichi Tani, Mitsuya Obara, Naomi Toguchi, Masatoshi Yada, Mitsuya Matsuo, Masafumi Hirasawa, Soichiro Aritome, Hiroshi Hase, Takayasu Shimada, Teruko Hino, Kayo Kawakami, Yoshitaka Mukai, Isamu Sato

For Network & Publicity: Green Tokyo Gundam Project
Producer: Green Tokyo Gundam Project Committee

For Living / Automobiles and Auto Accessories: Toyota Prius Hybrid Automobile
Toyota Motor Corporation

Credit Sources: Dexigner | wb-3d.com

Sure, everyone is saying it but have you ever really just sat back and thought about it?

Just a couple years ago people used to trace images using a pencil, an eraser and a sheet of paper. Engineering used to be done by hand, mathematical calculations and complete consistency…and time management was an entirely different story.

Groups of people worked together to carry out a design project which would take at least a full year at the earliest to complete.
When you think back on it and then blink your eyes, it’s like we are living in the future like we’re The Jetsons or something!

Through innovative design software, prototyping has been changed forever. With programs like AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor and Alias, rednering the dimensions of an item is becoming a thing of the past because now with the right devices and 3D motion controllers, you do all that and more in a less amount of time. Those groups of people no longer work together to accomplish one project – but to accomplish several products individually.

That’s what this blog is going to be about: the devices, software and services that have made this pure world of prototyping design.

Hold on to your Autodesk Inventor-created seats: you are in for one adventurous ride.

Image Credit: luxuo.com