Smart Ring: A Product Design Case Study
The Smart Ring project was a 3-week group project with
Bectronics by Opta. The primary goal was to design a functional and manufacturable smart ring that would address the limitations of existing wrist-worn fitness devices. Your specific role was to focus on Design for Manufacturing (DfM).
Span
6 Weeks
Team
Solo
Methods:
Injection Molding, Over molding.
Summary
As the lead for Design for Manufacturing, my task was to ensure the product could be efficiently produced. This involved:
Designing for Injection Molding, a key manufacturing process for the Ring.
Creating a multi-step manufacturing process to achieve a specific standard, which was the IP67 rating.
My Process
Research:
We conducted research to understand the target audience (health and fitness enthusiasts, daily commuters, and savvy shoppers) and identify the limitations of existing wrist-worn devices.
Preliminary Design:
The preliminary design phase included creating the enclosure to house all the internal electronics. You used SolidWorks and Siemens NX for this phase.
Manufacturing:
A two-step manufacturing process was developed to achieve the IP67 rating for waterproofing. The first step was designing the enclosure, followed by over-molding it with a hypoallergenic material.
Material Selection & Prototyping:
The design incorporated PVD coated aluminum which was laser cut and rolled to the required diameter. The final design included features like an SOS/call answering button, wireless charging, and a heart rate/sleep tracking sensor.
User Types:
Primary Users: Children (ages 6–12) with cognitive impairments (e.g., autism, Down syndrome), and adults who already use assistive communication technologies such as AAC apps or pictogram-based tools.
Secondary users:
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Caregivers, special educators, Family Members and speech therapists supporting daily communication
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CAD File
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