ICON200 DDC Direct Digital Controller
Designed for HVAC and district heating systems, suitable for front panel installation
Product innovation in this sector is largely marked by developments and additions in the software and electronic fields.
The increasingly advanced and smart features allow advanced relationships with the user for the management of global data
The interface with the user remains fundamental in each product: the design of the equipment, its affordance, positioning, shape and color of each individual component help to facilitate its positioning in the reference market.
Form and function are closely related.
In this project we will tell you all the steps necessary to develop an industrial product in a highly competitive sector: remote control and monitoring systems in the industrial and domestic sectors.
ICON200 is a product part of the ICON family of Intellienergy Tech.
Intellienergy Tech was born from the initiative of some companies operating in the general plant, facility and IT sector, with the aim of creating synergy between their characteristic activities, producing innovative equipment and software systems, oriented towards efficiency and energy saving, strategic issues in the public and private spheres, in the near future.
All the steps for the development of a new industrial product
The goal was to develop a new design for a product already in the catalog.
In the development of industrial products it is necessary to follow all the steps.
FIRST STEP: Product design
The first step is the collection of the specifications: all the information collected in this phase is essential to fully understand the nature of the new product to be developed. It is essential to understand the needs of those who will use the product to define a style that communicates with it.
It is a priority to share all the operating details of the product, the dimensions of the internal and electronic components, information on the installation and maintenance steps of the device.
In this project, the dimensions of the product were binding, especially the shells and the rear area provided for wall mounting. The expected production technology is injection molding.
The specifications collected in this phase will be the designer’s guidelines to elaborate the aesthetic and functional proposals of the product.
For this project, our designer Giovanni Annese has studied three aesthetic proposals.
First proposal
The first solution has a simple and original design: rounded upper corners, the knob that recalls the brand, a mirrored diffusion area that facilitate climate control functions.
Second proposal
In the second solution we have proposed a different design in the area of ventilation concentrated in the upper part, while at the bottom we have inserted the company logo. In this version, the knob has been designed with a rounded shape and with the insertion of lateral grooves to facilitate the end user.
Third proposal
The third solution is inspired by more angular lines that are also present in the ventilation area. The area has been specially divided into three directionally opposite areas and with a protruding depth compared to the thickness of the product. The knob has a much simpler and more intuitive design to make device adjustment even easier.
The experience and knowledge of the production processes of injection molding has allowed our designer to develop design proposals that already contain the manufacturing requirements; all shells have a design already optimized for plastic injection mass production.
The definitive solution
Often the design proposals are the starting point for the elaboration of the final proposal which is almost always a mix between the various proposals.
In this specific case, the final version presents some details of the first proposal, in particular the design of the slots, and other details of the third proposal inspired by a more angular geometry.
SECOND STEP: Engineering
This step involves the study and development of the 3d files of each individual component engineered according to the production technology chosen .
The fixing and assembly systems of the bodies, couplings and movements are studied, all in order to proceed with a correct assembly of the plastic parts with the other internal components and with the electronics. At the end of the engineering phase files are released in STEP / IGES format, the 2D layouts in DWG / DXF and PDF format suitable for the design of production equipment for injection molding.
THIRD STEP: Rapid prototyping
The realization of a prototype with rapid prototyping technologies is useful to validate everything that has been done before.
This step allows you to carry out assembly tests of all the plastic parts, to evaluate the overall dimensions, the couplings as well as validate all the aesthetic choices made by the designer and the designer.
FOURTH STEP: Rapid manufacturing
Rapid manufacturing is the set of technologies that are used to produce pre-series of the product.
We use vacuum casting technologies for the production of small batches with polyurethane resins that simulate the most widely used polymers, including rubbers.
In other cases, especially when the customer necessarily needs to produce a batch with the final material, we carry out productions with prototype molds .
For this project, the prototype made with rapid prototyping was sufficient for the validation of the project and to start the production of the molds.
FIFTH STEP: Mold and molding
This phase involves the design and the construction of the molds suitable for production.
At the end of the construction of the mold we performed a first molding test for a small batch; after acceptance by the customer, the final production starts.
