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在我们的Butterball电动汽车转换系列文章的这一部分中，我们正在讨论原型制作并制作零件与从架子上购买的零件 - 您可以了解更多有关有关的信息genesis of the project, its机械设计， 和电子系统在我们的其他文章中。

作为一家数字制造公司，我们对订购和制造零件非常熟悉，我们许多人也具有动手的经验。对于这个EV转换项目，我们知道在采购所需零件时有三种选择 - 我们可以购买现成的组件，让其他人制作零件，或者我们可以自己制作。

原型是关键

No matter which option we chose, a major lesson learned from this project was the importance of prototyping. Even simple prototyping is helpful and effective. You can learn a lot by just mocking up the size and shape of a part, which is why we used a LOT of cardboard, foam-core, particleboard, duct tape, and hot glue as we worked out our final designs.

image of a purple, 3d printed mockup of an electric motor with cardboard mockups of controller and charger in a fiat 500 rear trunk
对后备箱中电动机，控制器和充电器的合适检查

我们发现，这些简单，轻巧的原型易于移动和操纵，这对于弄清楚一切都适合汽车至关重要。我们甚至在订购并收到实际电动机的3D打印电机原型中使用了3D打印的电机原型 - 它更容易移动，也没有损坏真实物质的风险。

purple 3d printed mockup of an electric motor
我们可爱的紫色3D印刷电机原型

In addition to the motor mockup, we also 3D printed the coupler to do fit checks and test how much space it required.

制作零件

The motor and coupler were two key items in our build that we didn’t make ourselves. Our electric motor was ordered as an off-the-shelf item, while we designed the coupler specifically for our needs and had it machined to our specifications.

CNC机加工钢驱动耦合器的图像
Butterball’s CNC machined coupler

铝制底板和电池箱是我们制作自己能力的接下来的两个大型组件，但是我们可以选择在其他地方购买 - 这取决于我们是否想花时间或花钱付款beplay客户端下载for someone else’s.

We decided to have the aluminum plate made to order because it could be quickly and easily cut by a machine, whereas it would have been difficult and time-consuming for us to do the fabricating. Plus, we couldn’t have done it with the same level of precision, which we needed to have a clean interface where the two halves of the plate meet in the middle.

制造的错误将要求我们购买更多材料，这将是昂贵的，并增加了很多时间。盘子最终成为构建中最昂贵的部分之一，但是我们自己做的不会给我们带来所需的结果。

一个人的形象在一个角钢钻孔of steel using a drill press

On the other hand, we opted to make the battery boxes ourselves. We had some of the necessary materials already, and the rest — like plastic sheet and steel angle bar — were inexpensive and readily available. Plus, building them ourselves gave multiple team members an excuse to work together and learn about these parts. However, building the battery boxes by hand took longer than anticipated — in part because we weren’t as detailed in our designs and changed things as we put them together.

得到教训

在整个项目中，我们了解了原型制作的有效性和必不可少的。测试内容以确保组件在花钱或购买最后一部分时间之前适合使用，这很有用。

image of a man with arms and legs outstretched standing in front of a red 1966 fiat 500

另外，自己做一些事情以避免升级或中间人似乎更便宜。但是，您还必须考虑到您需要的时间以及是否可以达到所需的质量所需的时间 - 通常需要比您想象的要长。最后，我们很开心地制作所有零件并一起完成该项目。

想进一步了解虚构如何帮助您的项目？无论大小，我们3D打印,CNC加工， 和注射成型services can deliver the quality parts you need, fast.创建一个帐户and upload your designs today!