BOSEbuild: Speed ​​up design and testing with 3D printed parts

When the BOSEbuild team began designing their DIY product, the BOSEbuild headphones, they knew that a critical step in the entire process was rapid, seamless prototyping. Thanks to Ultimaker 3D printers, they were able to design and print that part of the headset that was crucial for testing the pre-production phases, saving time and money through internal iterations.

Joe Titlow, sales and marketing manager at BOSEbuild, with over 10 years of experience in additive manufacturing, has a deep understanding of how easy to use and reliable they are for the printing process. From this premise, although BOSEBuild is made up of a small team, it aims to exploit new opportunities for parent company BOSE by creating high-quality educational products that will last. Following the success of the BOSEbuild Speaker Cube, which inspires children to explore the science behind how speakers work, the team set out to design and produce a pair of DIY Bluetooth headphones that explore the concepts of sound waves, microphones and healthy listening.

Prototyping for rapid product testing

The challenge in creating these headphones, Joe says, was that his team had to prototype the yoke for usability and acoustic testing on a mannequin head, while also providing a wearable piece that the marketing team needed for focus groups. Although the BOSE prototyping service was used to make the main part, the yokes, which attach to the headphones, were missing when the first versions of the BOSEbuild headphones returned from the factory. This is where Ultimaker 3D printers came into play.

The Ultimaker printers we have in our fleet easily handled printing half a dozen different colors, allowing everyone on the team to test the design and usability of the headphones.

According to Joe, the only reason they were able to fully test the headphones so quickly and cheaply is because the team had access to Ultimaker’s internal printers. If they had outsourced this service, the prototyping alone would have taken about 3 days and the cost would have been around 30-40 USD/piece. Made in-house by the team using Ultimaker printers, Joe’s team took three hours and spent about $2 each time they had to print a new iteration of the yoke on the Ultimaker.

Saving time and money with Ultimaker allowed the BOSEbuild team to focus on other critical elements to complete the design process.

“Rapidly printing flexible, adaptable prototypes that support product testing allows us to get everything up and running,” says Darius Mobed, lead engineer on the BOSEbuild project, who was able to print more than 10 yokes each week for colleagues in engineering, marketing and operations. These fully functional and flexible yokes have adapted

head movements and allowed the applications team, firmware team and acoustics team to complete essential testing.

Inspiring curious minds

Between prototyping and educational projects, Joe says their Ultimaker printers can run all day during peak hours. In addition to prototyping, Ultimaker printers are used by the BOSEbuild team to create unique displays that teach children about magnetic fields. Plastic parts created on the Ultimaker are used as secure clamps and supports for magnets displayed during exhibitions, further expanding BOSEbuild’s 3D printing applications.