Toy Story (And Serious Software)
Toys are not only big business, but because they are (generally) played with by kids, there are regulations related to their design. A new software helps meet the regs through simulation.
Article
From: Time Compression, Gary S. Vasilash,
from
Gardner Publications, Inc.
Posted on: 5/1/2009
Posted on: 5/1/2009
They laughed when I asked them about toys.
“They” are Nancy Hairston, president and founder of VanDuzen Inc. (www.vanduzen.com), a provider of SculptCAD, MedCAD, and VanDuzen Archives software and services, and Kevin Atkins, product director.
“Do you know what the biggest car manufacturer in the world is?” Atkins asked, knowing that I work on an automotive magazine (www.autofieldguide.com). “Depending on the day,” I cleverly replied, “it is either General Motors or Toyota.”
“Mattel,” he responded. “About a million Hot Wheels a day.”
“Do you know what the biggest toy company in the world by volume is?” Hairston asked. Having just been given that clue, I confidently answered, “Mattel.” Surely, when they’re pumping out that many Hot Wheels a day, and knowing that it is Barbie’s 50th, I couldn’t be wrong. And, of course, I was wrong.
“McDonalds,” she responded. “Happy Meal toys.” These toys are produced specifically for McDonalds by suppliers.
So much for my knowledge about toys. And while it is certainly laughable, what’s involved in the toy business is anything but.
Toys are a bigger business than I certainly imagined. According to The NPD Group (www.npd.com), despite a 3% decline in sales compared to 2007, in 2008 U.S. retail sales of toys was $21.64-billion. That is a lot of toys.
But the toy industry is now under more legislative scrutiny than it has been in a long time. On August 14, 2008, then-President George W. Bush signed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which mandates testing for toys. The Toy Industry Association worked with the American National Standards Institute to develop the Toy Safety Certification Program.
And Hairston and Atkins are really serious about that.
Which lead them to the development of Vouch software for toy producers. “Vouch?” I asked. “As in someone vouching for something,” Hairston replied. And she added that they use a tagline: “Witness. Verify. Proof.” Which is Vouch. The software launched on February 15, 2009.
According to Atkins, the general approach to creating and testing toys for choke hazards (i.e., getting caught in a throat) or finger entrapment is to literally sculpt a model and then drop it into hollow, cylindrical test gauges. Does the toy get stuck? Does the toy pass through? If it fails the test—well, by that time there has been more than a small amount of investment, to say nothing of time.
“But they can use rapid prototyping technology to produce the toys rather quickly,” I point out.
And am told that there are a couple problems with that, not the least of which is, Hairston observed, is that by the time a toy design is ready for rapid prototyping, people (say, those in marketing) are probably in love with the toy and loathe to have to change it. And there is also an issue of time: One toy developer said that the Vouch software does the toy testing in less time than it ordinarily takes to fill out the paperwork required for having a model made with rapid prototyping.
They have developed routines within the software for the Small Parts Cylinder Test, the 110% Small Parts Cylinder Test, the Rattle Gauge, the Supplemental Rattle Gauge, and the Small Ball Gauge. All part of the test protocols that are defined in the toy industry program. As this is software, there’s no need for the physical prototypes. Rather, the CAD model—produced in Rhino (www.rhino3d.com), FreeForm (www.sensable.com/products-freeform-systems.htm), ProEngineer (www.ptc.com), SolidWorks (www.solidworks.com), and others to be supported soon—is transformed to an STL file and then operates within Vouch. Essentially, there is an animation showing the part and the gauge. The test is based on virtual physics, as the part “falls” into the opening in the particular gauge. As the toy enters the opening and makes contact, there are blue dots indicating the various contact points. Atkins said that this permits the designer to recognize where adjustments need to be made.
(Although this is a serious tool, when the software is running, it does resemble a video game in some respects.)
Should the toy fail the test, then the program stops running, showing the orientation at which the problem occurs, thereby permitting the necessary modifications to be made to the digital design.
Hairston said that the software permits batch processing: multiple CAD models can be loaded into the system and can run overnight so that when the product designer, engineer or product integrity technician comes in the following day, the products have undergone the testing.
The software doesn’t replace physical testing, Hairston said. But as Atkin pointed out, it does allow designers to find on the order of 90 to 95% problems much earlier in the development cycle, thereby not only saving time, but significant money.
And you might have thought that toys were only complicated when you had to assemble them out of the box.
“They” are Nancy Hairston, president and founder of VanDuzen Inc. (www.vanduzen.com), a provider of SculptCAD, MedCAD, and VanDuzen Archives software and services, and Kevin Atkins, product director.
“Do you know what the biggest car manufacturer in the world is?” Atkins asked, knowing that I work on an automotive magazine (www.autofieldguide.com). “Depending on the day,” I cleverly replied, “it is either General Motors or Toyota.”
“Mattel,” he responded. “About a million Hot Wheels a day.”
“Do you know what the biggest toy company in the world by volume is?” Hairston asked. Having just been given that clue, I confidently answered, “Mattel.” Surely, when they’re pumping out that many Hot Wheels a day, and knowing that it is Barbie’s 50th, I couldn’t be wrong. And, of course, I was wrong.
“McDonalds,” she responded. “Happy Meal toys.” These toys are produced specifically for McDonalds by suppliers.
So much for my knowledge about toys. And while it is certainly laughable, what’s involved in the toy business is anything but.
Toys are a bigger business than I certainly imagined. According to The NPD Group (www.npd.com), despite a 3% decline in sales compared to 2007, in 2008 U.S. retail sales of toys was $21.64-billion. That is a lot of toys.
But the toy industry is now under more legislative scrutiny than it has been in a long time. On August 14, 2008, then-President George W. Bush signed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which mandates testing for toys. The Toy Industry Association worked with the American National Standards Institute to develop the Toy Safety Certification Program.
And Hairston and Atkins are really serious about that.
Which lead them to the development of Vouch software for toy producers. “Vouch?” I asked. “As in someone vouching for something,” Hairston replied. And she added that they use a tagline: “Witness. Verify. Proof.” Which is Vouch. The software launched on February 15, 2009.
According to Atkins, the general approach to creating and testing toys for choke hazards (i.e., getting caught in a throat) or finger entrapment is to literally sculpt a model and then drop it into hollow, cylindrical test gauges. Does the toy get stuck? Does the toy pass through? If it fails the test—well, by that time there has been more than a small amount of investment, to say nothing of time.
“But they can use rapid prototyping technology to produce the toys rather quickly,” I point out.
And am told that there are a couple problems with that, not the least of which is, Hairston observed, is that by the time a toy design is ready for rapid prototyping, people (say, those in marketing) are probably in love with the toy and loathe to have to change it. And there is also an issue of time: One toy developer said that the Vouch software does the toy testing in less time than it ordinarily takes to fill out the paperwork required for having a model made with rapid prototyping.
They have developed routines within the software for the Small Parts Cylinder Test, the 110% Small Parts Cylinder Test, the Rattle Gauge, the Supplemental Rattle Gauge, and the Small Ball Gauge. All part of the test protocols that are defined in the toy industry program. As this is software, there’s no need for the physical prototypes. Rather, the CAD model—produced in Rhino (www.rhino3d.com), FreeForm (www.sensable.com/products-freeform-systems.htm), ProEngineer (www.ptc.com), SolidWorks (www.solidworks.com), and others to be supported soon—is transformed to an STL file and then operates within Vouch. Essentially, there is an animation showing the part and the gauge. The test is based on virtual physics, as the part “falls” into the opening in the particular gauge. As the toy enters the opening and makes contact, there are blue dots indicating the various contact points. Atkins said that this permits the designer to recognize where adjustments need to be made.
(Although this is a serious tool, when the software is running, it does resemble a video game in some respects.)
Should the toy fail the test, then the program stops running, showing the orientation at which the problem occurs, thereby permitting the necessary modifications to be made to the digital design.
Hairston said that the software permits batch processing: multiple CAD models can be loaded into the system and can run overnight so that when the product designer, engineer or product integrity technician comes in the following day, the products have undergone the testing.
The software doesn’t replace physical testing, Hairston said. But as Atkin pointed out, it does allow designers to find on the order of 90 to 95% problems much earlier in the development cycle, thereby not only saving time, but significant money.
And you might have thought that toys were only complicated when you had to assemble them out of the box.
