Pro2 Network+: From Prototyping to Production of Digital Devices

英国和全球研发界在电子设备原型方面取得了巨大的进步。支持传统电子产品的平台已经建立得很好，印刷电子产品和相关添加剂技术的新兴潜力显而易见。这些都支持对数字设备的形式和功能进行快速、通用的原型制作，这些设备支撑着物联网(IoT)、可穿戴技术等新颖的交互式数据驱动体验。然而，要充分发挥它们的潜力，挑战依然存在。在实验室和制造空间中制作原型的交互设备实现了新的功能和材料，这些功能和材料需要比传统电子模拟更全面的制造能力。即使对于传统的工作台设计，要从原型过渡到产品，它们也需要适当地坚固、安全、寿命长、性能好和成本效益高，以产品的形式提供价值-无论是作为一系列一次性的大规模定制设备、小批量或大规模生产的人工制品。不幸的是，从原型到生产的过渡对于最终用户来说并不是一个自然的过程；许多有潜力的想法不会超越最初的几个设计。设备生产的民主化是支持数字系统可伸缩性和企业家精神的关键下一步。我们建议建立一个由大学、研究组织和商业企业组成的Network+，他们的共同目标是改善数字设备从原型到生产的过渡。Pro2社区将以其研究人员和从业人员的设计和制造专业知识为基础，促进对既定原则、技术和技术的深度综合，并开发横跨计算机科学、工程和制造的新概念。我们将把正在进行的全球投资补充到各种“数字制造”主题中--包括英国的Made Smarter计划--应对从非传统和单一的数字设备原型，到可以验证设计和验证实用性的数十个复制品，逐步以成本效益地过渡到成百上千个单元的批量生产的挑战。在原型制造中，随着添加剂制造和印刷电子产品在软机器人和4D打印等非传统领域进一步融合，我们需要确定如何将工具集成和优化到支持跨材料、规模和功能的数字行为的工作流程中。在生产中，从一次性微控制器原型到扩大规模的平稳过渡是一项重大挑战，需要新的流程和工具以及重新配置商业模式和服务。我们对从原型到生产的“有机扩展”的愿景将使我们能够更快地探索和利用这些数字设备概念和应用。这将加速物联网的采用，促进新的消费电子市场的增长，并更广泛地支持许多行业的数据驱动的数字化转型。它将推动新的研究方向，创造新的商业机会，并推动经济增长。

The UK and global research and development communities have made tremendous strides in electronic device prototyping. Platforms that support conventional electronics have become well established, and the emerging potential of printed electronics and related additive technologies is clear. Together these support fast and versatile prototyping of the form and function of digital devices that underpin novel interactive data-driven experiences, including the Internet of Things (IoT), wearable technologies and more. However, challenges remain to realise their full potential. Interactive devices prototyped in labs and makerspaces implement novel capabilities and materials which require holistic manufacturing capability beyond simulation of conventional electronics. Even for conventional bench designs, to make the transition from prototype to product they need to be suitably robust, safe, long-lived, performant and cost-effective to deliver value as products - whether as a series of one-off mass customised devices, low-volume batches, or mass-produced artefacts. Unfortunately, the transition from prototype to production is not a natural one for end users; many ideas with potential don't progress beyond the first few designs. Democratising access to device production is the key next step in underpinning scalability and entrepreneurship in digital systems.We propose a Network+ of universities, research organisations and commercial enterprises who share the common goal of improving the transition from prototyping to production of digital devices. The Pro2 community will build upon the design and fabrication expertise of its researchers and practitioners to facilitate a deep synthesis of established principles, techniques and technologies and develop new concepts that span computer science, engineering and manufacturing. We will complement the on-going global investment into a variety of 'digital manufacturing' topics - including the UK's Made Smarter initiative - by tackling the challenge of progressively and cost-effectively transitioning from unconventional and single digital device prototypes, through tens of copies that can verify a design and validate utility, to batch production of hundreds to thousands of units. In prototyping, as additive manufacture and printed electronics converge further, in unconventional fields such as soft robotics and 4D printing, we need to identify how to integrate and optimise tools into workflows that support digital behaviour across materials, scales and functionalities. In production, smoothing the path from one-off microcontroller prototypes to scale-up is a significant challenge, and requires new processes and tools as well as reconfiguration of business models and services. Our vision for 'organic scaling' from prototype to production will allow faster exploration and exploitation of these digital device concepts and applications. This will accelerate the adoption of IoT, the growth of new consumer electronics markets, and more generally underpin the data-driven digital transformation of many industries. It will enable new research directions, create new business opportunities and drive economic growth.