[ Services · Prototyping ]
Product prototypes
that answer one question.
Proof of concept, looks-like, works-like and small batches, built and tested in our own workshops.
A prototype is worth its build when it answers the question you cannot answer yet. We build the one you need next, in two workshops of our own: 3D printed and CNC machined parts, vacuum and gravity cast parts, electronics on development boards or custom PCBs, finished and painted when the prototype has to look like the product. Every build comes with a test plan, and the answers go back into the CAD.
Since 2017: 150+ projects, 50+ products shipped, and two workshops of our own where prototypes are built and tested.
What do you need to learn next?
Pick the question you can't answer yet. The page below becomes your next build.
Your next build, below: a works-like prototype. Not sure which question is yours? Six questions in our prototype path finder →Read it ↓
[ Your next build ]
Your next build:
a works-like prototype.
The principle your product depends on has not been shown working yet. Everything else waits on that answer.
Nobody has held the final shape yet. Put it in people's hands before you engineer the inside.
You know it works and that people want it. Now prove it in its real form, while every failure is still cheap.
The design works in its real form and you need units in people's hands before a production mold.
Unsure which question comes first? Answer six questions in our prototype path finder and see your route from proof of concept to tooling.
- It tells you
- Whether the idea actually works.
- It won't tell you
- Whether people want it, or whether it fits the final volume.
- How we build it
- Off-the-shelf parts, 3D printed brackets and a development board. Ugly on purpose.
- Then
- A looks-like, or straight to a works-like if the shape is already settled.
- It tells you
- If the size, grip, color and finish are right.
- It won't tell you
- Whether the engineering fits inside it.
- How we build it
- Machined or printed, then finished and painted to the final color and texture.
- Then
- A works-like prototype, built inside that shape.
- It tells you
- Whether the real mechanism, electronics and battery work inside the real volume.
- It won't tell you
- Whether it can be made in numbers at the right cost.
- How we build it
- CNC parts and casting close to production materials, with custom PCBs and firmware, tested until it fails.
- Then
- A small batch of 10 to 200 cast units, or DFM and tooling.
- It tells you
- How the product lives with real users, with units for testers, the certification lab or first backers.
- It won't tell you
- The unit cost of mass production.
- How we build it
- Vacuum casting and gravity casting from one master part.
- Then
- DFM and tooling, informed by what the batch taught you.
[ TIME AND COST ]
How long does prototyping take,
and what does it cost?
Prototyping a molded consumer product takes about 16 weeks, at $7,500 to $30,000 as an order of magnitude: a looks-like prototype, a works-like prototype that runs, the test results, and the design revised until it works. A proof of concept is scoped with development when the product needs one, and a small batch of 10 to 200 units is quoted per project.
Orders of magnitude, not a quote: you get a fixed price once the brief is written.
A water bottle and a jet ski are not the same project. From one product to another, the effort can range from one to fifty times.
Production molds are paid to the factory, separately, and depend on the size and number of parts.
The seven steps from idea to launch, each one timed and priced, in our guide ↗
What moves the cost of a prototype
- Number of parts
Each part is designed, drawn, prototyped and later tooled.
- Electronics and a battery
A board, firmware and heat to manage add a discipline to every step.
- Certification
FCC, CE or UL testing adds preparation, samples and lab time.
[ THE FOUR PROTOTYPES ]
What does each prototype
look like on our projects?
Each prototype answers one question, and each one looks different on the bench: a rough rig for a proof of concept, a finished shell with nothing inside for a looks-like, real parts in the real volume for a works-like, cast copies for a small batch. Here they are on our own projects, in our own photos.
The drawing follows Photonix, our solar mower, traced from its CAD, through the four prototypes. Photonix itself went from a chassis cut on the CNC to a painted shell and field tests; on the proof of concept and the small batch, its outline shows the principle.
01/Proof of concept · One function on the bench
Does the idea work?
Proof of concept
A proof of concept (POC) is a rough, working test of the one function your product depends on, built before the final design.
A POC is rough on purpose: development boards, 3D printed brackets, parts bought off the shelf. Orphey, luxury headphones that read brain activity (EEG), depended on electrodes reaching the scalp through hair without gel. Before drawing the headphones, we studied that one function on its own: four electrode studies in two weeks, from 16 November to 1 December 2020, from comb legs turned by a spiral groove to two arches pressed together. The last one set the architecture, and Orphey reached a validated proof of concept.
It tells you Whether the idea actually works.It won't tell you Whether people want it, or whether it fits the final volume.
Orphey, electrode study, 25 Nov 2020 Will people want it?
Looks-like prototype
A looks-like prototype has the final shape, colors and finish, and nothing inside.
It is the prototype for photos, investors and hands, machined or printed, then finished and painted to the final color and texture. Photonix's body was built the way a boat hull is: frames cut on the CNC, foam planked between them, then fiberglass, filler and paint, and a clear hood over the solar panel. A campaign page runs on how the product looks: KORU's ran on our renders and was funded at over 1000% of its goal on Indiegogo, raising $110,000+.
It tells you If the size, grip, color and finish are right.It won't tell you Whether the engineering fits inside it.
Photonix, painted, 14 Nov 2022 
Clear hood over the panel, 5 Dec 2022 Does it work in its real form?Your next build
Works-like prototype
A works-like prototype has the real mechanism, electronics and battery in the real volume, even if it does not look finished.
We build it with CNC machining, 3D printing and casting, in materials close to the production ones, then test it where the product will be used. Photonix's wheels, axles and cutting-height adjustment were fitted and run from April to August 2022, the handlebar panel was 3D printed in July, and the chassis plate came off the CNC on 5 September. Before the body went on, the bare chassis was wired and run with its battery, blade motor and electronics in place. In January 2023 it cut real grass, tested for traction, blade performance and efficiency.
It tells you Whether the real mechanism, electronics and battery work inside the real volume.It won't tell you Whether it can be made in numbers at the right cost.
Photonix, the bare chassis, run before the body On real grass, January 2023 Can we make more than one?
Small batch
A small batch is 10 to 200 units cast from one master part, before any production mold.
Vacuum casting makes copies of a master part in silicone molds, in resins that behave like production plastics. Gravity casting pours resin into silicone molds without pressure, for small batches.
It is the step between one prototype and a production mold that many founders don't know about. Before it, the design usually needs a pass of detail design and DFM: splitting parts along the right lines, choosing where each mold opens, adding draft, simplifying assembly. The cast units cover testers, the certification lab and the first backers, without paying for steel tooling. Above that, a production mold becomes cheaper per part.
It tells you How the product lives with real users, with units for testers, the certification lab or first backers.It won't tell you The unit cost of mass production.
Then the tool: KORU's casing, developed for injection molding
[ ONE PROTOTYPE, START TO FINISH ]
What happens between
the CAD and the lawn?
Between the CAD and the lawn, a works-like prototype goes through parts, runs on the bench, a body and field tests. For Photonix it took fourteen months, from the prototype contract in January 2022 to a machine ready to ship in March 2023, and fifteen weeks from the first body frame to the prototype on the lawn.
The chassis plate came off the CNC on 5 September 2022 and the body frames three days later. The body was built the way a boat hull is: frames cut on the CNC, foam planked between them, then fiberglass, filler and paint. On 16 and 21 January 2023 we photographed and filmed it on two lawns, testing traction, blade performance and efficiency as it cut real grass.
5 Sep 2022
The chassis plate, cut on the CNC
CNC machining
8 Sep 2022
Body frames cut and slotted on a jig
CNC and jig
13 Sep 2022
Foam planked between the frames
Foam
16 Sep 2022
Fiberglass over the foam
Fiberglass
20 Oct 2022
Filled and faired, nose first
Filler
14 Nov 2022
Painted
Paint
5 Dec 2022
Side vent, clear hood over the panel
Clear hood
20 Dec 2022
On the lawn
Assembled
- Jan 2022Prototype contract
- Apr to Aug 2022Wheels, axles, cutting height fitted and run
- Jul 2022Handlebar panel 3D printed
- 5 Sep to 20 Dec 2022The body, fifteen weeks
- 16 and 21 Jan 2023Filmed and tested on two lawns
- 2 Mar 2023Ready to ship to the client
Detail A The body, week by week, from 5 September 2022
5 Sep 2022 · CNC machining
The chassis plate, cut on the CNC
8 Sep 2022 · CNC and jig
Body frames cut and slotted on a jig
13 Sep 2022 · Foam
Foam planked between the frames
16 Sep 2022 · Fiberglass
Fiberglass over the foam
20 Oct 2022 · Filler
Filled and faired, nose first
14 Nov 2022 · Paint
Painted
5 Dec 2022 · Clear hood
Side vent, clear hood over the panel
20 Dec 2022 · Assembled
On the lawn
Our own dated photos of the Photonix prototype, from the case study. Detail: the body, week by week. The Photonix case study
[ THE SHORT ANSWER ]
What is
product prototyping?
Product prototyping is building physical versions of a product before it is manufactured, each one made to answer one question: does the idea work, will people want it, does it work in its real form, can it be made in numbers. It sits between the 3D CAD and the factory, and it is where a change still costs a new print, not a new tool.
At ONMOTIO it runs from a proof of concept on a development board to small batches cast in silicone molds, in two workshops of our own. Most products need both a looks-like and a works-like prototype, and a later round can combine them. Each round sends changes back to the CAD: a part that rubs or a board that runs hot costs a revision here, not a mold.
Build the prototype that answers the question you cannot answer yet, and you only pay for it once. EVT and DVT, engineering and design validation tests, are the names large hardware companies give their late prototype rounds. Whatever they are called, each round answers its own question and feeds the next.
Prototyping is step 05 of the seven in our guide, how to develop a physical product, between development in 3D CAD and the small batch. Since 2017 our work adds up to 150+ projects and 50+ products shipped.
[ THE RIGHT STEP ]
When is prototyping
the right next step?
Prototyping is the right next step when there is a question about your product that only a physical build can answer: whether the principle works, whether people want the shape, whether the real parts work in the real volume, or whether you can put units in people's hands before a mold. When the product has no form or no inside yet, start there.
Start with prototyping when
- The one function your product depends on has not been shown working yet, in any form.
- Nobody has held the final shape, and you need it in hands, in photos or in front of investors.
- You know it works and people want it, and it has to be proven in its real form before a factory quotes it.Your case
- You need units for testers, a certification lab or first backers before you pay for a production mold.
Start with another service when
- The product has no form yet: no sketch, no concept, no shape to build.
Industrial Design → - The inside is not designed: structure, mechanisms, tolerances, the part each piece is made of.
Mechanical Engineering → - The circuit board and the firmware have to be designed, not only built into a prototype.
Electronics & Firmware → - You need images of the product for a page or a pitch before anything is built.
Rendering & Animation →
[ HOW WE BUILD ]
Which processes do
we prototype with?
We prototype with 3D printing and resin, CNC machining, vacuum and gravity casting, electronics on development boards and custom PCBs, injection molded prototype parts and thermoforming, and we finish and test what we build. Each process says what it is for and links to a project where you can see it. The ones a works-like prototype relies on come first.
02CNC machining
For your build
Parts cut from plate or block on a CNC, in materials close to the production ones, for the structure a works-like has to carry and the frames a body is built on.
Photonix: chassis plate and body frames cut on the CNC →04Electronics in the prototype
For your build
Custom PCBs, off-the-shelf development boards, sensors, displays and full firmware, built into the prototype: fully functional, not cosmetic shells.
Photonix: real motors, batteries and controllers →07Testing where it will be used
For your build
A lawn, a kitchen, a backpack: the bench does not find everything. Every build comes with a test plan, and every issue is documented with its root cause and the design change it calls for.
Photonix: traction, blade and efficiency, on real grass →013D printing and resin
Printed parts for brackets, rigs and shapes that change from one day to the next. A shape that 3D prints well can be impossible to injection mold, so a print tests a question, not the production part.
Photonix: the handlebar panel, 3D printed in July 2022 →03Vacuum and gravity casting
Vacuum casting makes copies of a master part in silicone molds, in resins that behave like production plastics. Gravity casting pours resin into silicone molds without pressure, for small batches. From one master part, they make the 10 to 200 units of a small batch.
Our guide: the small batch, step 06 →05Bodies, finish and paint
Foam, fiberglass, filler and paint, to the final color and texture, so a looks-like reads as the product in a hand, a photo or a pitch.
Photonix: frames, foam, fiberglass, paint →06Injection molded prototype parts
Prototype parts injection molded in-house, and production runs with our preferred manufacturing partner, once the parts are designed for the mold.
KORU: casing developed for injection molding →08Fit checks before the build
Some questions are answered before anything is cut: a version checked on a head form or a pilot seated in virtual reality, so the build starts from a checked fit.
Orphey: V1 to V9 in 3D, V8 and V9 on a head form →[ THE WORK ]
Which prototypes
have we built?
Our prototyping work runs from Orphey's electrode studies, a validated proof of concept, to the Photonix solar mower, a works-like prototype taken from CAD to CNC to the lawn. Each case study shows what was built, what it answered and where the product went.
Solar-powered mower · Works-like and looks-likeLike yours
Photonix
A works-like prototype from CAD to CNC to grass: the chassis plate cut on the CNC, real motors, batteries and controllers, then a body built over CNC-cut frames in foam and fiberglass, painted and closed under a clear hood over the 50 W solar panel.
Field tested on real grass in January 2023, then ready to ship to the client in March.
Read the case study
EEG luxury headphones · Proof of concept
Orphey
Four electrode studies in two weeks to reach the scalp through hair without gel, then nine versions in 3D, V1 to V9, the last two checked on a head form for fit and contact.
A validated proof of concept.
Air purifier and planter · Prototype files
KORU ONE
Prototype files issued on 23 December 2020: top shell, structure, water tank, wood base and diffuser, followed by the bill of materials and two color configurations. Five months from the first meeting to a physical prototype.
Funded at over 1000% of its goal on Indiegogo, raising $110,000+.
Light sport aircraft · Fit checked in VR
eXalt SOLO
The cockpit set for a 1.50 m and a 1.90 m pilot, then tried in virtual reality with a mannequin seated in the chromoly spaceframe, before the surfaces were built.
About US$1.2M in government funding secured.
Premium home sauna range · Before tooling
Glow Saunas
3D models detailed enough for the manufacturers to work from directly, with tolerances validated before tooling.
Fewer manufacturing errors, a shorter road to production.
[ WHY ONMOTIO ]
Why build your prototype
with ONMOTIO?
ONMOTIO builds prototypes in two workshops of its own, with the same team that designs and engineers the product, and tests each one against the question it was built to answer. Since 2017: 150+ projects delivered, 50+ products shipped, and a client project named CES Innovation Awards Honoree twice.
Two workshops of our own
Besides the studio, we run two workshops where prototypes are built and tested. A network of partner workshops and specialists covers what the team does not.
The team that draws it builds it
Three engineering and prototyping specialists work beside three industrial designers. The CAD a prototype is built from and the hands that build it sit in one team, and nobody hands a design over the wall.
A test plan with every build
We decide what a prototype has to prove before we build it. Every build comes with a test plan, and every issue is documented with its root cause and the design change it calls for in the next iteration.
Tested where the product will be used
A works-like is tested where the product will live: Photonix cut real grass on two lawns. A part that rubs or a board that runs hot costs a revision at this step, not a mold.
Who leads the build
Eduardo Leardini, our head of product development, leads engineering execution. He brings over ten years of R&D in aerospace design, structural testing and prototyping, and the hands-on fabrication that bridges the gap between the digital design and the physical product.
With our two co-founders, Izek Therrien and Clément Simon, he leads every project.
About us[ Questions ]
Questions founders ask
about prototyping.
Ordered for your next build: the 3 marked first are the closest to a works-like prototype. Something else? Ask us on a call.
What is the difference between a looks-like and a works-like prototype?For your build
A looks-like prototype has the final shape, colors and finish, and nothing inside. A works-like prototype has the real mechanism, electronics and battery in the real volume, even if it does not look finished. The first tells you if the size, grip and finish are right; the second whether the engineering works in the real volume. Most products need both, and a later round can combine them. Functional vs visual prototypes →
What if the prototype reveals a design problem?For your build
That is exactly why we prototype. Every build comes with a test plan, and every issue is documented with its root cause and the design change it calls for in the next iteration. Each round sends changes back to the CAD, where a part that rubs or a board that runs hot costs a revision, not a mold.
Do you build prototypes with electronics inside?For your build
Yes. We regularly build prototypes with custom PCBs, off-the-shelf development boards, sensors, displays and full firmware: fully functional, not cosmetic shells. The Photonix works-like prototype ran on real motors, batteries and controllers, and was tested on real grass for traction, blade performance and efficiency.
What is a proof of concept (POC)?
A proof of concept (POC) is a rough, working test of the one function your product depends on, built before the final design. It is not meant to be shown; it is meant to answer one question. It is rough on purpose: development boards, 3D printed brackets, parts bought off the shelf. If your product uses known technology in a new shape, you go straight to development.
Which prototype do I need first?
Build a proof of concept if you don't know whether the idea works, a looks-like prototype if you don't know whether people want it, and a works-like prototype once you know both. Cast a small batch of 10 to 200 units when you need products in people's hands before a production mold. Find your next prototype in six questions →
How long does prototyping take?
Prototyping a molded consumer product takes about 16 weeks with us, for the looks-like and works-like prototypes, the tests and the design revised until it works. A proof of concept, when the product needs one, is scoped with development. A simple accessory takes less; a product with electronics, a battery and certification takes more.
How much does a prototype cost?
As an order of magnitude for a molded consumer product, prototyping costs $7,500 to $30,000, for a looks-like and a works-like prototype with their tests. A small batch of 10 to 200 units is quoted per project. The effort can vary fifty times from one product to another, so we give a fixed price once the brief is written.
What are vacuum casting and gravity casting?
Vacuum casting makes copies of a master part in silicone molds, in resins that behave like production plastics. Gravity casting pours resin into silicone molds without pressure, for small batches. From one master part they make 10 to 200 units, enough for beta testers, certification samples or the first backers, without paying for steel tooling. Above that, a production mold becomes cheaper per part.
When should I talk to factories?
Once the works-like prototype is settled and the DFM pass is done. Before that, every revision changes the quote. Design for manufacturing (DFM) shapes each part for the process that will make it: draft so it leaves the mold, even walls so it does not warp, fewer parts and screws so it assembles fast. A factory quotes what it can see: without a works-like, the quote is a guess, and so is your margin. Injection molding optimization for startups →
Who owns the prototype, and will you sign an NDA?
You do: under our standard contract, the intellectual property and the physical prototypes are yours once all invoices are paid, and we sign an NDA from the first exchange if you want one. If you plan a patent, speak with a patent attorney before you show the product in public, a crowdfunding page included.
[ NEXT STEP ]
Have a prototype
to build?
Send us what you have: a sketch, CAD, a brief or a prototype that half works. A first call takes thirty minutes and costs nothing. You leave it knowing which prototype to build next, what it should prove, and a rough order of cost.