Swiss+Tech wanted the BodyGard 7-in-1 Platinum Edition designed around a small OEM-produced sonic alarm system that had a specific shape. In addition, the company wanted to add a compass and a digital tire gauge to the tiny tool which had to be 3" x 1 3/4" x 3/4" and weigh only 1.5 ounces.

Rubin says the MAGNET PDD team’s rapid prototype development process demonstrated that it was not possible to shield a compass’ magnet components from the device’s other metal parts. At that small size, there was just too much metal interference. Instead, the team proposed packing a tiny thermometer into the BodyGard 7-in-1.

“They can use their fused deposition modeling (FDM) station to test a design that we weren’t sure would work at the size we needed,” Rubin says. “The design worked fine at a bigger size, but when we shrunk it down to the reality of what we deal with on these tiny key-ring devices, we saw we had to go with their alternative design. Without that machine, we wouldn’t have known about that until we got all the way to the prototype stage.”

To create the upgraded, sleeker look for the 7-in-1, MAGNET PDD team proposed chrome-plated overlays that completely hid the mounting screws.