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| The InFocus®
LP®120 mobile projector broke new ground in mobile projection technology
by setting new standards in size, shape, and functionality. |
InFocus Corporation
(NASDAQ: INFS) is the worldwide leader in digital projection technology
and solutions. Founded in 1986, the company is a recognized projection
pioneer and innovator, producing the industry’s most comprehensive
line of business and home projectors, projector management tools, and
wireless technology.
From the smallest
and lightest mobile projectors and feature-packed meeting room products
to the finest and most compact home entertainment solutions, InFocus has
garnered industry acclaim for the design, capabilities, and intuitive
solutions of its ASK™, InFocus®, Proxima®, and ScreenPlay™
products. The InFocus® LP®120 mobile projector broke new ground
in mobile projection technology by setting new standards in size, shape,
and functionality.
First-to-market strategy
InFocus Corporation pioneered the mobile projection market by introducing
the first portable system for projecting computer displays onto large
screens. Since the company’s founding, the combination of laptop
computers, presentation software, and mobile projection systems has become
the standard approach for supporting presentations to large and small
groups in both commercial and educational settings. As the industry pioneer,
InFocus has led the market by executing a first-to-market strategy and
by introducing new features and technologies ahead of competitors.
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| InFocus
used SolidWorks to meet the demand for smaller, lighter projectors
which require curvy, organic shapes and surfaces. |
To maintain
its competitive lead, the company initiated a review of its product development
platform in 2000. InFocus engineers had utilized the I-DEAS® 3D CAD
system running on UNIX® workstations, but needed a more efficient
means for handling increasingly complex geometries and surfaces, according
to David Mulholland, senior application engineer.
“The industry trend is toward smaller, lighter projectors, which
require curvy, organic shapes and surfaces,” Mulholland explains.
“Industrial design and the design signature of our products have
become critically important, and we believed that we might be able to
handle increasingly complex shapes more easily with a more modern CAD
system. We also wanted to take advantage of better price-performance ratios
by moving from a UNIX-based system to the Windows®, PC-based computing
platform.”
Following an evaluation of commercial CAD systems, InFocus narrowed its
selection to three finalists: Pro/ENGINEER®, I-DEAS, and the SolidWorks®
Office Professional suite of mechanical design software. Additional benchmarking
culminated in the company’s decision to standardize on SolidWorks
Office Professional. Mulholland says that InFocus chose SolidWorks software
because of its ease-of-use, powerful capabilities, integrated PDMWorks®
data management capabilities, and value.
“We did some things in SolidWorks with relative ease that were more
difficult with I-DEAS,” Mulholland recalls. “Generally, it’s
hard to displace the incumbent; but over the course of the evaluation,
it became clear that SolidWorks represented the best system for us at
the best price.”
Easier upfront design
By implementing the SolidWorks Office Professional suite, InFocus engineers
have more time to iterate during conceptual design, resulting in the increased
innovation that the company needs to maintain its market leadership. The
design process involves collaboration between mechanical engineers –
who use SolidWorks software to develop the housing, mechanical components,
and electrical footprint – and electrical engineers, who develop
circuit boards. The company uses CircuitWorks software to integrate populated
circuit boards into SolidWorks models.
“Because we are more efficient, we may go back and forth between
electrical and mechanical two-to-four times,” Mulholland says. “It’s
just easier to work in SolidWorks. Our transition to the new system was
very smooth, and we have seen a 50 percent decrease in the time that it
takes to get a new user up and running effectively.”
Compressing size, reducing weight
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| InFocus
uses many injection-molded parts and conducts draft analysis using
SolidWorks tools to check wall thickness and draft to minimize potential
for mold problems. |
The move
to SolidWorks Office Professional has helped InFocus engineers to address
the design challenges related to producing smaller, lighter projectors.
“We continually strive to get smaller; and when you are dealing
with building an assembly of 500 to 600 components within a constantly
shrinking space, you need the best tools available,” Mulholland
notes.
“We
work in assembly mode and use SolidWorks dynamic collision capabilities
to spot interferences. We also utilize many injection-molded parts and
do a fair amount of draft analysis using SolidWorks tools to check wall
thicknesses and draft, so we can minimize the potential for mold problems.”
InFocus uses integrated COSMOSWorks® analysis software for stress
analysis and PDMWorks for managing design data. “We have seen a
definite improvement on the analysis side in terms of ease-of-use. COSMOSWorks
is far superior for setting loads, constraints, and boundary conditions,”
Mulholland says. “PDMWorks has also been very effective for managing
data within the design group. It’s much easier to use and accomplishes
everything a user needs.”
A new standard in projection mobility
The LP120 mobile projector was the first InFocus product designed completely
with SolidWorks Office Professional software. Featuring a sleek, magnesium
frame, the LP120 mobile projector is small enough to fit inside a briefcase
alongside a laptop computer and weighs just 1.98 pounds. The product,
which earned an Editors’ Choice award from LAPTOP magazine, redefines
mobile projection technology and continues InFocus’s record of industry
firsts.
“We were very successful in using SolidWorks software to develop
the LP120 product,” Mulholland stresses. “We will not be successful
as a ‘me-too’ company, and need to continue to break new ground.
SolidWorks supports our internal goals of developing higher-quality products
and introducing more innovations. It’s helped us to introduce the
smallest, lightest mobile projector available, and will continue to help
us to develop next-generation products in the future.”
Metrics:
• Set a new standard in mobile projection technology
• Reduced time-to-effectiveness for new users by 50 percent
• Cut CAD licensing and maintenance costs by X percent
• Realized savings of X percent in hardware costs
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