Consultancy Services
Whether you're an inventor with a fresh idea, a small company wishing to develop a new product, or a large organisation looking to 'spin-out' ideas in new directions, we can help. We offer an initial one hour consultation meeting free of charge. We will give you an honest appraisal of your project and outline how we could help.
The road from a 'beer mat sketch' to the market place is broadly similar whether the product is a fork or a Ford. There's clearly a massive difference in terms of scale and effort, but the main goal is ensuring you develop the right product for the right market at the right time.
We offer full assistance at every stage of the process. Perhaps you have a concept, but no idea how the final product might look. Maybe you've got as far as a few sketches and need help to push through the detail toward the goal. Perhaps you need some first class prototypes to try out or convince investors. We have the expertise and equipment to solve your problems - large or small!
If you have any questions don't hesitate to contact us. Developing a product can be a very expensive process. We believe in straightforward, no-nonsense advice - this approach will always save money in the long run.
Case Studies
AeroCatch - Specialty Fasteners & Components Ltd. Totnes
Client Brief: Develop a new panel fastening system to replace the traditional bonnet pin widely used in motorsport.
X-AT Provided: Design styling, mechanism design, 3D CAD, finite element analysis, materials selection, rapid prototyping, mechanical testing, sub-contractor liaison and design right activities.
The new fastening system is now used by Team Halfords in the British Touring Car Championships and the unit is now OEM on the new Lotus 2-Eleven.
MET Office Technical Services - Sowton Industrial Estate, Exeter
Client Brief: To provide manufacturing technical services to the Met Office.
X-AT Provided: A unique combination of resources enables Exeter Advanced Technologies (X-AT) at the University of Exeter to provide manufacturing technical services to the Met Office. Work to date has included making equipment which has been installed onboard the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM) aircraft - a modified BAE 146 which undertakes research all over the globe into atmospheric conditions. This aircraft was also deployed during the fire at the Buncefield fuel depot, flying through the smoke to collect samples for analysis.
Project Poster: metoffice.pdf (250KB)
Drainage System Certification - Tolverth Ltd. Penzance
Client Brief: To design bespoke testing procedures and perform certification tests for a novel drainage relining system.
X-AT Provided: Component design, material selection, component testing, design and reporting of novel tests, reporting in accordance with WRC procedures.
The pipes are now in full production with almost 1000 UK installations undertaken. The UK installation rights have been purchased by DynoRod with a global interest, particularly from Japan.
Seed Modelling - The Eden Project
Client Brief: Produce large scale model for an exhibition.
X-AT Provided: CT scanning, file manipulation, rapid prototyping over a 2 week period.
A high resolution micro-CT scan of a Burdock seed (2 micron resolution) which captured both internal and external geometry was obtained. Using ScanIP software from University-based partner Simpleware Ltd, the imaging data was processed and converted into a file suitable for generating a scaled-up version using rapid prototyping on a DTM Laser Sinterstation.
A series of models of different micro-structures were created which are now on display at The Eden Project in the new Core Centre.
