During last week's design festival, MADE hosted a design challenge as part of the Manufacturing Reinvented Conference at the RCA. Participants made their best attempts to design a small part to be realized by and best demonstrate the capabilities of rapid prototyping. The Product Works' "dopi" [doh-pee] personal audio device amplifier uses acoustic horn technology to pump up the volume via one humble earbud. (Microscopic Victrola robot dog not included.)

Place the earbud speaker into the snap fit receptacle and the music is boosted, without electricity, and delivered through the integral horn. dopi was developed using sophisticated mathematical modelling of exponential horn profiles wrapped around a variation of an involute, based on the golden section. We also messed about with paper cones, plasticene and sea shells.

The Product Works is continuing development on this product and hopes to bring it to limited production.

Manufacturing Reinvented Conference design challenge. This was held as part of the London Design Festival and was hosted at the RCA by MADE (Materials and Design Exchange).