Blackbay Vehicle Mounted Cradle

The initial brief

Blackbay needed a vehicle mounted cradle (VMC) for use in the transport industry to interface with its hand held terminal to track the location and delivery of goods. It needed to house a simple electronics module to provide both power and communications connections to the mobile device. Blackbay were after a robust cradle to hold the terminal in the vehicle. The design had to be suitable for a harsh industrial environment and cost effective to produce in low volumes.

Outcome

Procreate provided the mechanical solution the electronic interface for what is now known as the VMC 2400 Cradle. It also developed a latching mechanism which securely mounted the mobile device and ensured it was resistant to severe jolts. An extensive design verification program was applied to the product using third party vibration analysis overseen by the Procreate Team. This provided confidence that the design would survive the demanding environment in which it would be used prior to releasing it to the market.

The next stage brief

Blackbay went on to develop a smaller version of it hand-held terminal to track the location and delivery of goods. It also required a smaller, lightweight cradle to house the power supply and communications modules as well as the mechanical features required to securely hold the hand held device in a vehicle. A field trial of what was to be known as the VMC 2500 Cradle was required to support a tender for a large installation of Blackbays’ technology in the UK.

Outcome

Procreate specified the required cradle changes and prototyped 60 units using a variety of specialized prototyping processes. Not only did the prototype have to withstand the everyday demands of an in-vehicle production cradle it also had to be able to be assembled and shipped with the least amount of cost within three weeks of the project start date. Through Procreate’s prototyping experience Blackbay was able to complete the tender process without embarking on a full scale injection mould tooling programme saving significantly on design, testing and production costs.