A primer on prototyping

Abstract

Standard mechanical components, such as adapters or mounts, are ubiquitous in research laboratories, C. elegans labs included. Recently, in-house prototyping and fabricating both standard and custom mechanical parts has become simple and cost effective. Here we describe the basic steps, equipment, and considerations required for rapid prototyping of a handful of simple yet useful designs. These examples were chosen for their simplicity, as well as for demonstrating specific practicalities. They are thus appropriate as training exercises.