Analysis of Scaled Prototyping Using Modular Construction Systems as a Bridge Between the Design and Implement Phases of the CDIO Framework

Between conceptual design and the physical construction of a system there is an interval in which decisions have already been made but have not yet been confronted with the actual behaviour of components. Errors occurring in that interval are costly because they are discovered late, when the definitive prototype has already been built and correcting it requires starting over. This article analyses a curricular experience in which scaled prototyping using modular construction systems was deliberately placed within that interval as an intermediate validation stage in the CDIO II Project course of the Electronic Engineering programme at the University of Quindío. The aim is to examine what kind of design faults low-fidelity prototyping detects before definitive construction, and how that early detection reshapes the formative process. The experience took place during the second semester of 2023 with student teams addressing needs identified in their environment, following a seven-stage prescriptive linear design sequence. More than twenty prototypes were produced with applications in agro-industry, access control, irrigation, security and mobility assistance. Documentary analysis of the projects made it possible to classify the faults detected at the scaled prototyping stage: calibration errors, routing failures in transport subsystems, inadequate sensor placement, and dimensioning problems. Findings suggest that the formative value of low-fidelity prototyping lies not in representing the final product but in the early exposure of design assumptions that students had not made explicit.

prototyping, CDIO framework, engineering design, active learning, scalability.

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