Sector
Background
The Hive Hub 360 was designed to sit fittingly in a Hive user’s home, seamlessly connecting the sensors, cameras, plugs and lightbulbs together via an intuitive user interface app. eg had a long standing successful development track record with AlertMe, the pioneering connected homes initiative which became Hive, after acquisition by Centrica, and were delighted to work on the next project with a familiar client.
The Challenge
Hive approached eg to undertake the detailed design of the Hub 360. As a global brand, with an existing consumer product range, it was imperative that the final product would deliver the industrial design vision, along with the mechanical robustness and electronic performance of a premium home electronics product.
A mechanical engineering solution was needed which would meet the exacting industrial design, electronics and software requirements of a product that could be used by a huge range of users in a domestic environment, whilst also being efficient to manufacture in high volumes.
An integrated design developed for ease of manufacture & assembly, making process more cost-efficient | central hub for all hive home products, connecting the user to their home seamlessly | designed to fit seamlessly into home settings with connected communications & enhanced security.
Our Approach
Our mechanical engineering team provided an agile and integrated resource for Hive, getting up to speed and quickly offering concept design solutions, whilst also adapting to evolving requirements. They designed many of the internal components on the device to be clever, multi-purpose, intricate injection mouldings that were designed to support delicate PCBs, aerials and batteries, whilst also being cost effective to manufacture and simple to assemble without tools. The device’s visually-critical parts, specifically the gloss black exterior and the anodised metal rings, presented surface finish and material selection challenges, which the team were able to meet.
As with all of our projects, we made prototypes of the proposed solutions throughout and engaged with manufacturing partners early to reduce risk and ensure efficient transfer to manufacture.
Our Results
Delivery of the detailed design of a premium consumer device, such as the Hive Hub 360, proves that we understand how to get products made and on to the market, where high-quality industrial design is realised.
Novel design-for-assembly minimised the part count and produced a cost effective and high performing solution, whilst hidden fixtures inside the visually sensitive parts ensured a robust assembly, without any visual compromise. Our knowledge and experience in manufacturing processes and thorough technical documentation meant efficient communication with our manufacturing partners, minimal tooling modifications and sustained high levels of quality as production volumes increased.
Are you ready to develop your product or idea?
For further information on how eg technology can support in getting your technology or ideas to market or to chat with one of the eg team about your product design and development requirements, please get in touch.
