Datacolor - Mechanical Engineer (Jul 2022 - Sep 2024)

Datacolor designs and manufactures high-precision optical measurement devices that quantify color based on reflected or transmitted light spectra.

I was a key member of a small engineering team and played a critical role in the development and production release of multiple new products including:

  • Spectro P Series

  • Spectro 55

  • Checkr Video

Spectro P Series

Datacolor’s new portable handheld spectrophotometer - optical color measuring device.

Objective

  • Create a mechanical linkage to toggle a zoom lens while holding extremely tight tolerances for lens x,y,z position and angle.

Challenges

  • Linkage mechanism was confined to a very small footprint and pivot points and travel distances were highly constrained.

  • Linkage mechanism needed to be actuated with a finger tip amount of force, but also apply enough force to reliably hold lens in place.

Pictured above is a close up of the zoom tube and linkage mechanism I designed for the product.

Key Outcomes

  • Designed a custom torsion spring to apply the exact amount of force needed to retain the zoom lens in the correct position

  • Used FEA, Solidworks motion analysis, Free-body diagrams, and testing to determine the correct pivot positions and arm lengths to build the linkage mechanism that met all requirements.

  • Created life cycle test fixture to verify linkage assembly actuation to hundreds of thousands of actuations.

Spectro 55

New benchtop spectrophotometer

Objective

  • Design a new spectrophotometer with a smaller footprint and is less expensive than the older Spectro 200 model.

  • Design sheet metal housing to be easier to service - less screws, electronics ports on lower sheet metal portion.

New Spectro 55

Old Spectro 200

Challenges

  • Solidworks models for the old Spectro 200 model were not stable.

  • Designing sheet metal enclosure to require only two fasteners.

Key Outcomes

  • Successfully built and verified the 3D printed prototype on the first attempt and met the tight product release deadline.

  • Built robust parametric Soldiworks models using best practices.

  • Learned Keyshot to develop renderings of product.

New Spectro 55

Old Spectro 200

Spyder Checkr Video

Handheld color chart

Objective

  • Work with outside industrial designer and oversee mechanical elements of design including:

    • Detent mechanism utilizing bumps on a spine interfacing with indentations on hooks.

    • Push latch mechanism.

Challenges

  • Aesthetic changes affected the mechanical elements of the design:

    • Push latch mechanism required too much force.

    • Detent mechanism was too weak.

Key Outcomes

  • Used Solidworks FEA and experimentation to determine root causes for mechanical failures.

  • Successfully designed new push latch and detent mechanisms to meet requirements.