Cost & Timeline
What drives prototype development cost, how a bench test differs from a presentation prototype, and why prototype component prices differ from production costs.
Prototype development
AVA Labs focuses on consumer and industrial hardware, including electronic devices, mechanical systems, and electromechanical products. Even within these categories, prototype development costs vary dramatically.
The cost depends on what you’re trying to build, why you’re building it, and who it’s for.
Define the purpose
A motor, a few brackets, and some 3D printed components might be all that’s needed to test a clamping mechanism. The purpose is to determine whether it works.
Investors, trade shows, or marketing may need a prototype that closely resembles the final manufactured product. That requires considerably more engineering and refinement.
One component on one AVA Labs project
At AVA Labs, prototype components are often purchased individually from suppliers like McMaster-Carr.
These are two very different purchasing situations. Using the prototype’s bill of materials to estimate final production cost can lead to unnecessary design changes and poor decisions.
Tens of thousands of dollars may be spent on successive prototypes without the product appearing much closer to completion. Testing, failures, and revisions are part of developing new hardware.
Often, the most valuable progress comes from identifying problems, eliminating risks, and making better-informed design decisions.
At AVA Labs, we reduce uncertainty by clearly communicating three things for each prototype:
What is this prototype intended to prove?
What did we learn?
What comes next?
The cost of building a hardware prototype depends on what you're trying to build, why you're building it, and who it's for.
Consider the difference between an alarm clock and a flying car. Both are physical products, but their engineering complexity, safety requirements, and development costs are dramatically different.
AVA Labs focuses on consumer and industrial hardware, including electronic devices, mechanical systems, and electromechanical products. Even within these categories, prototype development can range from around $4,000 to more than $400,000.
Another important factor is what the prototype is intended to accomplish. For example, an early bench test might focus entirely on validating a clamping mechanism. A motor, a few brackets, and some 3D printed components might be all that's needed. It might look terrible, but that's perfectly fine. The purpose is to determine whether the mechanism works.
A prototype intended for investors, trade shows, or marketing may need to closely resemble the final manufactured product. That requires considerably more engineering and refinement.
Another common mistake is using the prototype's bill of materials to estimate the final production cost. At AVA Labs, prototype components are often purchased individually from suppliers like McMaster-Carr. For instance: on one project, a component costing approximately $400 during prototyping was later sourced for around $20 for production. These are two very different purchasing situations, and confusing them can lead to unnecessary design changes and poor decisions.
The development process can also be stressful for founders. Tens of thousands of dollars may be spent on successive prototypes without the product appearing much closer to completion. This can create real anxiety, but testing, failures, and revisions are unavoidable parts of developing new hardware - there are no shortcuts. Companies both large and small go through this process.
At AVA Labs, we work to reduce that uncertainty by preparing founders for what to expect and clearly communicating what each prototype is intended to prove, what was learned, and what comes next.
Engineering progress isn't always visible. Often, the most valuable progress comes from identifying problems, eliminating risks, and making better-informed design decisions.