Forge
P0 · Product Development with Forge — Foundations · Lesson 5 of 5

From a sentence to something you can build

~8 min

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Slide 1

Design → Prototype → Build

Let's put the whole journey together. In Forge, a product goes through three stages:

  1. Design — describe it in Forge Design, and get a circuit + a BOM (the shopping list of components, orderable from Microscale).
  2. Prototype — generate the printable enclosure in the 3D part designer, and get a print quote.
  3. Build — order the parts, print the body, and assemble the real thing.

So the arc of every product is:

idea → parts list (BOM) → printable model → real device

You've now seen every piece of it:

  • power — plugged in vs battery, and the converter a battery needs,
  • the three blocks — input, brain, output,
  • the enclosure — sized inside-out from the parts,
  • and the two Forge surfaces that produce them.

One more hands-on, and then a short quiz to lock it in.

Slide 2

Try it — generate a printable part

So far you've used Forge Design for the circuit side. Now try the other surface: the 3D part designer, which turns a description of parts into a printable enclosure or tray.

Open it and generate a simple organizer tray. Watch it produce a real 3D model you could send to a printer.

When it opens, the description is already filled in. Add a couple of things to hold in the components box — for example small screws, jumper wires, SD cards — then press Generate and see the model appear. (Remember: an engineer reviews every design before a print quote unlocks.)

Hands-on — try it in Forge

This opens Forge's 3D part designer with the description filled in. Add a couple of things to hold in the components box (e.g. small screws, jumper wires, SD cards), then Generate to see a real printable model.

The prompt

A small desktop organizer tray with a few compartments for electronics bits.

Open in the 3D part designer

Opens in a new tab so you keep this lesson open. Nothing to buy — this is just to see how Forge reasons. This step isn't graded.

Slide 3

What you've learned — and what's next

You've covered the foundations of product development:

  • Every product = power + an input → brain → output circuit + an enclosure.
  • Portable means a battery, charging, and a converter; plugged in is simpler.
  • Enclosures are designed inside-out, from the parts, with clearance and openings in the right places.
  • Forge designs both halves from plain English — Forge Design for the circuit and BOM, the 3D part designer for the enclosure — and an engineer checks every generated model.

And you watched Forge build all three: a night light, a temperature display, and a printable tray.

Next

The K-Check is a short quiz to lock this in and earn your first certificate. Score 70% or better to pass — and you can retake it.

After that:

  • Intermediate (BWF2) takes you into Forge's real library of circuits and 3D designs — how to combine ready blocks into a working product.
  • Advanced (BWF3) goes into fully custom designs, end to end.

Nicely done. On to the check.