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Flux, the AI-powered platform for hardware design, launched new AI capabilities for turning PCB designs into enclosed prototypes. Hardware companies can now design custom enclosures for their PCBs by simply describing what they need in the Flux chat window, dramatically reducing the cost of testing and iteration.
In the past, designing an enclosure for your board meant hiring a mechanical engineer or puzzling out an mCAD package yourself. Any small change meant redoing the mechanical design, potentially adding weeks to the process — and tens of thousands to the total cost.
But not anymore. Flux's new enclosures capability seamlessly bridges the gap between electrical and mechanical engineering, producing 3D-printable enclosures that precisely match your board's actual geometry. Enclosures appear as realistic 3D assets with latches, screw holes, mounts, curved edges, vents, and port cutouts. Users can preview their build, prompt for changes to look, feel, and functionality, and export the design in standard 3D-printing formats.
Flux keeps your board and enclosure designs in perfect sync. Move or swap out a component on the board, and Flux redesigns the enclosure autonomously, making the necessary adjustments and rewriting the instructions for manufacturing and assembly. There's nothing to model, measure, or reconcile by hand. Flux handles all the laborious, time-consuming work automatically, so you can focus on higher-order problems like usability and installation.
“Software developers take for granted that they can come up with an idea, build a prototype, and quickly iterate on it. Hardware developers haven't had that luxury until now," said Flux cofounder and CEO Matthias Wagner. "With Flux, they can skip the time and expense of first-round manufacturing and iterate on 3D-printed prototypes even before they've tested the board. It's a huge accelerator for product development, and a powerful tool for communicating your vision. Instead of trying to get your idea across with a slide deck, you can actually hand what you're building to a partner, an investor, or a potential cofounder."
Flux's enclosures are ideal for testing, providing a cost-effective way to work with a board in its physical context without formal manufacturing.
"Testing is a real dilemma for small hardware companies," Wagner said. "The time and cost involved in creating a testable prototype are really high. But if you don't test, you often wind up regretting it. Flux is the first practical solution that allows builders to skip the mCAD stage entirely and go from board design to an enclosed, 3D-printable prototype in one workflow."
