A prototype is an original type, form, or instance of something serving as a typical example, basis, or standard for other things of the same category. The word derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον (prototypon), "archetype, original", neutral of πρωτότυπος (prototypos), "original, primitive", from πρώτος (protos), "first" + τύπος (typos), "impression"[1][2]. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly
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Semantics
In semantics, prototypes or proto instances combine the most representative attributes of a category. Semantics is the study of meaning in communication The word derives from Greek σημαντικός ( semantikos) "significant" from Taxonomy is the practice and science of classification The word comes from the Greek, taxis (meaning 'order' 'arrangement' and, nomos Prototypes are typical instances of a category that serve as benchmarks against which the surrounding, less representative instances are categorized (see Prototype Theory). Prototype Theory is a mode of graded Categorization in Cognitive science, where some members of a category are more central than others
Design and modeling
In many fields, there is great uncertainty as to whether a new design will actually do what is desired. New designs often have unexpected problems. A prototype is built to test the function and feel of the new design before starting production of a product. The construction of a fully working full-scale prototype, the ultimate test of concept, is the engineers' final check for design flaws and allows last-minute improvements to be made before larger production runs are ordered.
Building the full design is often expensive and can be time-consuming, especially when repeated several times -- building the full design, figuring out what the problems are and how to solve them, then building another full design. As an alternative, "rapid-prototyping" or "rapid application development" techniques are used for the initial prototypes, which implement part, but not all, of the complete design. This allows designers and manufacturers to rapidly and inexpensively test the parts of the design that are most likely to have problems, solve those problems, and then build the full design.
This counter-intuitive idea—that the quickest way to build something is, first to build something else—is shared by scaffolding and the telescope rule. Scaffolding is a temporary framework used to support people and material in the construction or repair of buildings and other large structures
Mechanical and electrical engineering
The most common use of the word prototype is a functional, although experimental, version of a non-military machine (e. Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland Hatchback is a term designating an Automobile design containing a passenger cabin with an integrated Cargo space accessed from behind the vehicle by a single Beskid was a series of economy Hatchback Car prototypes in Poland designed by BOSMAL Automotive Research and Development Center during 1982-1987 Rapid (or throwaway Software prototyping also describes a practice in the Software development process or application development process and sometimes refers g. , automobiles, domestic appliances, consumer electronics) whose designers would like to have built by mass production means, as opposed to a mockup, which is an inert representation of a machine's appearance, often made of some non-durable substance. Mass production (also called flow production, repetitive flow production, series production, or serial production) is the production of
An electronics designer often builds the first prototype from breadboard or stripboard or perfboard, typically using "DIP" packages. A breadboard ( solderless breadboard, protoboard, plugboard) is a reusable Solderless device used to build a (generally temporary Prototype Stripboard (usually known by the trademark name Veroboard of the British Vero Electronics company who invented it is a widely-used type of Electronics Perfboard is a base for prototyping Circuit boards It has holes pre-drilled at set intervals across a grid However, more and more often the first functional prototype is built on a "prototype PCB" almost identical to the production PCB, as PCB manufacturing prices fall and as many components are not available in DIP packages, but only available in SMT packages optimized for placing on a PCB.
Builders of military machines and aviation prefer the terms "experimental" and "service test".
Computer Programming/Computer Science
In many programming languages, a function prototype is the declaration of a subroutine or function. Software prototyping, a possible activity during software development, is the creation of Prototypes i A programming language is an Artificial language that can be used to write programs which control the behavior of a machine particularly a Computer. A function prototype in C or C++ is a declaration of a function that omits the function body but does specify the function's name Arity, argument In Programming languages, a declaration specifies the Identifier, type, and other aspects of language elements such as variables and functions In Computer science, a subroutine ( function, method, procedure, or subprogram) is a portion of code within a larger (This term is rather C/C++-specific; other terms for this notion are signature, type and interface. C is the third letter in the Latin alphabet. Its name in English is spelled cee or occasionally ce (siː C++ (" C Plus Plus " ˌsiːˌplʌsˈplʌs is a general-purpose Programming language. ) In prototype-based programming (a form of object-oriented programming), new objects are produced by cloning existing objects, which are called prototypes. Prototype-based programming is a style of Object-oriented programming in which classes are not present and behavior reuse (known as inheritance in class-based Object-oriented programming (OOP is a Programming paradigm that uses " objects " and their interactions to design applications and computer programs
The term may also refer to the Prototype Javascript Framework. The Prototype JavaScript Framework is a JavaScript framework created by Sam Stephenson which provides an Ajax framework and other utilities
Prototype software is often referred to as alpha grade, meaning it is the first version to run. Often only a few functions are implemented, the primary focus of the alpha is to have a functional base code on to which features may be added. Once alpha grade software has most of the required features integrated into it, it becomes beta software for testing of the entire software and to adjust the program to respond correctly during situations unforeseen during development.
Extreme programming uses iterative design to gradually add one feature at a time to the initial prototype, attempting to minimize "irreducible complexity". Extreme Programming (or XP) is a Software engineering methodology (and a form of Agile software development) Proponents of Extreme Programming and agile Iterative design is a Design methodology based on a cyclic process of Prototyping, testing analyzing and refining a work in progress This article covers irreducible complexity as used by those who argue for Intelligent design.
Continuous learning approaches within organizations or businesses may also use the concept of business or process prototypes through software models.
Computer Engineering
In computer engineering, a prototype generally refers either to a breadboard (or evolutionary) prototype or a throwaway (or one-off) prototype. Computer engineering (or Computer Systems Engineering) encompasses broad areas of both Electrical engineering and Computer science. Breadboard prototypes are often simple in a development stage, focusing on a subset of the total requirements for a product. These prototypes usually are intended to evolve into the final design. Project managers may formally identify a component as prototype to communicate with stakeholders that the component may or may not comprise the techniques ultimately allocated to the product design, or to meet business objectives. A business (also called firm or an enterprise) is a legally recognized organizational entity designed to provide goods and/or services to
It should not be assumed that the prototype is merely for testing concepts (throwaway). That would be an aspect of a "research" project or "proof of concept. Proof of concept is a short and/or incomplete realization (or synopsis) of a certain method or idea(s to demonstrate its feasibility or a demonstration in principle whose " Prototypes provide the developers with a "working model" for demonstration or use by customers, quality-assurance, business analysts, and managers to confirm or make changes to requirements, help define interfaces, develop collaborating components, and to provide proof of incremental achievement of scheduled contractual agreements.
Scale modeling
In the field of scale modeling (which includes model railroading, vehicle modeling, airplane modeling, military modeling, etc. A scale model is a representation or copy of an object that is larger or smaller than the actual size of the object. Model railroading (US or Railway modelling (UK Australia and Canada is a Hobby in which Rail transport systems are modeled at a reduced scale ), a prototype is the real-world basis or source for a scale model—such as the real EMD GP38-2 locomotive—which is the prototype of Athearn's (among other manufacturers) locomotive model. An EMD GP38-2 is a four-axle diesel-electric Locomotive of the Road switcher type built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division. Athearn is an United States manufacturer of Model railroad equipment produced and distributed by American hobby manufacturer Horizon Hobby Inc Technically, any non-living object can serve as a prototype for a model, including structures, equipment, and appliances, and so on, but generally prototypes have come to mean full-size real-world vehicles including automobiles (the prototype 1957 Chevy has spawned many models), military equipment (such as M4 Shermans, a favorite among US Military modelers), railroad equipment, motor trucks, motorcycles, airplanes, and space-ships (real-world such as Apollo/Saturn Vs, or the ISS).
There is debate whether 'fictional' or imaginary items can be considered prototypes (such as Star Wars or Star Trek starships, since the feature ships themselves are models or CGI-artifacts); however, humans and other living items are never called prototypes, even when they are the basis for models and dolls (especially - action figures). An action figure is a posable character Figurine, made of Plastic or other materials and often based upon a movie, Comic book, Video game
As of 2005, conventional rapid prototype machines cost around £25,000. [1]
Metrology
In the science and practice of metrology, a prototype is a human-made object that is used as the standard of measurement of some physical quantity to base all measurement of that physical quantity against. Metrology (from Ancient Greek metron (measure and logos (study of is the Science of Measurement. Measurement is the process of estimating the magnitude of some attribute of an object such as its length or weight relative to some standard ( unit of measurement) such as A physical Quantity is a physical property that can be quantified Sometimes this standard object is called an artifact. In the International System of Units (SI), the only prototype remaining in current use is the International Prototype Kilogram, a solid platinum-iridium cylinder kept at the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (International Bureau of Weights and Measures) in Paris (more precisely in Sèvres) that, by definition is the mass of exactly one kilogram. Platinum (ˈplætɪnəm is a Chemical element with the Atomic symbol Pt and an Atomic number of 78 Iridium (ɪˈrɪdiəm is a Chemical element that has the symbol Ir and Atomic number 77 The International Bureau of Weights and Measures ( Bureau international des poids et mesures, in French) is an international Standards organization, one Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city Sèvres is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. A definition is a statement of the meaning of a Word or Phrase. Copies of this prototype are fashioned and issued to many nations to represent the national standard of the kilogram and are periodically compared to the Paris prototype.
Until 1960, the meter was defined by a platinum-iridium prototype bar with two scratch marks on it (that were, by definition, spaced apart by one meter), the International Prototype Metre, and in 1983 the meter was redefined to be the distance covered by light in 1/299,792,458 of a second (thus defining the speed of light to be 299,792,458 meters per second). The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International The second ( SI symbol s) sometimes abbreviated sec, is the name of a unit of Time, and is the International System of Units
It is widely believed that the kilogram prototype standard will be replaced by a definition of the kilogram that will define another physical constant (likely either Planck's constant or the elementary charge) to a defined constant, thus obviating the need for the prototype and removing the possibility of the prototype (and thus the standard and definition of the kilogram) changing very slightly over the years because of loss or gain of atoms. A physical Constant is a Physical quantity that is generally believed to be both universal in nature and constant in time The Planck constant (denoted h\ is a Physical constant used to describe the sizes of quanta. The elementary charge, usually denoted e, is the Electric charge carried by a single Proton, or equivalently the negative of the electric charge carried
Pathology
In pathology, prototype refers to a disease, virus, etc which sets a good example for the whole category. For example, the vaccina virus is regarded as the virus prototype of poxviridae. Poxviruses (members of the family Poxviridae) are viruses that can as a family infect both Vertebrate and Invertebrate animals
See also
- Mock-up
- Car design
- Pilot (experiment)
- Prototyping
- Rapid prototyping
- Rapid Application Development
- Software Prototyping
- Boilerplate (rocketry)
- Archetype
External links
References
Dictionary
prototype
-noun
- An original object or form which is a basis for other objects, forms, or for its models and generalizations
- An early sample or model built to test a concept or process
- (semantics) An instance of a category or a concept that combines its most representative attributes, such as robin being a prototype of bird, unlike penguin.
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