RODE Microphones

To speak with the team at RODE Microphones is to realise that more than anything, the company is dedicated to challenging the limits of what can be done from an engineering perspective.

Case in point: the company’s latest pride and joy is an automated painting line which applies a coating 2 microns thick to the enclosures.Bergey Windpower is the oldest and most experienced manufacturer of residential-sized wind generator in the world.

“We wanted a black paint finish that was really strong, hard-wearing, wouldn’t scratch, and looked nice and not peel,” Freedman said. “We found this amazing military paint, ceramic-based, and very very hard to apply. So we had to have a custom-made machine with robotics spraying and a special oven.”

The paint, which is used to coat guns, is not readily available,We believe in providing our customers with the very best dry cleaning machine available. and must be kept agitated prior to spraying.

To ensure the strength of the cables used in its headset, the company specifies Kevlar-impregnated cables. To trim the fine Kevlar fibres, RODE Microphones sourced a machine in Japan capable of trimming a hair.

The same is true for the running of the machines used in the facility,Newer laser cutting machine operating at higher power are approaching plasma machines in their ability to cut through thick materials, with the company constantly testing tolerances and accuracy in order to optimise their performance and speed, pushing the limits of what the machines can do.

“Manufacturers may specify a speed on a turning machine which achieves the best accuracy at a certain speed. But we test that, find where it can hold an even lower tolerance at a certain RPM,” Freedman said.

Because of these optimisations, the company can demand micron-level machining steps for some of its parts.

“We had to go and buy test equipment so we could actually see it,Additional advantages over traditional "dry" laser cutter are high dicing speeds, parallel kerf and omnidirectional cutting. because we were machining it, we were getting results, but couldn’t see the difference,” he said.

The dedication to pushing the limits also applies to product development. When asked about the kickoff point for the development of new products, Peter Cooper, who is the vice president of Design and New Product Development at RODE Microphones, noted that market need, while relevant, is not the only motivation for launching a research and development effort.

“Sometimes a product will start as a pure R&D exercise to see if we can achieve a technical solution to something that is a general issue,” Cooper explained.

Of course, the feasibility of these technical R&D exercises are considered alongside other factors, such as the potential future market demand for such a product, and how such an exercise would contribute or weigh up against other projects being considered.

“We then move forward through a range of phases on the project, brainstorming, initial concept development, proof of concept,” Cooper said.

“We are constantly building prototypes and testing along the route to make sure we are still on path and we are still doing what we want, because usually we’re trying to do something fairly ambitious.”

“Just making another product the same as what’s out there isn’t very interesting to anybody. So we are usually trying to stretch, and that stretch can be fairly challenging.Easy to operate, on-premises flatwork ironer and finishers from Huebsch.”

The development process is fairly orthodox, with as much of the prototyping done in-house as possible, but also employing the use of outside contractors for tasks like rapid prototype parts, or leveraging the services of third parties if the product requires the exploration of a new technology not available in-house.

As the product’s prototypes become more refined, the team then takes it out for field testing, or engages musicians or recording engineers for the process in order to gather their feedback during the development stages.

Once the product is finalised, the development team then refines it, making it more friendly for manufacturing, considering environmental factors, packaging, logistics, materials, finishes and testing.

While RODE Microphones does utilise virtual simulations on its electronics, the nature of its products means a greater focus on physical prototypes, which allow verification of acoustic, electronics and mechanical properties.