- [Narrator] Make48 is funded by.

- [Announcer] Stanley Black & Decker provides tools and services around the globe to help turn great ideas into reality, and to help us shape the world we live in.

We proudly support programming that inspires invention, innovation, and hard work.

Together with Make48, we're providing men and women the tools and resources to build a better world.

Stanley Black & Decker, for those who make the world.

- [Narrator] On the last episode of Make48, the teams presented to a focus group of children and parents.

- So if you're making a beat, can you like, and if you play the beat, can you like save that beat into like (indistinct)?

- [Narrator] And the prototypes started taking shape.

- We wanna make sure we got enough fabric and then I wanna make sure I'm manipulate that neoprene in the right way so that way it's flexible.

- [Narrator] Coming up on this episode, the tool techs step up to help build the prototypes and the teams begin working on their presentations.

This is Make48, everyone's got a big idea.

- I think one of the most impressive things about Make48 is that every team that has come through here ends up coming up with a presentation and a product at the end of the weekend.

And so that just is a testament to how powerful this concept is, how powerful the system with the tool techs and mentors is.

- Definitely feel like the teams have been a lot better at just understanding how Make48 works, understanding the time that they have and how to use it more efficiently.

They're really stepping up their game, thinking about the video already.

So I do feel like having teams that have competed before, it's really cool to see that they're really good at this time management.

And I feel like they're a lot more confident in their ideas and they feel like they know what is going to be good, 'cause they were winning teams prior to this.

- And I think, you know, having been through the program once already that it improves their ability to make a good product.

And ultimately they knew what to expect, there was less confusion.

You know, there was less panic, which is appreciated (laughs) from a tool tech's perspective, you know?

Panicking people, woo!

- I've been involved in the product development life cycle for many years and nobody can do it alone.

I've seen a lot of independent inventors try and do everything themselves and you just can't be an expert at everything.

- How does this work?

This goes around the outside?

- I think that just showcases what we could build, right?

- I would just build around this.

- Yeah, I know, just... (laughs) Are you gonna do anything with the light in there?

Like take out the housing.

Are you thinking about that?

- I wonder if we could actually, that might help.

- There's that plastic housing around it, that kind of like is off centering it, but.

- We've got the fusing paper in there.

- [Man] Yeah, yeah.

- It's just, if we start adding more paper, it starts getting a little bit dimmer.

- I think a lot of people forget that toys are everything.

It's big versions of everything that adults have, and it works in every medium and every type of material.

You have toys that are made in metal.

You have toys that are made in plastic.

You have toys that are made of paper.

You have toys with electronics.

You have toys that are plush.

So if you can really step back and look at something from a challenge, you can make anything into a toy.

And I think that's really important for any engineer to realize, like, what an open challenge is as opposed to being so narrow.

- Lots happening right now.

We've got some handles that are being laser cut with logos, plungers and wrenches.

We've got, the tool techs are absolutely amazing.

We've got a tool tech working on the toilet.

That's kind of the heart of the project and for the aesthetic.

We've got another tool tech working on a logo.

- We're spray painting the pipes so to speak, out back.

- Yeah, we're 3D printing some connectors for the water.

We're working on waterproofing.

We've upgraded to a larger bottle so that it has longer game play.

So yeah- - Sales sheet.

- Oh yeah, we were just listening to some potential music for the one-minute video.

Hoping that everything can come together so that we have a final looking product that we can use for photography for the one-pager and the pitch video.

You know, just explaining it to people who have never seen it or played it before was really helpful.

We already learned a bunch about how we need to explain it for our pitch.

Playing it was fun because we've been playing against each other, but that was the first time we played against people who are not the designers of it.

Seeing the look on their faces when we said the price point, felt really good.

We need to double check that we can actually make that price point viable.

But I think given the structure of the product that should be doable.

A lot of the aesthetic is inspired by some of the feedback they provided after we question them about the title.

- [Narrator] As the building ramps up in the pits, the teams lean heavily on the tool techs, but with the clock ticking down they must also shift focus to their pitches and videos.

(upbeat music) - So today I've been doing a lot of laser cutting.

Both lasers have been pretty much having a constant line since the day has started, which has been really exciting.

Usually there's not that much laser cutting going on.

And so SuperVader had, we had to laser cut a bunch of boxes for them.

And so they were cool little boxes with little fingers.

You can easily put them together.

They were clear and then had some engravings on them.

And then it was really cool.

Dre actually worked with them and dyed the acrylics and then they'll have a little bit of a translucent green, red and black.

So I was helping watch that.

- I just tried my pitch on someone who asked what we were up to and the pitch works sort of, 'cause there's no video.

So I'm starting to do my pitch, it's like, what?

I'm like, oh, you don't have a visual aid.

I mean, except for this, like in the video, yeah, it's a lot more explanatory.

- I think especially with the other cubes too, I think it'll be a lot more... - [Man] Yeah.

- Things will be going on.

It'll be a lot more easy to tell what's happening.

- I think it'll be cool.

I wish I had one.

- Yeah, no, I wish I had one.

So you guys start making these.

- [Man ] Yeah, right.

(laughs) - I better be the first person you all call.

- So last time we were in the competition, we took second place and we were, personally, I was pretty bitter about it.

I really thought that we should have won.

And this was sort of a chance at redemption.

- Have you all gone through like calculations on like whatever things gonna cost to make and produce?

- Yeah, we roughly estimated it, but.

- Where's the bulk of the cost coming from, the speaker or?

- I think it's the speaker.

- Putting all the hardware inside each cube.

It's fairly cheap, but it's a lot of cubes.

Think our cubes are gonna cost us about a dollar and a half, two bucks somewhere in there.

- Two bucks max.

- So I'm currently working with SuperVader.

We're helping to assemble some of their little cubes for their project.

- Yeah, these are these looking awesome.

- Yeah, so these are all gonna be little tiny cubes.

Thank goodness I didn't cut my nails before we did these, guys.

(laughs) I have to say we haven't had any difficulties.

We've definitely, we have a lot of really small pieces that we have to put together.

So right now there's like seven of us working on it.

So I have a feeling it's gonna be done pretty soon, which is good.

- We tried to do a lot of prototyping yesterday, but nothing that we tried to do, it was working for the connection pieces.

So that's why we're not too much ahead of it.

- The team is trying to build or put together a system that lets kids build a bridge that can be strong enough to hold a car if they're clever about how to put it together.

So you need something that is capable of being strong if you do it right, but also weak enough that you have to think about how to make that happen.

So they have a magnetic connection system between little sticks that make the bridge.

These are the joints.

They're gonna have a dowel in the center to attach to the magnets at the end of each stick.

And then the little sleeve gives it a little bit of extra support.

So I'm gonna be making more sticks out of this dowel stock that they got me.

So it kind of fits in there loosely.

Once it has magnets it'll attach to the pieces of metal rod.

And so that's how the system's gonna go together.

- The size of this connects to the size of the stick?

- Yes.

- Is not gonna be three inches anymore.

- No.

- It's gonna be way over three inches.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely.

- So we're gonna have to- - We gonna assemble that.

- We're gonna have to assemble and then figure out the size.

- And then measure it and I just put another one with it at the right place.

- At this point we haven't figured out any presentations yet or videos and stuff like that.

Of course we have some ideas, but we haven't put that on paper yet.

We trying to get the rules written down and the actual prototype done.

- You use the same challenge card to choose for yourself against someone else.

- So the wildcard- - But then you draw something else, only one.

- But the wildcards you can only use for PVP though.

- Yes.

And they have to have an action, like to take something from the other person or take something from you or something like that.

- I don't really know if it's better to have more categories or less, I really don't know.

- I think just gonna add complexity.

So if you have two decks, you always play one deck.

Whenever you have another person to play, you play with both decks.

Okay, I gonna put that, you know, paper print, print it out it, cut it, and hopefully by the time we're finished the figures we have some more.

That's where like being a team of two members get in the way sometimes because instead of some of us designing the toy, some of us working on the sales sheet, presentation video and so on, we have to focus on the main part right now that is the toy and then figure out some time to work on those things.

(upbeat music) - So the next couple of hours, probably the most exciting part of the competition because right now everyone's completely focused on their prototype but now they're gonna have to switch gears and start thinking about storytelling.

How are they gonna tell the story of their product and how are they going to convey that to others using a video and their pitch and the design?

And it all has to weave together perfectly.

So that's gonna be the challenge, 'cause right now everyone's pretty tired.

But now is when they really have to get creative.

- So I think tonight is the reality check.

I think it's a long night, I think it's pitches, making your video.

Really understanding, and this is what I've been helping teams with, is assume the audience knows nothing.

So you have to acknowledge them and you have to bring their understanding of your product organically through your pitch.

And so thinking it outside of you having all the knowledge, but someone doesn't know the knowledge.

So I think tonight's the big night people put it into perspective and they really drive it home, you know, put the idea into the pitch, into the presentation.

And that's the time where they like, it becomes from a prototype to potentially a product.

And I think that's gonna be the big sprint tonight.

Long nights making vinyls, making logos.

So I think it's gonna be a crazy night.

(upbeat music) - 17 hours left on the clock.

Right now for our do list is to focus heavily on the sales sheet and marketing part of it.

Work on our pitch, make sure that it's enticing, make sure that we have prepared ourselves for any questions the judges may ask.

We know what our prototype is gonna gonna look like.

Right now we're working on kind of like the, how can we convince, how can we convey, how can we argue that our product is necessary and needed for children in the hospital?

Or our product is something that is worth your time, worth your money, you know?

And that's what we're working on right now, the convincing part.

You know, the logos even, maybe a little bit of pathos in there.

But mostly just like the logic, like this is why you need our product.

- If you guys could be sensitized to the fact that somebody might miss something.

So (indistinct) starts and you know, the first thing is we want to go around sensor, family and friends.

- Check everything off.

- Yeah, real quick.

This is a positive thing.

People are going through a negative experience but we've produced a positive bear, it's a comfort toy.

It has a sensor and family and friends and games that are educational and fun.

And if, like I said in the bottom of it, and if that doesn't do it, then if you get stuck, this bear gives you an opportunity to stick the bear.

But do all of that very quickly and then circle back and start digging down even more, okay?

But if, yeah, so we don't want miss any of the major, the five components that should be when you look at the visual, but it should be in our minds.

And then, then Anya, you listening to him as he goes, because I don't want to be the one, look, Hodges doesn't want to be the one to come second.

So you guys play back and forth with each other on this pitch.

So if he misses something, yeah, well, and this as well, right?

You know, the point is this, this, this.

- [Boy] We're in a tag team.

- Tag team the pitch.

- So with 17 hours left, we've got the prototype with Whitney who's doing probably an amazing job in textiles right now.

And we are finishing up the pieces that will be going with our prototype.

But the biggest things that we're doing right now are really the pitch, sales, manufacturing information.

That's, I think that's really important that that will really give the information to like what we're trying to tell.

- This is that special time of the competition where you are like, what am I doing?

Why am I here, who am I?

Like.

(laughs) - I think it's coming together.

It's really cool.

- Look, I'm telling you, the client is there.

When you think about, like, you go to children's hospitals and stuff, they always trying to make the kid not think about what's going on.

That's where your purpose is at, to take the kid's mind off of what's happening.

- It's like, we're feeling like we're down to the wire, even though we're really- - We're not.

- We're not, yeah.

- I think it's gonna be awesome.

- You better flesh that out.

I think it's a good idea.

They better flesh that out.

I mean, for real, don't give up at this point, 'cause I don't know if we got enough time.

(laughs) (upbeat music) - Many of our technicians have one good skill and they're really good at it.

Whether it's woodworking, metalworking, textiles, electronics, they all have to work together.

'Cause innovation is usually not one thing.

It's multiple aspects and materials and skill levels, all to make that one product.

- So the challenge that I see a lot of inventors have is being able to articulate their idea, to get the idea out of their head and into a form that somebody else can take and run with it and create that idea or make something physical from that idea.

- Tool techs have to be really good listeners because you never know who you're gonna get when they're trying to describe their idea and what it is you have to make.

Make48 kind of helps inventors see that, you know, you kinda have to either sketch it on a napkin or build it out of clay or create a piece of paper or cardboard and cut it up and try and get your idea to somebody who can make it real for you.

- So what I'm working on right now is some brass pieces.

This is for My Three Sons and basically it's just a reducer to go from this larger size tubing that they've got down to a smaller size.

So I've got some brass stock and I'm just making a barbed reducer that's passed through the press fits onto here so that they can take their larger tubing and slide it over and work it into some smaller stuff.

I've got one, I've gotta make three, yeah, I've gotta make three more.

So they'll have a total of four for whatever it is that they're doing.

- We're seeing a lot of laser.

And I think the reason for that is the laser cutter is probably the most accessible tool to get started in digital fabrication.

And then once you learn laser cutting, it's easy to do 3D printing and CNC machining.

It's usually like the first thing people try.

So we have a lot of people dabbling with that today.

- I'm from the Onshape team.

So we're providing the CAD for all the teams to iterate and ideate and imagine what their ideas will actually look like in 3D space.

And we also will provide the files for the machinists to actually build all of their parts and ideas, using all of the big CNC machines, the laser cutters, etc.

Setting up their CAD models so that if they want to test out different measurements they can easily do that by changing different parameters.

This is the Veni Vidi Vici.

This team wanted to change the length of this part right up here.

So I just hooked it up to these variables so that it quickly changes all throughout the whole model.

And then we are able to export this and then they could 3D print it right away.

- I think one of the hardest things for a team of people who are not used to making is they just don't know what's out there.

So they have this idea and maybe the only thing they've ever known is like the wood shop.

And they're trying to like conceptualize how can we build this using this one material and one tool I always use?

And then I might come and talk to them and be like, oh, this would be perfect for a 3D print or, you know, you can't really 3D print it because of the way that it's structured, it would be great for laser cutting.

Or, you know, you can CNC this.

So it's kind of just having the knowledge of like, special tool techs to come in and be like, this is the best way to make the product with the materials that you want.

- I think that one of the biggest hurdles that teams are facing, so when they're trying to solve a problem, like they're trying to solve how do you design fun, right?

That's what a toy is supposed to do.

So you need to think about the macro and the micro and then how do you work between those two areas to make something that's fun, that's goal oriented, that's gonna add value to someone's life when they use it?

- How'd you draw it, in (indistinct)?

- It's in Illustrator.

- Illustrator, okay.

So what size final, so, okay.

- This is the board, the square.

- That's 20 by 30?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

- So a lot of these are just different joints and components of our two designs.

One of 'em is, one possible configuration is creating a ballista, right now it's kind of in pieces in the CAD, but the other one a bit more clear is a trebuchet.

So you can see how we've got the triangular frame overall and there's some other modular components that'll ultimately construct the different configurations of our toy.

As well as this large hexagonal piece over here, which is the goal.

So it is like where where you're launching the projectiles into.

(upbeat music) - Oh, this is the base for our rocket launcher.

With our score card, that's what those are, they're our score card.

And we're looking to, we're gonna spray this here, but we want to glue these on, so we don't want to get any spray on blue points.

- Didn't even start the video.

The sales sheet we started a little bit on.

- [Man] Our prototype.

- We barely got a logo.

- Our prototype.

- Our prototype it's coming along.

Hopefully within the next few hours, we'll finalize that.

And then we can focus on the video.

Kind of getting to that time, it's getting pretty tired.

- So we'll give it a little longer tonight and start again tomorrow.

(upbeat music) - For our design on this one, with it being STEM toys, all four of us are mechanical engineers.

So we did a lot of thinking around what kind of toys did we play with when we were growing up?

What kind of toys made us excited about problem solving, building, breaking, all the fun stuff.

- Obviously this prototype started off with just a little idea, and we've had so many different changes trying to add things on, but also we had had to take things away, you know, patent clause, we gotta kind of go around those.

Manufacturing changes, you know, stuff that we gotta make sure it's manufacturable, make sure it's fun.

That's the most important thing.

And also making sure that it appeals to a wider audience rather than just us as mechanical engineers.

We gotta make sure it's fun for people who maybe aren't as mechanically inclined and might need a little help in that area.

- A lot of the other teams have awesome projects going right now.

It's cool to see just the different type of materials people are coming in with and not knowing what the project is gonna look like.

You can already start to guess what we would do if we had those kind of materials.

And I'm excited to see what people come up with 'cause I think the landscape will be pretty broad.

It looks like we've got some fabrics, some connected toys, some more games.

Excited to see how we stand up compared to everyone else's.

Being a competitive person though, I think we're trying to do our best to come home with that winning check.

Be a nice drive home.

- I'm not as stressed actually as I was the last competition we were in.

I think we've had a little bit more experience.

We know what needs to be worked on and we've spent a lot of time working on that to make sure that we're where we want to be.

I'm hoping tomorrow is gonna be a much more relaxed morning.

If we can get everything done, pound stuff out, make it a late night tonight, tomorrow, hopefully we'll be rested and ready to go for the pitch.

- It's 11;00, we have 11 hours and 50 minutes left, which ain't too much longer.

So we're hoping to work a little bit into the night.

And then after that we're gonna get up first thing in the morning and take care of the rest of our business.

I get a little tired but, (laughs) we gotta keep on going until we get to a certain point, and then we're gonna stop for the night.

- We have, what, I got- - Video editing.

- Video edit.

- Video voiceover.

- You've got the sales sheet.

- Got the sales sheet and our pitch.

- And our pitch.

- And we need to talk about price cost.

Can we, I think we got that.

- I think we're good.

- Yeah.

I'm gonna talk to price costs.

I've already done the research.

- Yeah.

- So... - And you need some sleep.

Holy crap, look at you.

- We got hours in the morning, we can do it.

- Yeah.

- I don't think five is gonna be enough.

- [Narrator] As it gets later, some teams are leaving to get some rest, some teams are still hard at work.

- I think the biggest challenge that we are having right now is basically getting it done, but it's just two of us.

So we still have a lot to get done, just two of us, but we're gonna get done.

We definitely will.

We hope so, we hope we get some sleep tonight.

Last competition that was over 36 hours from no sleep, awake, straight out.

So our goal for today is kind of got maybe at least a couple hours sleep at least.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Next time on Make48, the teams finish up their prototypes and pitches.

- And then how it's constructed, I have a feeling they'll ask about the manufacturing.

- Our goal is try to get all the information out there so there's no questions.

(people laugh) - [Narrator] And the clock runs out.

- Two, one, (horn blows) - [Narrator] Will all the teams have a product to pitch?

Tune in to find out.

Make48 is funded by.

- [Announcer] Stanley Black & Decker provides tools and services around the globe to help turn great ideas into reality and to help us shape the world we live in.

We proudly support programming that inspires invention, innovation and hard work.

Together with Make48, we're providing men and women the tools and resources to build a better world.

Stanley Black & Decker, for those who make the world.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] To learn more about the invention process and to get to know the teams, visit make48.com.

(upbeat electronic music) (soft instrumental music) (soft instrumental music) (soft instrumental music)