DESIGN 'MADE IN ITALY' AND PROTOFUNCTIONAL® PROTOTYPING FOR THE NEW DIONICA POS SYSTEMS
30 May 2001 - DSM Somos

Dionica, world leader in the conception and distribution of electronic payment instruments, has employed stylish, industrial design in its development of the new 'Monedero' and 'Omero' pin-pad systems which offer interesting size advantages and privacy features. The design was entrusted to Italian designers Valentina Downey and Giuseppe Morbidini, whose intervention resolved a series of difficulties related to the new 'POS' systems.

For the 'Monedero' POS, Dionica posted the condition of maintaining minimum dimensions. The idea was to create a more user friendly and reassuring design with softer lines that could play with the light. Also of importance was the realization of a uniform line for the keyboard/display component that united the 2 components in a sinuous and appealing fashion. The 'Monedero' cradle-formed base enfolds and accentuates the design of the display/keyboard, while maintaining the primary functions (curved posterior for the paper rolls, frontal credit-card insert area).

The 'Omero' terminal design, as with all pin-pads, provided two walls on the opposite sides of the keyboard in order to protect the digitations of pins from prying eyes. These walls are typically a separate component which artfully rest against the pin-pad.

The 'Omero' has revolutionized the classical disposition of these components: by inclining the display and creating a hollow it was possible to incorporate these elements in a single design. The display and keyboard sections are uniformly contoured by an arch that runs along the component's walls. The overall result of 'Omero' is a defined and unique creation: pin-pad functions are highlighted and conveyed to the user by form itself, while functional solutions do not compromise the aesthetic aspects of the model. Once the initial design phase was completed, there remained, however, the fundamental development phase: to create 'Omero' and 'Monedero' prototypes and test the design under realistic functional and operative conditions.

The prototype production was assigned to Italian service bureau Fox Bit Tecnologie (Milan, Italy - Alphaform group ). Oscar Cermelli, commercial manager of the company, affirmed: 'We chose to use the Somos® 7120 stereolithography resin because it permits the realization of finished parts with a high degree of dimensional accuracy, and because in the long run, it does not manifest geometrical alterations owing to external factors such as, for example, humidity.'

Besides obtaining the first models in a very short period, the use of the Somos® 7120 resin allowed functional and performance tests to be conducted directly on the stereolithography models. 'During a test on the 'Monedero' cradle base', said Valentina Downey, 'a problem with overheating was found. Thanks to the ProtoFunctional® capabilities and accuracy offered by Somos® resins, we were able to effectively examine that particular and the subsequent revision in order to find the optimum solution. It was also very interesting to have both the opportunity to quickly present the stereolithography prototype to Dionica and to obtain a model with aesthetic qualities very similar to that of the final 'POS'.'

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