Pacific Research Laboratories, Inc. (PRL) is a design,

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in some countries as OKB, experiment and design, is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products. R&D constitutes the first stage ...

(R&D) and

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...

manufacturing company. It is the leading producer of Sawbones, designed to simulate bone architecture and a bone's physical properties. It was founded in 1978. The company had 135 employees as of April 2016 and is the largest manufacturer in

Vashon, Washington Vashon () is a census-designated place (CDP) in King County, Washington, United States. It covers an island alternately called Vashon Island or Vashon–Maury Island, the largest island in Puget Sound south of Admiralty Inlet. Before the construc ...

. It is locally referred to as "The Bone Factory." PRL has capabilities in (R&D) prototypes, short run production, and

rapid prototyping Rapid prototyping is a group of techniques used to quickly fabricate a scale model of a physical part or assembly using three-dimensional computer aided design ( CAD) data. Construction of the part or assembly is usually done using 3D printing ...

. It is the manufacturer for

Seaglider The Seaglider™ is a deep-diving Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) designed for missions lasting many months and covering thousands of miles. In military applications the Seaglider is more commonly referred to as an Unmanned Underwater Vehicle ...

fairings, wings and rudders; Seaglider is an

underwater glider An underwater glider is a type of autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) that employs variable-buoyancy propulsion instead of traditional propellers or Underwater thruster, thrusters. It employs variable buoyancy in a similar way to a profiling floa ...

autonomous underwater vehicle An autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is a robot that travels underwater without requiring continuous input from an operator. AUVs constitute part of a larger group of undersea systems known as unmanned underwater vehicles, a classification tha ...

(AUV) developed by the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

. PRL also manufactures Super Shroud cell tower concealment shrouds. The company also works in product development and design, including quick-turnaround projects using urethanes, silicones, glass/carbon fibers, braided fiberglass, thermoplastics, electronics, hydraulics, and pneumatics; the creation of prototypes, master patterns, and tooling;

reverse engineering Reverse engineering (also known as backwards engineering or back engineering) is a process or method through which one attempts to understand through deductive reasoning how a previously made device, process, system, or piece of software accompl ...

;

laser scanning Laser scanning is the controlled Deflection (physics), deflection of laser beams, visible or invisible. Scanned laser beams are used in some 3-D printers, in rapid prototyping, in machines for material processing, in laser engraving machines, i ...

; and manufacturing using

3D printing 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer ...

, 3-axis

CNC router A computer numerical control (CNC) router is a computer-controlled cutting machine which typically mounts a hand-held router as a spindle which is used for cutting various materials, such as wood, composites, metals, plastics, glass, and foams. CN ...

, 4-axis CNC machining, and a triaxial fiberglass braider. In December 2010, Pacific Research Laboratories became employee owned under an

employee stock ownership plan Employee stock ownership, or employee share ownership, is where a company's employees own shares in that company (or in the parent company of a group of companies). US employees typically acquire shares through a share option plan. In the UK, Emp ...

(ESOP).

References

External links

Sawbones home page

Pacific Research Laboratories home page
{{Authority control Laboratories in the United States Health in Washington (state) Life sciences industry Companies based in King County, Washington Design companies established in 1978 1978 establishments in Washington (state) Vashon, Washington