Made in the USA — ISO 9001 build

Design for Manufacturing: StingWave Pool Leaf Vacuum

Item: LA New Product Development Team
Rating: 5
Author: Todd Dufilho

The client

DESIGN FOR MANUFACTURING
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
CFD SIMULATION
PROTOTYPING
MANUFACTURING SUPPORT
CERTIFICATION SUPPORT

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Written by Konstantin Dolgan, Ph.D., NPDP

Founder & CEO, Product Development Engineer

Published August 30, 2026

Design for manufacturing services are the engineering work that converts a functioning prototype into something a factory can build repeatably: molding-ready geometry, part consolidation, tolerances and fits, production CAD and drawings, assembly documentation, supplier sourcing, and direct DFM negotiation with the tooling vendor.

StingWave is a battery-powered pool leaf vacuum that needs no garden hose. Todd Dufilho brought LA NPDT a patented proof of concept; we engineered the hydraulics to 76% efficiency with CFD simulation, built alpha and beta functional prototypes, delivered the full engineering and DFM package, supported UL preparation, and helped launch production at his ISO 9001 facility in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Project at a glance

Client: Todd Dufilho, CEO of Waveform (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)
Product: StingWave — battery-powered, hose-free pool leaf vacuum
Starting point: A patented concept and a hand-built proof-of-concept rig
Program focus: Engineering, CFD optimization and design for manufacturing
What we delivered: CFD-optimized hydraulics, alpha and beta functional prototypes, full engineering and DFM package, assembly documentation, sourcing and UL support
Key result: 76% hydraulic efficiency, against under 50% typical for comparable devices
Stage reached: In production — made in the USA, assembled at Waveform's ISO 9001-certified facility
Where it is headed: Sold to pool owners and service contractors who clean without adding water

What the client said

★★★★★

“Konstantin and his team are some of the best in the business. They were able to take our recently patented concept and turn it into a real world working product for a very reasonable price.
With their cutting edge technology we saved hundreds of thousands of dollars (based on other prototyping companies' estimates) and produced working prototypes in a very short time frame. Within several months we'll be selling our pool cleaner on the market and we could not have done it without the amazing team at LA New Product Development Team.”

Todd DufilhoCEO, WaveformClient testimonial

See the product at mywaveform.com

A battery-powered pool leaf vacuum that needs no garden hose — engineered from a patented proof of concept into a product now manufactured in Louisiana.

Every hose-fed pool vacuum on the market solves debris pickup by spending water. StingWave does not. Todd Dufilho arrived with a patent and a hand-built rig that proved the idea worked; what he needed was a product an ISO 9001 plant could build, a certifier could pass, and a contractor could run all day. That engineering program — hydraulics, prototypes, drawings, tooling readiness and UL support — is what this case study describes.

Todd Dufilho, CEO of Waveform, came to the LA New Product Development Team with a recently patented concept for a battery-powered pool cleaner and a working proof of concept assembled from the key components. Our job was the professional engineering that stands between that rig and a manufactured product: mechanical engineering design, hydraulic optimization, functional prototyping, and design for manufacturing services through to first production units.

The challenge

Most leaf vacuums used by pool owners and service crews run off a garden hose. The hose supplies the jets that create suction, which means every cleaning cycle dumps fresh municipal water into the pool — and residential outdoor water use is already a target of EPA WaterSense conservation guidance. In drought-prone and metered regions that is expensive and increasingly unacceptable. Worse, the added fresh water dilutes the pool's sanitizer and buffering chemistry, so the operator has to re-dose and rebalance after cleaning — and when that is skipped or delayed, the result is a chemically unbalanced pool. Robotic cleaners avoid the hose but are slow on heavy leaf loads and poorly suited to the pace a service route demands.

No hose, no dilution. StingWave draws and recirculates the pool’s own water, so the chemistry the operator paid for stays where it is.
Built for contractors. Battery power and fast setup mean a crew can clear a leaf-loaded pool in a fraction of the time a robot or hose-fed vacuum takes.
Water saved per clean. A hose-fed session can add hundreds of gallons to a pool; StingWave adds none.
Debris capture that scales. A tall mesh bag holds bulk leaves plus the finer silt and dirt lifted off the pool floor.
Efficiency as the design target. Battery runtime only exists if the hydraulics are efficient, which made fluid performance the central engineering problem.

Early hand-built StingWave proof of concept operating in a leaf-filled swimming pool — The starting point: Todd’s hand-built proof of concept, running in a live pool and proving the jet-vacuum principle.

Proof-of-concept pool vacuum pulling leaves off the pool floor into a clear collection bag — The starting point: Todd’s hand-built proof of concept, running in a live pool and proving the jet-vacuum principle.

Our solution

CFD Simulation Services: Engineering the Hydraulics to 76% Efficiency

StingWave works on the Bernoulli principle: high-velocity water jets accelerate flow through the intake, and the resulting low-pressure region pulls leaves, silt and dirt off the pool floor and carries them up into the mesh bag. The physics is simple to state and unforgiving to build. Jet angle, nozzle area, throat geometry, diffuser shape and bag back-pressure all interact, and a geometry that looks reasonable in CAD can waste most of the pump energy in recirculation and losses.

StingWave clearing leaves underwater — The CFD-optimized jet ring at work: pool water drives the vacuum, so nothing is added to the pool.Plays muted on scroll — use the controls for sound.

So the geometry was settled in simulation rather than in guesswork. We ran repeated computational fluid dynamics (CFD) studies across successive revisions of the flow path, reading velocity fields and pressure losses and reshaping the intake, jets and diffuser between runs. The final design reached 76% hydraulic efficiency. Comparable devices on the market typically operate below 50%, which means roughly half of the energy they consume never becomes useful suction. On a battery-powered product that difference is the difference between a novelty and a tool a crew can use all day.

StingWave clearing leaves underwater — The CFD-optimized jet ring at work: pool water drives the vacuum, so nothing is added to the pool.Plays muted on scroll — use the controls for sound.

Front view of the StingWave pool leaf vacuum showing the flared mesh bag above the molded base — Front view: the flared bag mouth was sized so collected debris does not choke the flow path and cost efficiency.

Detail of the StingWave handle, pole socket, status indicator and thumbscrew on the molded housing — Front view: the flared bag mouth was sized so collected debris does not choke the flow path and cost efficiency.

Prototypes: From Test Rigs to Complete Alpha and Beta Units

Simulation narrows the search; hardware settles it. We built a series of test prototypes to validate individual flow and mechanical questions, then two complete functional prototypes — an alpha and a beta — that could be run in a real pool the way a customer would run them. The alpha proved that the simulated hydraulics behaved in water and that the battery, drive and sealing strategy held together. The beta was the pre-production article: production-intent geometry, real materials, and the unit used to shake out assembly, service and certification questions before tooling money was committed.

Top-down view of the StingWave pool vacuum with the mesh bag seated over the circular intake — Top down with the bag seated: the annular intake, retention ring and level indicator all share one molded face.

Top view of the StingWave base with the mesh bag removed, showing the intake ring and bag mounting features — Top down with the bag seated: the annular intake, retention ring and level indicator all share one molded face.

Design for Manufacturing: The Package That Made It Buildable

Design for manufacturing services — DFM services, in the shorthand most factories use — are what turn a working prototype into something a plant can repeat. For StingWave that meant molding-ready plastic geometry: draft, uniform wall sections, rib and boss placement, part consolidation, tolerance and fit strategy, and then the documentation a plant actually runs on. We also sat between the client and the plastics manufacturer through DFM review, so tooling feedback came back into CAD instead of stalling the program.

Complete engineering package. Production CAD, detailed engineering drawings, tolerances, materials and hardware specifications for every part.
DFM package. Molding-ready geometry and documentation prepared for the plastics manufacturer, with revisions driven by real tooling feedback.
Assembly documentation. Step-by-step illustrated instructions so units can be built consistently by production staff rather than by their designer.
Sourcing support. Help identifying and qualifying suppliers for components and materials, including the motor, battery, seals, fasteners and mesh.
Manufacturer liaison. Direct DFM communication with the molder on part splits, gating, draft and tolerances.
Troubleshooting. Engineering support as issues surfaced in tooling, assembly and early production runs.
First-unit build support. Hands-on help assembling the initial production units and correcting what only shows up on a real assembly bench.

StingWave pool vacuum base unit without the mesh bag, showing the molded housing, handle and pole mount — The molded base unit: part count, split lines and internal features chosen so the plant can build it repeatably.

Certification: Preparing for UL

A battery-powered device that operates submerged in a pool is a safety product whether or not anyone calls it one. UL requirements were treated as design inputs from early in the program rather than as a test to survive at the end, which shapes electrical isolation, sealing, materials, markings and the way the unit is serviced. After the initial UL review we went through the report with the client, translated findings into engineering changes, and supported communication with UL through the rest of the process.

The result

StingWave is manufactured in the United States and assembled at Todd’s own facility. Along the way he did not just launch a product — he founded Waveform and stood up a manufacturing operation in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, now an ISO 9001-certified facility building these pool cleaners. A patented idea and a hand-built rig became a company with a plant behind it, and the engineering that made it manufacturable was done up the road in Ruston, Louisiana.

What the Client Received

Mechanical engineering design of the complete product, from the proof-of-concept rig to production geometry
Iterative CFD simulation of the jet and intake hydraulics, reaching 76% hydraulic efficiency
Multiple test prototypes plus complete alpha and beta functional prototypes
Full engineering package: production CAD, detailed drawings, tolerances and specifications
DFM package and direct design-for-manufacturing collaboration with the plastics manufacturer
Illustrated assembly instructions for production staff
Component and material sourcing support, troubleshooting and first-unit assembly support
UL preparation during design, review of the UL report, and support communicating with UL

If you have a patent and a rig that proves the idea, the gap to a manufactured product is engineering, documentation and a factory that can repeat it. That is the work our Ruston, Louisiana team does every week — simulation, prototypes, DFM and manufacturing support from one team. Tell us about your product and we will map the shortest honest route from where you are to production.

Capabilities used on this project

Design for manufacturing
Molding-ready geometry, tolerances, production drawings, assembly documentation and DFM review with the tooling vendor.
Rapid prototyping services
3D printing, CNC machining, urethane casting and functional prototype builds with published materials, tolerances and lead times.

How a working prototype becomes a manufactured product

The order the work has to happen in when the concept is proven and the factory is not yet involved.

1. Prove the physics before the plastic
For StingWave the product is its flow path. Jet angle, nozzle area, throat and diffuser geometry were resolved in CFD across successive revisions until hydraulic efficiency reached 76%, because no amount of good molding rescues a housing built around a bad flow path.
2. Build an alpha that can be used, not just shown
A complete functional prototype run in a real pool answers what a bench test cannot: whether the simulated suction survives contact with leaves and silt, whether the battery lasts a job, and whether seals hold submerged.
3. Convert the alpha into production-intent geometry
Draft angles, uniform wall sections, ribs, bosses, part consolidation and split lines get designed for the molding process, not adapted to it afterwards. This is where DFM either saves tooling money or fails to.
4. Build a beta that is the product
Production-intent geometry in production-intent materials, used to shake out assembly sequence, serviceability and certification questions before tooling is cut.
5. Package it so someone else can build it
Detailed drawings, tolerances, material and hardware specs, bills of material and illustrated assembly instructions. A factory builds from documents, not from the designer's memory.
6. Negotiate DFM with the actual molder
Tooling vendors return real constraints on gating, draft and part splits. Those come back into CAD as revisions, with the engineering team in the conversation rather than the client relaying it.
7. Design for certification from the start
For a submerged battery-powered device, UL requirements shape isolation, sealing, materials and markings. Treating them as design inputs, then working the initial UL report into changes, keeps certification from becoming a redesign.
8. Be there for the first units
The first production build always surfaces something. Engineering support on the assembly bench and through early troubleshooting is what closes the gap between a released design and shipped product.

Three ways to clean a leaf-loaded pool

	Hose-fed leaf vacuum	Robotic cleaner	StingWave
Water added to the pool	Hundreds of gallons per session	None	None
Effect on pool chemistry	Dilutes sanitizer, needs re-dosing	None	None
Setup	Drag and connect a hose	Place unit, wait out the cycle	Battery pack, drop it in
Heavy leaf loads	Workable but slow and wet	Poor — designed for fine debris	The design case
Suited to service crews	Slow across a route	Too slow across a route	Built for it
Hydraulic efficiency	Typically under 50%	n/a	76%

Design for manufacturing review Product design and engineering Rapid prototyping services Low volume manufacturing support Designed and manufactured end to end: QMS2GO recorder

Questions about this project

Straight answers from the engineers who ran the build. Have a different question? Ask us directly.

Talk to an engineer

Why does a hose-free pool vacuum matter?

Hose-fed vacuums use municipal water to drive their jets, so every cleaning session adds hundreds of gallons to the pool. That costs money where water is metered or scarce, and it dilutes the sanitizer and buffering chemistry, forcing the operator to re-dose and rebalance. StingWave recirculates the pool's own water, so nothing is added and the chemistry stays where it was.

What did the CFD simulation actually change?

It set the geometry. Successive CFD runs on the jets, intake throat and diffuser showed where energy was being lost to recirculation and pressure drop, and each revision was reshaped against those results. The final design reached 76% hydraulic efficiency, where comparable devices commonly run below 50% — on a battery product that is the difference between a short demo and a full working day.

What is included in a design for manufacturing package?

Production CAD with molding-ready geometry, detailed engineering drawings with tolerances, material and hardware specifications, bills of material, illustrated assembly instructions, and the DFM documentation the tooling vendor needs. For StingWave we also ran the DFM conversation with the plastics manufacturer directly and revised the CAD against their tooling feedback.

Do you help with UL certification?

We prepare for it. UL requirements are designed in from the start — isolation, sealing, materials, markings and serviceability — and after the initial review we go through the UL report with the client, turn findings into engineering changes, and support the communication with UL through the rest of the process. UL issues the certification; we make sure the product is built to pass.

Can you support production, not just design?

Yes. On StingWave that meant sourcing help for components and materials, troubleshooting issues as they appeared in tooling and early runs, and hands-on support assembling the first production units. Our engineering is done in Ruston, Louisiana, and we stay involved past the design release.

Where is StingWave manufactured?

In the United States. Todd founded Waveform and stood up a manufacturing operation in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, now ISO 9001 certified, where the pool cleaners are assembled.

Industries this project belongs to

See how we approach development in each of these categories, and the other products we have taken from sketch to production there.

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