13 April 1998 (Project Completion: 23 April 1998)

Project Proposal Addressed to Professor S. Finger for 39-245, Rapid Prototype Design

Prepared by Carnegie Mellon Students of 39-245;

Jay McCormack, Alan Tomko & Afolabi Williams

Contents:

Introduction

Problem

Objective of the toy

Description of the activity

Engineering principle learned

Parts to be built

Rapid prototyping technology to be used

Budget

Sketch of the design

Introduction: This proposal is presented in response to the request by Professor Finger for games children can play while learning important engineering concepts to bolster their overall educational experience. This project is the final group work to be completed by the teams in the class, and as such, there is much emphasis on successful completion of the highest quality work from each group. Not only do our clients require ease of use, but the entire process of completing the project, including materials selection and gathering, distribution of duties to complete the project effectively, interaction of group members through brainstorming the solution, and multiple methods of presentation of the project all involve learning experiences for the members, and the quality of the project depends equally on the learning that takes place in each of these areas. We have come up with the following activity described in greater detail in this report. We would like to solicit your feedback and ask that the listed resources in the proposal be allocated to us to aid us in this endeavor. We have described in this report our proposed activity and what children will learn from it, the parts we need to build with rapid prototyping technologies and the cost of buying different parts needed. We have also included a project plan, which assigns responsibilites and sets deadlines. Lastly, a guidance sheet for the instructor has been included.

Problem: We feel that appreciation for engineering and steering of young people into the discipline is less than sufficient. Ignorance will only limit our children's futures.

Objective: Our intent is to engage children in middle school in a fun activity while learning engineering principles. The activity is easy for the teacher to demonstrate and for children to follow and can be easily transported. Scientific and engineering organizations can use activities such as this to stimulate the children's interest in this field.  The activity is safe for children of the proposed age group.

Activity: We have dubbed our activity "Rock and Roll." The children will roll ball bearings (rocks) of varying sizes and weights down different hilly slopes (shown in the sketch attached), and by observation of how potential energy is transformed into kinetic energy, they will attempt to have the ball pass a specified number of the increasing taller hills. The children will also shoot the balls down a track with a spring mechanism to see how many of the hilly slopes the ball bearing can climb over as compared to releasing it down the hilly slopes as already stated.

Engineering Principle learned: The children will learn about the conservation of energy by varying the potential energy of the system to control the output, which depends on the kinetic energy, by two different means: a. gravity and b. energy stored in the spring. Because of energy losses in the non-ideal system, they will also observe the effect of momentum as the ball travels over the hills.

Parts to be built: 6 hilly slopes will be designed and built for the project: 3 varying the drop ramp will be built and 3 others for use with a spring mechanism. After the team designs the slopes in a CAD package, they will be sent for production through a rapid prototyping manufacturing method.

Rapid prototyping technology to be used: We will use LaserCamm to design the hilly slopes and the spring mechanism and they will be made of plexi-glass. Our decision on the technology to use was based on the low cost and high effectiveness for our needs. The technology will provide stable walls for the track and we will not need to pay for extremely large accuracies in tolerances.

Project Plan, Responsibilities and Deadlines: Our plan is shown in the table below.

Budget: The total cost for the project is $30.00. This is a small amount for the value this activity will bring to children and teachers alike. A breakdown of the costs is provided in the table below.

Conclusion: We hope that you find this proposal for our new activity as interesting as we do and will support us in our effort to make this a reality. Please contact Jay Mccormack, Alan Tomko or Labi Williams if you have any questions or require any additional information.