Toy Concepts

Purpose

Come up with three ideas for toys

These ideas have to be simple and easily constructed.

The children have to understand how the toys work.

What we Learned

Some of the simplest ideas were the best. Some ideas were really dumb.

My thoughts on the process:

I found that my most simple ideas were the best. My favorite idea the watergun for the bike was probably the least feasable idea. It was expensive and could be broken easily. It was dangerous. I researched in my memory banks and realized that I have never seen a toy with a working piston pump. This is because it is expensive, and can not be fixed with super glue. The best ideas cost less that a dollar to make. If you look back through history you can remember the snap bracelet, the hoola hoop, the slinky and the wacky wall crawler. These are the ideas that are the best.

Presentation

I was very displeased with my presentation. I realized that enthusiasm about ones idea is the key to an excellent presentation. In order for a presentation to be easy the presenter must be genuine. Of course sometimes one must present someone else's product, which they are not enthused about. In this case they must fake enthusiasm, and be a true salesperson. I learned that when you are in charge of the product you are presenting, the best preparation for the presentation is in the product. This is not to say that when the product is very good you need not pracitce what you will say. But, the presentation will run much more smoothly when the presenter loves the product they present.

Self Critique

It was strange to see myself presenting the toy. I realized that I didn't look at the audience because I was a little bit nervous. I also realized that I am my worst critic.

Web page

I found it difficult to set up the web page at first because I am not too good with computers, but after I got going it went well.

Manufacturing Process Reports

Purpose

Present a rapid prototyping method with its pros and cons.

What we learned

Through the presentations we learned what rapid prototyping devices are. They are devices that will make a quick product in order to save money on production costs.

My thoughts

The people that did the best presentations were the people that actually became experts on the subject. They knew what they were talking about and could easily convey their material. The people that planned what they would say with out knowing what it meant did a terrible job.

Getting Part Manufactured

Purpose

Construct rapid prototype piece before deadline, within the tolerances needed.

What I learned:

I learned that knowing how something works is much different than knowing how to get something done. You could totally understand your manufacturing process, but not know how to impliment it.

Project 3

Purpose

To construct a toy that is fun for children, and teaches them something about science.

To prototype this toy and test it for several groups of children.

What we learned

We learned how to better rapid prototype things.

We learned that it is difficult to keep children's attention and to talk to them at their level.

My thoughts

I really enjoyed all of the activities in the this project. It was great when the kids enjoyed our project and it was great to see them learn something. I found that our progression from different activieties worked well to reinforce what the kids learned.