Project 1

The purpose of this project was to design three toy concepts. The toys had to be safe for children and demonstrate some physical concept (not necessarily an instructional toy). My three toy designs can be seen by following this link. Creating cool toys is not an easy task, especially when you have a limited amount of time to think about ideas. Material selection, cost, and safety were some of the considerations included when designing the toys. I tried to go for some really simple toy ideas, but they didn't seem as appealing. In the end, I had to comprise toy design in order to have something to present to class.

Project 2

We had to build a shaft component as part of a multi-group assembly. Although we were tasked with researching Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), our part was made using Fused Deposition (FDM). When designing systems with multiple physical parts, it is important to know the tolerances of parts and how the interconnect to create a whole. For our shaft assembly, we shrunk the diameter of the main shaft so that it could fit on a propeller piece.

Our information on SLS can be view here.

Project 3

The purpose of this project was to design an activity for children to be conducted in class and at home. The activity had to demonstrate some principle related to Hedy Lamarr, an actress and inventor of spread spectrum technology. As a group, we chose to develop a project based on demonstrating how animation works. At the outset, the project was plagued with group communications problems (partly on my behalf). The project didn't get as far as I wanted it to go and the topic's scope was compromised in order to get anything done.

Although I don't place blame on anyone for the outcome of the project, I do regret not generating a more exciting final project. This is partly a result of group dynamics and partly a result of the activity's topic. I felt too constrained with the Hedy Lamarr-related activities and apparently so did everyone else. As an observational note, I didn't see any projects related to spread spectrum technology, Lamarr's true claim to fame. I don't think people viewed spread spectrum as a concept for children because of its complicated nature. As an electrical engineer, I don't even know how the technology really works and that would make it difficult for me (or anyone else) to come up with a viable project. In any case, design constraints must be overcome.

Our animation project did have some good qualities. However, not enough thought was put into the project. The concept of putting a ribbon on a turntable to simulate animation is valid, but the presentation was weak. Children seemed more interested in drawing cartoons than actually having them animated. On top of that, the children got tired of drawing after a few frames. I believe animation requires too much from an individual. The project might have been better off by choosing a method where the user didn't have to expend so much physical work. People were drawn to the rotating ribbon during the Meeting of the Minds, but few wanted to take the time to draw out on their own ribbons. Most said they didn't have good drawings skills. This is a very important indication. Although children don't mind doodling and sketching, adults perceive that if they aren't good at something they shouldn't try it. Even if the goal was to cater to children, the adults should have been more eager to try it.

From my experience with this project, I realize that not all projects will turn out as expected. Sometimes they may seem like complete failures. However, projects with difficulties like this teach you more about how to improve your design processes and group dynamics. Communication is very important as well as having support from your group members.

Link to project 3 site.

Exercise 1

A picture of my eyeglass holder can be seen here. I used a belt and a very small measuring tape to attach the glasses to Role Mole's body. I thought that if I gave Role Mole a belt, he could have the glasses placed out of the way. Usually, your date isn't staring at your belt or your hips. I also thought the belt/measuring tape combo was very chic. People commented that Role Mole doesn't wear pants, but I don't think you really need pants to wear a belt.

Exercise 2

The purpose of this exercise was to make a cardboard six pack holder. The goal was to make a holder out of as little cardboard as possible that was capable of being swung with the cans in place. I decided to take a risk on this exercise by creating the smallest holder I could make within the rules. What I came up with was a holder similar to the plastic holders on most six-packs. The resulting design was about 30 to 40 square inches of cardboard (~6"x~10" - 6(can diameter) - finger slots). I thought that by press-fitting the cans into the cardboard, I could create enough friction to hold the cans when they were swung. I used juice cans to measure the hole diameter, but apparently juice cans have a different size than soda cans (at least that's what they told me). The press-fit system didn't work out and the cans ended up ripping the cardboard while I was inserting them. Only two cans were able to stay in the broken holder. As I swung the two cans, the rest of the holder broke at the ripped points.

I had lots of trouble cutting out the holes. First, I don't think I used the appropriate measurement technique to determine the diameter of the cans. Second, my cutting blade was very difficult to handle when cutting out the circle. I resorted to using my Swiss Army Knife to cut the holes. I have a very sharp knife and I use it often for projects like this. I was criticized for using my SA knife, but it was the only other option I had at the time. If I had gotten the holes done right, I'm sure my holder would have worked.

Exercise 3

This exercise consisted of developing an environmentally-sound egg carrier that would withstand a five foot drop. I chose to go with a water filled ziploc bag with a latex balloon to protect the eggs (seen here). The eggs were placed between the two ballons in the bag. Testing had shown that the ziploc bag would break before the latex balloons ( I had not eggs to test with). My belief was that as long as the eggs didn't break, the broken ziploc was acceptable.

As far as environmental impact goes, I believe that small disposal waste was the focus of my design. The ziploc bag was recyclable, but as mentioned in class, it is seldom done. Obviously the water is safe and the latex isn't. If one were to resuse the egg container ( replacing the water everytime), the design gains even more environmental advantages. However, I would have to increase the size of the bag to accomodate more air cushioning in order to prevent the eggs from cracking in this configuration.

NOTE: My eggs broke along the tops and the balloon on the top of the bag broke. I have yet to reason why the top balloon broke first and not the bottom. On theory is that the broken egg shells puncture the ballon.

Activities

Toy Dissection

For this activity, we had to guess the internal components of some mechanical toys. Having ripped apart things all my life (and putting them back together) my group was able to correctly identify the hidden components. While we were reassembling the toys, we also fixed some of the professors misconfigured toys.

Newspaper Structure

The main thing I learned here was that people don't follow instructions, no matter how you give it to them. Only when they run into problems do they take the time, if at all to read your instructions. Because of this, one has to make the instructions clearly state only one possible action/result. For example, in our instructions we wrote that the main supports were to be wound into columns the size of a pinkie. Apparently I have a very small pinkie or the builder had a very big one. In any case, we should have been more explicit about the design parameters. The comments to us were that the instructions weren't clear. This was the same advice we gave to the team we built for. Obviously the effectiveness of our communication is important for any project where multiple people are involved.

On the second attempt, a lot of the class designs were similar. Main problems were with how to bind the tubes together. My solution to the problem of binding three tripod poles together was to make a cone hat. In the cone, no pole can fall because it encounters another face of the cone surface. However, tripods are prone to failure along their poles. This made our team focus on not bending support poles prior to erection. Our second design was kind of small because the tripod does not accomodate 4 people easily. When you are designing structures like this, you need to make sure you have space for your tallest member. Then you need to make sure the structure surrounds everyone.

In the case of the structure we built for someone else, their specifications were too small and we had to change it. We tried our best to match their design intent when we added extra support. For this particular structure, the instructions were very vague. From experience, when you are confronted with vague instructions, you should make changes.

Stupid Consumer Product

This activity was barely an activity at all. We spent a few minutes thinking about an idea, someone drew the idea and then a week later we briefly presented the idea. Our product was a dog purse, that is to say you carry your dog in this purse. Not much effort went into this because we had so very little time.

Cardboard Cube

We were tasked with building a 4"x4" cardboard cube. This activity helped us prepare for making the soda can holder. Having the right tools on hand made the construction quick. However, my partner on this project had difficulty cutting and I had to take charge of getting all the pieces cut. After two tries, I was slicing and dicing like a pro. Some people objected to the awkward positions I was holding the knife, but I wanted to keep my guides in place.

Other

We had some labs in IronCAD. As it turns out, if you read the documents, you'll finish in a few minutes. Only when something goes wrong does any one pay attention. Using the computer to prototype pieces can be useful. Although we only used IronCAD for the second project, computer modeling tools can be helpful during the design process. They show you what can and cannot be done, as well as give you a picture of what the finished product will look like without consuming materials.

As for the oral presentations and video review, I gained valuable feedback on my posture, tone, voice projection and mannerisms. However, I somehow wished someone else would have commented on my performance. Although I can be my harshest critic, I can sometimes miss things that need change. The audio was poor on some of my presentations, but through the static I could notice that I need to project in a clear voice.