Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Module 1 Skeletal Notes
Module 1 Skeletal Notes
Engineering Design Process
APSC 100 / 101
Learning Goals
By the end of this section, you should be able to:
• Describe the design process
• Recognize that there are many different design
process models
• Explain why engineers use a formal design
process
• Describe key considerations in the study and
clarify problem stage
APSC 100 / 101
The APSC 100 / 101 Design Process
APSC 100 / 101
An Abstract Representation of Design
Damien Newman, Revision Lab
APSC 100 / 101
Work in the early stages of the design process is
inexpensive, but it commits future spending. Take the
time to get the early parts right!
Design stages (general flow)
Cost (money, 1 2 3 4 5
your time,
resources,…)
Costs committed
Actual costs
Time
APSC 100 / 101
APSC 100 / 101
Activity: Compare/contrast these
two other design process models
to the APSC 100/101 model.
Similarities:
Differences:
APSC 100 / 101
The APSC 100 / 101 Design Process
APSC 100 / 101
Studying and Clarifying the Problem
APSC 100 / 101
Activity: Cardboard Chair Stage 1
• Who are “stakeholders?”
◦ Identify possible stakeholders for the cardboard chair
• What are “needs?”
◦ Identify possible needs associated with the
stakeholders you listed above
APSC 100 / 101
Week 2 Class B: Clarifying the Design
Problem: Needs and Specifications
APSC 100 / 101
Learning Goals
By the end of this section, you should be able to:
• Describe what design specifications are,
including requirements and objectives
• Convert needs into target design specifications
• Define “validation” and “verification,” and
describe how they differ
APSC 100 / 101
Imagine you are going to purchase a new laptop.
What are some of your needs?
APSC 100 / 101
Activity: Work as a team to come up with a list of
some of your needs for a laptop purchase.
APSC 100 / 101
Needs: Benefits and Limitations
Benefits
• Express stakeholder interests and wishes
• Use the “language of the stakeholder”
Limitations
APSC 100 / 101
Target Design Specifications
• Developed from the needs
• A precise description of what the final design
has to be or do
• Quantifiable or testable
“An unambiguous agreement on what the team
will attempt to achieve in order to satisfy the
customer needs.”
‐ Ulrich, Product Design and Development, McGraw‐Hill
APSC 100 / 101
Activity: What might some target design specifications
be for the needs you identified in the laptop example.
APSC 100 / 101
Two Types of Target Design
Specifications
• Requirements:
• Evaluation criteria:
◦ also called objectives, performance levels, and
satisfaction levels
APSC 100 / 101
Validation and Verification
Two checks we need to consider during the desing
process:
• Validation:
• Verification:
APSC 100 / 101
For team discussion: what might some
specifications for the cardboard chair
be?
APSC 100 / 101
Week 3 Class A: Generating and
Communicating Ideas
APSC 100 / 101
Learning Goals
By the end of this section, you should be able to:
• Describe and apply best practices in concept
generation
• Describe and use the C‐sketch technique
In addition, we hope you will:
• Begin to feel comfortable about sketching and
communicating ideas graphically (if you don’t
already)
APSC 100 / 101
Where We Are in the Process
APSC 100 / 101
What are the guidelines for generating
solutions (as presented in the video)?
Why are the guidelines important?
APSC 100 / 101
C‐sketch is one approach. It supports the solution
generation guidelines.
APSC 100 / 101
Sketching
• Graphical
communication is
an essential skill for
an engineer
• Sketching, seeing,
and thinking are all
related
• You’re not expected
to be an artist!
Robert McKim, Experiences in Visual Thinking
APSC 100 / 101
Sketches do not need to be works of art (or physically
realistic). Simple and clear is usually easiest to
understand.
APSC 100 / 101
Dr. John Houbolt
APSC 100 / 101
Life, March 14, 1969
C‐sketch Practice
• Divide your team into two groups (you’ll have 2 or 3 people
per group)
• Use C‐sketch to conceptualize a device to extract juice from
oranges
• We will do three cycles of 3 minutes
• Group of 2: you’ll get your own sketch back on the third cycle,
start a new (different) sketch
• Group of 3: you’ll get your own sketch back after the third cycle
APSC 100 / 101
Important
You will generate sketches for your
cardboard chair in studio this week…
…bring these with you to Class B
APSC 100 / 101
Week 3 Class B: Narrowing the Pool
of Ideas
APSC 100 / 101
Learning Goals
By the end of this section, you should be able to:
• Describe (in general terms) the process of
narrowing down the pool of ideas in Stage 3
• Describe what “screening” is and how it is done
• Apply screening to narrow down the pool of
ideas for your project
APSC 100 / 101
Abstract Representation of Design
Damien Newman, Revision Lab
APSC 100 / 101
Conceptual solutions are inexpensive, but it is expensive
(in time, money, resources,…) to move ahead with bad
ideas and repeat the process.
Design stages (general flow)
Cost (money, 1 2 3 4 5
your time,
resources,…)
Costs committed
Actual costs
Time
APSC 100 / 101
In Stage 3, we need to quickly move from the many ideas
from Stage 2, to the one idea we will develop in Stage 4.
APSC 100 / 101
How might we depict the changes in solution
space with time?
Variety
Problem
Time
Solution space
APSC 100 / 101
Screening: Eliminate ideas that will never work
Place a in the appropriate column for each scenario
Advance from Eliminate the
Scenarios
screening idea
An idea fails several requirements
An idea fails one requirement
An idea passes every requirement
An idea just barely passes every requirement
An idea just barely fails several requirements
The idea passes every requirement, but
doesn’t look like it will perform very well
The idea just barely fails one requirement, but
otherwise outperforms every other idea
APSC 100 / 101
Screening: a caveat
Before you eliminate an idea through screening,
try your best to make it work:
◦ modify it to address shortcomings,
◦ combine it with another idea,
◦ look for positive features you can extract,
◦ confirm the requirements are valid…
APSC 100 / 101
Activity: Screen Your Project Ideas
• Screen your cardboard chair concepts from
Studio 2 to determine which advance for further
consideration
• Assign one concept per person to further
develop
• Individual homework – due Monday, 8:00am
◦ Develop your assigned concept into a scale model
cardstock prototype (use materials you have on hand,
e.g. a cereal box, or thick paper)
◦ Submit a photo / photos of your original sketch and
your prototype to Canvas
APSC 100 / 101
Week 4 Class A: Identifying the
Most Promising Solution
APSC 100 / 101
Learning Goals
By the end of this section, you should be able to:
• Describe the processes of screening, ranking,
and scoring in Stage 3 of the design process
• Make and justify recommendations when
presented with concept selection information
APSC 100 / 101
APSC 100 / 101
How do the number of potential design solutions
change through the design process?
Number of
Solutions
Time
APSC 100 / 101
(Simplified) Selection Example
Scenario: design a cardboard bed for
emergency response
A team has identified the following
potential specifications:
• Made only of cardboard
• Uses no more than 3 m2 of
cardboard (less is better)
• Supports a large person at least 15
cm off the ground
Images: Leaf Supply (www.leafsupply.com)
APSC 100 / 101
Activity: For each slide
that follows, prepare a
recommendation for
the team based on the
information given.
Image: Leaf Supply (www.leafsupply.com)
APSC 100 / 101
The team has four viable concepts. They have prototyped
extensively with simple models and are convinced a bed
cannot use less cardboard than Concept C (2.0 m2).
Concept A Concept B Concept C Concept D
Cardboard 2.0 m2 + 30
3.5 m2 3.0 m2 2.3 m2
used cm of tape
Target Design Specifications:
• Made only of cardboard
• Uses no more than 3 m2 of cardboard (less is better)
• Supports a large person at least 15 cm off the ground
Recommendations:
APSC 100 / 101
Imagine Concept C has been re‐worked (now called C+).
Concept B Concept C+ Concept D
Cardboard used 3.0 m2 2.2 m2 2.3 m2
Length x width 2.1 x 0.6 m 2.0 x 0.5 m 1.75 x 0.6 m
Target Design Specifications:
• Made only of cardboard
• Uses no more than 3 m2 of cardboard (less is better)
• Supports a large person at least 15 cm off the ground
Recommendations:
APSC 100 / 101
Imagine Concept D been modified (now D+), and
the specifications clarified.
Concept B Concept C+ Concept D+
Cardboard used 3.0 m2 2.2 m2 2.7 m2
Length x width 2.1 x 0.6 m 2.0 x 0.5 m 2.1 x 0.5 m
Weight capacity 126 kg 124 kg 125 kg
Height off ground 16 cm 15 cm 20 cm
Target Design Specifications:
• Made only of cardboard
• Uses no more than 3 m2 of cardboard (less is better)
• Supports at least 100 kg, 180 cm tall person (larger is better) at
least 15 cm off the ground
Recommendations:
APSC 100 / 101
Week 4 Class B: An Introduction to
Prototyping
APSC 100 / 101
Learning Goals
By the end of this section, you should be able to:
• Classify prototypes in terms of their
implementation and intended function
• List and describe the advantages and
disadvantages of physical prototypes
• Describe the common uses for a technical poster
• List key attributes for a technical poster
APSC 100 / 101
Prototypes – Quick Recap
What are “prototypes?”
Why are they used?
Where are they used in the design process?
APSC 100 / 101
Physical
Focused Comprehensive
Virtual
APSC 100 / 101
Activity: Cardboard Chair Prototypes
• Review the prototypes you have made in
the project so far
• Where does each prototype belong on the
classification chart?
APSC 100 / 101
Activity: Cardboard Chair Prototypes
Physical
Focused Comprehensive
Virtual
APSC 100 / 101
Other types of prototypes
Sketches
Protocircuits
Experiments Simulations
Images: “Design Secrets: Products,” Rockport, 2001. Images: bcae1.com (t), smcontact.fr (b)
APSC 100 / 101
Effective Poster Presentations
APSC 100 / 101
Presentation Goals
• Present your design process and final product
APSC 100 cardboard chair design project
• Exhibit your work in a formal setting, and
interact with faculty and peers
APSC 100 / 101
Detailed Guidelines on Canvas
APSC 100 / 101
Poster Examples…
Simple & clear Flow of info
Visual Technical & non‐technical
Technical & non‐technical Lots of visuals
Heading/text and white ✗ Too much text
space ratio ✗ Purposeful visuals?
APSC 100 / 101
Activity: Planning your Poster
1. What elements need appear on your poster?
◦ Resources: Poster guidelines and rubric, on Canvas
2. Will you use individual (single‐sheet) printouts
or a PowerPoint template?
◦ Software needs, printing resources, deadlines
3. Use the provided templates (or sketch your
own) to experiment with the layout of your
poster
◦ What class and studio activities can you draw directly
from for your poster construction?
4. Delegate tasks and set deadlines
APSC 100 / 101
Planning and Assembling your Poster
APSC 100 / 101
Planning and Assembling your Poster
Poster Element Who is responsible? When do we need it by?
APSC 100 / 101