Project Selection and Needs Identification

9/7/2010

Identifying Design Category

Creative

New and innovative design Variation of existing design Improve performance Add more features

Variant

Routine

Well known Combine creativity and new technologies Complex

Design Type Differences

Each Design category can fall in one of the following types

Technical evaluation project

Use of new technology Ensure meeting all the needs Find system characteristics Find failure modes and probability of failures Creation of new technology based on existing ones Discover new scientific principles

System test

Experimental design project

Analytical projects

Applied research project

Fundamental Research Project

Project Selection Criteria Questions to ask!

What are you trying to do? Articulate your goals How is it does today? Limitations? What difference does it make? Who cares? What are the risks and payoffs? How much will it cost? How long does it take? What are the benchmarks to check for success?

Project Selection Criteria Creating AHP Model

Determine the selection criteria

Your interests; technical complexity; creativity; innovation; marketing potential; etc.

Determine the weighting for each criteria Create the AHP Review the scores and adjust as needed!

Project Selection Criteria Creating AHP Model

Identify the Needs

What is the problem?

Dont fall for a wrong problem Make sure problem and solution are not given to you! You have no design there!

Problem of Eliciting needs

Understand the problem and need Do you have a design space all possible solutions

Marketing Spec.

Engineering Spec.

Process to obtain Voice of the Customer

Gather raw data from users

What are the pros and cons of the existing process Understand the process and problem
What is the customer requirement (marketing specification) Not quantified they use terms such as: good, easy, user friendly, etc.

Interpret the raw data in terms of needs (Need)

Design an audio device that is portable, easy to use with high quality. (extension) It should be water resistance, long lasting, small and drop resistance.

Quantify the needs (Tree)

Establish an objective tree Ranking the relative importance of each specification Use all available resources: Internet, Technical, Journals, Government statistics, etc.

Understand the background and existing solutions (Survey)

Example of Objective Tree

Sources for Survey

EE Product Center, www.EEProductCenter.com. A website for locating electronic components and their manufacturers. It provides links to product datasheets and application notes. It has a keyword search engine and a tree structure search for finding components. For example, you can start with op amps and delve into subcategories such as precision and high-speed. Circuit www.CircuitCellar.com. This companion website for the magazine is a great reference for designers. It emphasizes embedded systems and electronics projects with many tutorial articles and project ideas. Datasheet Catalog, www.DatasheetCatalog.com. A datasheet source for electronic components and semiconductors. Dr. Dobbs, www.ddj.com. The magazine and companion website are a resource for software developers that includes tips and tutorials. EE Times, wLuw.EETimes.com. Industry newspaper for the electrical engineering field with information on current technology developments. Electronic Magazine, wwro.EDNmag.com This is a free magazine for electrical design engineers that provides information on the latest products. The website has a number of categorized technical resources and a design ideas section. OK Semiconductor, www.OnSemi.com. OK Semiconductor is a supplier of semiconductors for a wide range of applications, with a particular emphasis on power management. The website has a searchable database of over 15,000 components, and provides guidelines for component selection based on different applications. The Thomas Register, www.ThomasRegister.com. This is a source for finding companies and products in Korth America. It allows searches for parts and equipment that may be used in a design project. It provides profiles of companies that meet the search criteria and describes the products they make.

Summary
Design Catagory Identify The Needs

Project Type

Solution Space

Selection Criteria

Objective Tree

Research Survey

Needs & Objectives

Assignment

Individual: Pick a project topic (anything) Define your different criteria in order for this project to be an interesting project to you (meeting a need, low cost, innovative, patentable, etc.) Create an objective tree for the topic. You must present this in class. As a team agree on two possible project ideas. Create an objective tree for each project idea. Try to agree on which project seems to be more viable.