- Mousetrap must be on the racecar
- Must have only 4 same sized wheels
- Don't spend (build) more than $30 (use 30 parts)
Friday, December 16, 2011
Rules of the Road
What Criteria (rules) would you add to the Mousetrap Racecar Challenge to help "level the playing field?
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Emergency Kit
Problem- Strong Earthquake, Blackout, Day After Tomorrow (Upper world freezes over)
Supplies-
- First-Aid Kit
- Hydroperoxide
- Bandages
- Thin foil blanket for heat
- Generator
- Bow & Arrow (arrows are reusable and in case of an extended time of blackout where food wouldn't be available for purchase)
- Flint
- Matches
- Tent
- Gas power grill
- canned foods
- Dry Food
- Couple cases of water
- water purifier
- knives
- multi-tool
- compact pillows
- rope
- camping backpack
- extra gasoline
- Snow Gear
-heating tools
Feedback (from parents)
Positive
- Wide spectrum of items for all kinds of needs
Change
- Be more specific on some items
Questions
- How long would you be in stated problems?
- Would you be traveling away from home?
Ideas
- Come up with a separate list of items that can be packed and easily moved on foot
- more medical items for most come injuries
- create a low budget list
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
The Deep Dive
1. “From the buildings in which we live and work, to the cars we drive, or the knives and forks with which we eat, everything we use was designed to create some sort of marriage between _Form__ and __Function__.”
2. The folks at IDEO state that they are not experts in any given area. But, they do claim to be experts on the __Process of how you design stuff__, which they apply to the innovation of consumer products.
3. After the team of designers is brought together, told the problem, and informed they have five days to “pull it off,” what phase of the design process do they immediately engage in?
The Research phase of the design process is engaged immediately.
4. Give two examples of what the team members did during this phase.
a.Found those that use, make, and repair shopping carts and found out what they thought about shopping carts.
b.Record information found out in order to convey to others and to have themselves.
5. List five rules-of-thumb that IDEO employees follow when they share ideas during the brainstorming phase:
a.One Conversation at a time.
b.Stay focused on the topic
c.Encourage wild ideas
d.Defer judgement
e.Build on the ideas of others
6. Why should wild (and sometimes crazy) ideas be entertained during the brainstorming phase?
You build on those wild ideas and they become better ideas then if everyone came up with same or "appropriate" things. They allow many points to take off from to build a innovative idea.
7. After the brainstorming phase was over, the team narrowed down the hundreds of ideas by __Buildable__ for those ideas that were not only “cool” but also __Voting__ in a short period of time. What phase of the design process is this called? The analyze and select a solution(s) phase of the design process.
8. IDEO believes that the ideas and efforts of a __Enlightened trial and error__ will always be more successful than the planning of a lone genius.
9. Once the ideas were narrowed down and divided into categories, the group was split into four smaller teams. What phase(s) of the design process was each of these groups responsible for? The Design/Development phase of the design process.
10. The leaders at IDEO believe that __Playful__ behavior and a __Fun__ environment are two important reasons why their employees are able to think quickly and creatively to produce innovative results.
11. Sometimes, people come up with great solutions that work by trying their ideas first, and asking for __Forgiveness__ later.
12. Design is often a process of going too far and having to take a few steps back. What phase of the design process would the critique of the four mock-ups come under? The Refinement process of the design process.
13. Upon critique of the four teams’ models, it was obvious that none of the teams had developed an optimum solution. However, the people at IDEO believe that it is important to __Fail__ often in order to __Succeed__ sooner.
14. What percentage of the entire week’s time did it take to fabricate the final prototype?
It took 20% or 1/5 of time to fabricate the final prototype.
15. Instead of showering his design team with a tremendous amount of praise, what did the boss require his employees to do with their new design? The boss tells his employees to take their new design to a nearby store to test it out.
16. Of all the things that we are surrounded by every day, what has not been placed through the design process?
Nature does not go thought the design process.
Conclusion
1. What did you find to be the most impressive part of the team’s effort?
I thought it was impressive that the team didn't stop at good, they kept going till it was perfect, even under all the constraints.
2. What advantages are there to having a design team with members that have non-engineering backgrounds?
They don't constraint there thoughts like an engineer may do because they think an idea isn't worth the time, they explore everything.
3. There was a point in the process where a self-appointed group of adults stepped up, stopped the ideas, and redirected the group to break up into teams. Why was this done? They began to worry that the team was drifting and they need to refocus on the "Deep Dive".
4. At the end of the video, Dave Kelly states, “Look around. The only things that are not designed are the things we find in nature.” Can you think of anything that would contradict this statement? Yes these days people are changing how nature had once made them, like changing the shape or how something grows, like the square watermelons in Japan.
2. The folks at IDEO state that they are not experts in any given area. But, they do claim to be experts on the __Process of how you design stuff__, which they apply to the innovation of consumer products.
3. After the team of designers is brought together, told the problem, and informed they have five days to “pull it off,” what phase of the design process do they immediately engage in?
The Research phase of the design process is engaged immediately.
4. Give two examples of what the team members did during this phase.
a.Found those that use, make, and repair shopping carts and found out what they thought about shopping carts.
b.Record information found out in order to convey to others and to have themselves.
5. List five rules-of-thumb that IDEO employees follow when they share ideas during the brainstorming phase:
a.One Conversation at a time.
b.Stay focused on the topic
c.Encourage wild ideas
d.Defer judgement
e.Build on the ideas of others
6. Why should wild (and sometimes crazy) ideas be entertained during the brainstorming phase?
You build on those wild ideas and they become better ideas then if everyone came up with same or "appropriate" things. They allow many points to take off from to build a innovative idea.
7. After the brainstorming phase was over, the team narrowed down the hundreds of ideas by __Buildable__ for those ideas that were not only “cool” but also __Voting__ in a short period of time. What phase of the design process is this called? The analyze and select a solution(s) phase of the design process.
8. IDEO believes that the ideas and efforts of a __Enlightened trial and error__ will always be more successful than the planning of a lone genius.
9. Once the ideas were narrowed down and divided into categories, the group was split into four smaller teams. What phase(s) of the design process was each of these groups responsible for? The Design/Development phase of the design process.
10. The leaders at IDEO believe that __Playful__ behavior and a __Fun__ environment are two important reasons why their employees are able to think quickly and creatively to produce innovative results.
11. Sometimes, people come up with great solutions that work by trying their ideas first, and asking for __Forgiveness__ later.
12. Design is often a process of going too far and having to take a few steps back. What phase of the design process would the critique of the four mock-ups come under? The Refinement process of the design process.
13. Upon critique of the four teams’ models, it was obvious that none of the teams had developed an optimum solution. However, the people at IDEO believe that it is important to __Fail__ often in order to __Succeed__ sooner.
14. What percentage of the entire week’s time did it take to fabricate the final prototype?
It took 20% or 1/5 of time to fabricate the final prototype.
15. Instead of showering his design team with a tremendous amount of praise, what did the boss require his employees to do with their new design? The boss tells his employees to take their new design to a nearby store to test it out.
16. Of all the things that we are surrounded by every day, what has not been placed through the design process?
Nature does not go thought the design process.
Conclusion
1. What did you find to be the most impressive part of the team’s effort?
I thought it was impressive that the team didn't stop at good, they kept going till it was perfect, even under all the constraints.
2. What advantages are there to having a design team with members that have non-engineering backgrounds?
They don't constraint there thoughts like an engineer may do because they think an idea isn't worth the time, they explore everything.
3. There was a point in the process where a self-appointed group of adults stepped up, stopped the ideas, and redirected the group to break up into teams. Why was this done? They began to worry that the team was drifting and they need to refocus on the "Deep Dive".
4. At the end of the video, Dave Kelly states, “Look around. The only things that are not designed are the things we find in nature.” Can you think of anything that would contradict this statement? Yes these days people are changing how nature had once made them, like changing the shape or how something grows, like the square watermelons in Japan.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Cardboard Canoe Challenge
Total Achievements: 12
Design Achievements
- Big Brain (The individual student with the most brainstorms listed will earn a bonus achievement.) (
- Define the Problem and Brainstorm Solutions (State the problem you are designing a solution for. list at least 20 ideas regarding your solution.)
- roll up cardboard
- make cardboard rolls large for more buoyancy
- more surface area
- double layer perpendicular rolls
- go to recycling depots to get free cardboard and have an ample supply
- duct tape individual rolls to make for water tightness
- inspect rolls for clean and smooth taping
- consider testing raft in outside pool to see if raft/boat will withstand water and float
- build boat to common house design, square bottom and triangular top
- build boat with thin walls to reduce supplies
- let raft walls be open so water can freely go in and out of raft
- duct tape every part of raft
- use outriggers for balance and buoyancy
- narrow body for speed through water
- duct tape inside of boat
- make duct tape rope to pull boat/raft
- duct tape paddles
- inject helium for more buoyancy (if air tight)
- V shaped bottom
- flat bottom
- make outrigger arms out of strong cardboard so they don't bend under pressure
- make outriggers bigger than actually boat so they keep the boat out of water more easily
- make outrigger design hull deep so that it can hold more weight and put less stress on outriggers
- put outriggers close to boat to ensure they get best results
- put outriggers directly on boat
- put outrigger at 3/4 height of boat wall so that it helps keep the boat from dipping to much into the water
- use outriggers on flat bottom design
- use weekends to gainmore building time
- learn what worked and didn't work from the previous cardboard canoe challenge
- come up with as many variations to have the best idea of what might work and possibly combine some ideas
- treat every idea as if it is plausible
- study some of the best light boat designs used in the commercial industry
- found out what duct tape works best in water (some have different types of water resistanceand stickiness
- consider pushing rather than pulling raft or boat
- Criteria & Constraints (List or reference the specified Criteria and Constraints you're designing for. List at least one implied criteria. List at least three implied constraints.)
- Build a watercraft that allows you to traverse the CHS swimming pool.
- Your "boat" must float at least one student through the course of the competition.
- Protect your workspace from damage!
- Implied- keep your area clean
- You may only use Cardboard and Duct Tape for this event.
- All Staples or other foreign material must be removed from your cardboard. If we trash the pool, we will not be invited back for other activities during the year (yes, we have other activities in mind for 2nd semester).
- Cardboard must meet our quality standard and be approved by the instructor (more info to follow)Each boat must have a minimum of a 3" tall "sidewall" (no completely flat designs).
- All exposed cardboard must be covered in duct tape (this will reduce cardboard disintegration in the pool).
- Each team will be provided one "versa table" cardboard box piece and two 60 yrd rolls of duct tape.
- Any materials beyond this (likely need more cardboard) need to be resourced by your team
- Implied- Build boat in time given
- Implied- Include each member in part of the boat.
- Implied- Don't leave a messy work station.
- Sketch Ideas (Draw 3 different sketches for possible designs. Label at least 3 key features for each sketch. Describe the feature's functionality so a viewer understands why the called out feature is important.)
- Select an Approach (Generate feedback (+, change, ?, !) and make a decision matrix regarding your sketches/prototypes. Specify the approach you've chosen and justify your selection.)
+ doesn't tip
! Buoyancy
! check for bad tape jobs
∆ bigger rolls of cardboard
∆ lots of ducttape
? how well will it flow?
? will the duct tape hold?
Build Achievements
- Build It! (Build your watercraft. Document it with presentable photos)
- The Early Bird Get s the Achievement (Awarded to the team with the fastest build.)
- The Farthest (Awarded to the team that can travel the furthest.)
- The Longest (Awarded to the team with the watercraft that floats the longest.)
- Balance Master (Awarded if you can have at least one person stand for 5 seconds in the boat.)
Reflection Achievements
- Feed Back (Generate ten items of feedback for your effort (from the design/build process and/or the actual product). Make sure you include at least one item of feedback in each of our four feedback areas (+, change, ?, !))
+ it floated as hoped
+ the duct tape rope held and worked
+ was able to go under water and come back up
∆ Bigger rolls of cardboard
∆ Cleaner taping job so water doesn't leak in
? Would helium actually have helped?
? Would a second row help drastically with buoyancy?
? Would bigger rolls of cardboard help?
! Check for possible areas where water could leak in
- Redesign (If we were to do another Cardboard Canoe race next semester, what would you build? Draw from everything you experienced in your class and propose the most competitive solution. Include a sketch with key features and dimensions labeled.)
-If we did another race I would probably go with the outriggers design that I had shown in one of my sketches and worked from that idea with the knowledge of what happened on this race.
- Make Your Own Achievement!
Submarine- Submerge your boat completely under water and bring it back up, if its still able to float then you have completed the challenge.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Energy Sources
While looking into my energy source I stumbled upon some other helpful sites that have to do with other peoples energy sources. Hopefully more to come!
http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/index.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy
http://www.need.org/multimedia
http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/index.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy
http://www.need.org/multimedia
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Mousetrap Racecar
Total Achievements: 10
Braniac:
Visualize it:
Game Changer:
We came up with the rule that the car has two have at least 2 axels.
Leave it cleaner than you found it:
We cleaned up a couple pieces that were left from the previous group.
Design Build:
We redesigned our car to use the string more efficently.
Braniac:
Visualize it:
Build it:
The Price of Glory:
We had 23 pieces so it came out to $23.
Test:
We tested our product before the competition
Competitor:
I entered my car into the 2nd Annual Mousetrap racecar Challenge.
Feedback:
Game Changer:We came up with the rule that the car has two have at least 2 axels.
Leave it cleaner than you found it:
We cleaned up a couple pieces that were left from the previous group.
Design Build:
We redesigned our car to use the string more efficently.
Friday, September 23, 2011
"Brick by Brick" Challenge
Total Achievements: 4
The "T-Bone" Brick
The "Tri-Pole" Brick
The "Basic" Brick
The "Axe Head" Brick
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
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