Our Project
During this project my class and I brought in something to take apart and reverse engineer. After we each took apart our object, we drew each piece in a conceptual sketch. Once we were done drawing, we worked in groups to research one object and presented our findings in a write up and a presentation. Our object was a solar powered dancing flower.
First, we all developed a hypothesis of our project which was to understand how the solar powered dancing flower worked. Second, we disassembled the flower and labeled, sketched, and took notes on it. Third we needed to analyze the object. To do this we each researched different areas of the object. The four types of analysis were functional, structural, material, and manufacturing analysis. Once we were done researching the flower we presented it.
Our research is presented in the paper and slides below.
First, we all developed a hypothesis of our project which was to understand how the solar powered dancing flower worked. Second, we disassembled the flower and labeled, sketched, and took notes on it. Third we needed to analyze the object. To do this we each researched different areas of the object. The four types of analysis were functional, structural, material, and manufacturing analysis. Once we were done researching the flower we presented it.
Our research is presented in the paper and slides below.
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Concepts
- Reverse engineering: A strategy used to find answers to questions about an existing product that are used in the design of another product.
- Invention: Design work that results in something unique or novel
- Innovation: Process of improving or modifying an existing product
- Teardown: Dissembling and sketching
- Functional Analysis: how the object works and the mechanical systems
- Structural Analysis: how the object is put together and the principles of mechanics and material properties
- Material Analysis: Materials used and why those materials were used
- Manufacturing Analysis: How the product was made and produced
Reflection
Overall, I enjoyed this project because I always question how things are made when I look at them. This project gave me the opportunity to answer my questions and further my knowledge about how solar toys work. I enjoyed taking the object apart and being able to research each piece and find out how it was made and how it works in the object.
My team and I worked well together and we were able to find a lot of information on our toy. Although we found plenty of information, it was difficult to research the toy itself because it was a discontinued dollar tree item. We did find that it was the cheaper knock off of a toy called Flip Flap but because it was a cheaper knock off, the paten was not available to us in English. Another part of the project that we could have worked on more was adding the sketches to the presentation to show how the object worked better. We also could have added a ruler next to the images to show measurements. Aside from those setbacks, we were able to work well together to find as much information and to understand it as well as we could. We each assigned different tasks and timelines to each person in order to keep us on track. We added all the timelines and tasks into a Gantt chart. This chart told us how many days we had to finish each task. If we had questions or needed help researching something another person in the team would lend a hand and help the other person out.
My team and I worked well together and we were able to find a lot of information on our toy. Although we found plenty of information, it was difficult to research the toy itself because it was a discontinued dollar tree item. We did find that it was the cheaper knock off of a toy called Flip Flap but because it was a cheaper knock off, the paten was not available to us in English. Another part of the project that we could have worked on more was adding the sketches to the presentation to show how the object worked better. We also could have added a ruler next to the images to show measurements. Aside from those setbacks, we were able to work well together to find as much information and to understand it as well as we could. We each assigned different tasks and timelines to each person in order to keep us on track. We added all the timelines and tasks into a Gantt chart. This chart told us how many days we had to finish each task. If we had questions or needed help researching something another person in the team would lend a hand and help the other person out.