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Engineering Design Process. Agenda. General Considerations Engineering Design Process Overview Step 1 - State the Problem Step 2 - Generate Ideas Step 3 - Select a Solution Step 4 - Build the Item Step 5 - Evaluate Step 6 - Present Results Final Thoughts Question.
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Agenda • General Considerations • Engineering Design Process Overview • Step 1 - State the Problem • Step 2 - Generate Ideas • Step 3 - Select a Solution • Step 4 - Build the Item • Step 5 - Evaluate • Step 6 - Present Results • Final Thoughts • Question
General Considerations The idea of the engineering design process is that it is a methodical and structured way of approaching a problem to reach an acceptable solution. There are many variations to the layout, but they are generally similiar in the approach. The version this pitch will use is utilized by NASA for student competitions.
Engineering Design Process Overview 1. State the Problem 2. Generate Ideas 3. Select a Solution 4. Build the Item 5. Evaluate 6. Present Results
Engineer Design Process OverviewStep 1 - State the Problem This purpose of this step is to do the following: • Explain the problem • Explain the guidelines • Set goals or desired results.
Engineer Design Process OverviewStep 2 - Generate Ideas The Goal during this phase is to collect as many ideas as possible. Make a list of possible solutions and explain them. No ideas get criticized or thrown out during this phase. Often the least probably of ideas can contribute to a truely breakthrough design. The rule for this phase, there is no such thing as a bad idea.
Engineer Design Process OverviewStep 3 - Select a Solution During this stage, you start to evaluate the ideas. The first thing you should do is establish the requirements, then characteristics your design should meet. Each characteristic should then be weighted based on its importance. You can then utilize a Decision Matrix to determine the most useable solution. This is also where you would start to experiment with the designs, often building prototypes of your best 2 to 3 options to harvest the best characteristics of each. Leaving this phase, you should have a solid concept of what you will design.
Engineer Design Process OverviewStep 4 - Build the Item In a true engineering design, this is where you would build up your design and prototype. In the manufacturing world, the delieverable is generally the Specification Control Document (SCD) that tell manufacturing how to manufacture the design. The prototype is an initial tool for helping with the evaluation. For the FRC, we generally focus on the prototype.
Engineer Design Process OverviewStep 5 - Evaluate In this phase, you begin testing your prototype for performance attributes versus your requirements and the characteristics you deemed important. Generally in the engineering design process, this evaluation will lead you to loop back and rework portions of your design to try and optimize the performance. During the evaluation, your focus is on determining how the design performs versus the criteria, at this point you aren't solving problems. A word of caution, trying to solve issues encountered during this phase can often cause you to miss other items. This can come back to haunt you down the road.
Engineer Design Process OverviewStep 6 - Present Results The final outcome of any engineering design is the sharing of information. In a typical industry design, this comes in the form a delieverable like the Specification Control Documents, Engineering Drawings, Manufacturing Plans, or Wiring Diagrams. It can also be in the form of a working prototype, though this is not preferred as it does not tell you how the item is made.
Final Thoughts A few final thoughts on Engineering Design. • KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid, simple designs are more reliable and less prone to failure than complex designs. Never add a joint you don't need or an unneeded part. • Murphy's Law - Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong at the worst possible moment. See KISS. • There is never enough time, the engineering design process is a loop. You never finish you only run out of time, so time management is critical. • Have Fun, engineering can be an exciting and rewarding area if you let it.
