Blog Entry 7

owell, its been long, and now I'm back with my last blog entry :) 

In week 14, Dr Noel shared with us the design specifications as well as the presentation requirements. 

Here are some of the pointers he shared with us: 

• Design specification table → how will it be relevant & suit the user 

• Quantitative value → allow us to measure success (eg: the size must not exceed a certain dimension or a certain mass)

• What the final build should achieve (not HOW)

• What is a prototype? → simple experimental model of the product

Task: create a design specification table for chemical product idea

• What this product should be in terms of functionality and look → How we think it will be?
• Create a low fidelity prototype using cardboard, as it is easy to shape and make changes → Fidelity: Level of detail and functionality included in the prototype
• Low level of detail, low level of functionality

The prototype has to:

• Show how the user interact with the product
• Feature a mechanism that enhance chemical engineering principle
• Sturdy enough

After this short briefing, my group went on to decide with the criteria for our product! 

This is the result of our discussion: 

aspect	Specification (or quality)	Quantitative value
Physical	Lightweight	<650g
	Compact	20cm x 10cm x 10cm
	Easy to carry	-
Functional	Water resistant	IP67
	Minimal set up time	<20 seconds
	Substantial Operation Time	Up to 90 days
	Easy to use	-
Others	Inexpensive	Under $10
	Ease of fabrication	-
	Range of scents	-

Also, we decided that we use gears in our product, for the closing function. 

After we came up with the table, we moved on to the final and most important part of creating our product - PROTOTYPING!!!!! Honestly, I think words can't really explain what we did, so I'll just let the pictures do the talking, as we know, a picture speaks a thousand words right? 

So, to start off, we cut, cut and cut......

Klinton making the gear 

Fion cutting the slider

while I cut the walls! 😀

Yay, after about 45 mins, we finall cut out everything! 

After cutting, we assembled the various parts together! 

Putting the walls together... 

Assembling the gears together

And yes, after assembling, here comes the final prototype (insert self made bgm while inserting the pic)

To better illustrate how the gears work, here's a video! 

Now we have our prototype, the embedded design can be accessed by clicking on this link

ANDDDD with this, we are done with our prototype of our product. This is not the end, but the start of something greater. 

Completing this prototype also marks the end of ICPD, lemme share my story in this module. 

As a person who never really liked designing and group work, I really did not look forward to this module. As the weeks go by, this module allowed me to see the other side of myself through skills like Fusion360, 3D Printing, Idea development etc. In my 18 years of existence, I did not realise that I had creativity, as I tend to limit myself to things that I already know. Through the various practicals and groupwork sessions, I enjoyed working in a group slightly more, though I still feel abit weird sometimes. I am really grateful to all the people I have worked with in this module, some are new experiences, while there are some that I've worked together previously in other modules. The real constants are Clive, Klinton and Fion. Through the semester, I really understood what it means by teamwork makes the dream work. I have never imagined how our group dynamics will be, and it turns out real good (not praising ourselves, i'm serious). We learnt together and created together, our prototype will not be what it is without all 4 of us. Thanks yalls😀. And also thanks for following my ICPD journey, I'll be back next semester!