Project Overview Structural part Introduction Laser cutting & forming Model Making Designing & Developing Manufacturing Building & Analysing

LESSON 04

Lesson 04 Starter Learning objective: Consider ways in which products can be developed and redesigned beyond form and function, analysed an existing developed idea for reasons why it is improved, developed your own solution with your own focus Quick Starter task: The “metal” part of the claw, replicated in acrylic, is made from two identical parts which sit atop one another. Redesign these parts into one single component that could be fabricated out of sheet material and formed into the shape required so that the claw can be assembled the same. Key words: CAD, Library, heat processes, acrylic, MDF, profile, forming.

Designing and Developing In this session, you are going to redesign and develop robot parts to make them more …… (insert focus here) Part of good design and engineering, is not settling for the first solution you imagine, but considering if it could be improved. This may be aesthetically, i.e. making the product look better, or it may be functionally, i.e. making it perform better. Form and Function often form a focus for development, but you can develop your product in other ways. For example: redesigning the product to be easier to make? In pairs, brainstorm as many different reasons for redesigning and developing a product. (Hint: consider ACCESSFM as a starting point) IDEA

Designing and Developing Example of redesign for easier manufacture Your task today is to redesign and develop a Clawbot, with a focus that you have decided on. In this example, the focus was on making the manufacture of the robot easier for the builder. Question: How have the parts of the clawbot been redesigned and developed to make manufacture easier?

Designing and Developing Example of redesign for easier manufacture The answer was of course that the parts had been redesigned in CAD software so that only the required holes were cut from the sheet material. In this way, parts could be assembled much quicker and easier because parts located to one another with no option to place them in alternative positions. Question: Is this a good development or a bad development Debate for 1 minute with your partner before sharing your idea with the class.

Designing and Developing Example of redesign for easier manufacture Without realising it, one of the unanticipated changes to the manufacture of the robot was in the forming of the parts with heat. Due to the reduction in holes, the material warps and deforms less when heated. This is because when the material is heated, the material can more uniformly heat and the stresses in the material are less, making it deform unfavourably, less. This was a happy accident but also results in the product being easier to manufacture. Less deforming & Less warping

Designing and Developing Your turn Task: Using which ever method you want to communicate your idea, your task is to redesign and redevelop the Clawbot parts to make the product better. The focus is completely your choice, but when finished, you must be able to articulate why it is better as an argument. As part of the end of this lesson, you will have a “crit”, a critique of your work by your peers (a very common approach used in design degree courses to evaluate the work each student produces) Choices for presenting your idea are: 1. Sketching the idea 2. Modelling the idea in car 3. Create CAD visuals to present the idea

Lesson 04 Plenary As a class, let us consider the following questions? A. Why might a company only focus on the redesign of a products form, and not its function? B. What examples are there of a product who’s form does not develop, but its function does? C. Why could ease of manufacture be important to companies when looking at reducing cost? D. Who should be involved in the redesign and redevelopment of a product each time it is changed?

Summary Today you have: Learning objective: Consider ways in which products can be developed and redesigned beyond form and function, analysed an existing developed idea for reasons why it is improved, developed your own solution with your own focus Today you have: Considered a clawbot that has been redesigned focusing on manufacture Learnt that there are more ways to develop an idea beyond form and function Analysed an improved design before redesigning and developing your own.