Engineering Design Process An Algorithm

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.   The engineering design process is a methodical and structured approach to solving a problem.   You will see different variations of this process if you search online, the main difference being in the final steps. This version is one NASA uses for its 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 Overview Step 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 Overview Step 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 Overview Step 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 Overview Step 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 Overview Step 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 Overview Step 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.

Questions for review What is the purpose of following a design process Provides of a methodical and systematic process of solving problems. Helps by keeping focus and not missing critical points. Name the six steps of design State the problem Generate ideas Select an idea Build the item Test and evaluate Communicate results What are the purposes of stating the problem Explain the problem Explain the guidelines (criteria and constraints) Set Goals for desired outcome and success

Review continued Explain the process of generating ideas Collecting as many ideas as possible is the goal of this step. Process is done through teamwork and brainstorming. No idea is bad idea. This step is not to critique ideas but to gather. What is happening in the step of evaluating ideas? In this step you begin to evaluate all the ideas collected. The team takes all ideas and compares them to the needs of the problem and whether the idea will meet the goals set in step one. Sketches play a key role in this step. This step narrows down all ideas down to a solution idea that seems to be the best.

Review Continued What is the is happening in step 4 – building the object The idea selected from step 3 and the sketches are incorporated into a testable prototype. As the build takes place changes will occur. That is to be expected. This is why prototypes are built and designs are modified before testing. What is happening in step 5 – Evaluation and testing Once an idea is selected and built it must be tested extensively to determine full functionality. Many times failures don’t show up until the product has been exhaustively tested…even to destruction. The purpose is to test for performance related to criteria. This time is not to solve problems. If problems occur it is time to go back to step 3 and 4 to re-evaluate and rebuild the prototype.

Review continued What is happening in step 6 – presenting results Here the design team is confident that the product has met the criteria of problem and is a safe and functional product. Results are usually presented in the form of manufacturing plans, testing results, engineering drawings and reports on the design process. From here the product is marketed if a intended for public use or becomes a manufactured product if used in other industry. The engineering design process is a loop. What does that tell us about time used. You finish a design you only hope to be at a point of delivery when time runs out.

Review Continued What does the term KISS stand for in engineering? Keep it simple stupid. Work to keep designs simple. Solve problems don’t engineer over them. What does “Murphy’s Law” say? If it can go wrong it will. So look at designs to find a areas that can go wrong and eliminate these areas.