GE 121 – Engineering Design Engineering Design GE121 Finding Answers to the Problem Part VI Lecture 13A
GE 121 – Engineering Design Quiz 4 / Project Milestones Expect Quiz 4 at any time Up to, but NOT including Lecture 7 Project Milestone By the end of this week you should have generated 4 alternatives that meet all constraints (3 or 4 if there are only 3 members in your group)
GE 121 – Engineering Design Prototypes, Models & Proofs of Concept Important in evaluating / extending designs Some important terms include: Prototypes Original models on which something is patterned Usually full scale versions of a new design Usually tested in the environment in which they must perform (example – airplane) Models Miniature representations of something (including possibly a computer model) They represent the end design, but may not scale exactly to it
GE 121 – Engineering Design Prototypes, Models & Proofs of Concept (continued) Proof of Concept Use of a Prototype, Model or other representation to demonstrate that a design concept can be made to work in the intended fashion Proof of Concept often comes in seemingly modest terms, and need not capture the full set of demands of a working version of the design
GE 121 – Engineering Design Models & Prototypes are NOT the Same Thing A Prototype is the first of a kind Tested in Real environment Example - Real plane, flown in airspace A Model is a representation of the thing Tested in Controlled environment Example - Model flown in wind tunnel
GE 121 – Engineering Design When Do We Build a Prototype? Cost and scale are among the key factors in deciding between models and prototypes Airplanes versus Tall buildings Airplanes – Commonly prototyped Chance of catastrophic failure of a purely paper design is still quite high Many copies of it will be made Tall Buildings – Rarely if ever prototyped Still potential for failure, but very rare Typically only one copy will be built If Prototype is cheap & easy, good idea to build
GE 121 – Engineering Design Testing Prototypes, Models & Concepts Testing of designed systems usually involves Proof of Concept testing Proof of Concept example Alexander Graham Bell – summons assistant in Lab to prove concept of telephone Proof of Concept Requires Skill and Judgment in determining what to test and how to test it In many cases, a simple relatively inexpensive test may be used to prove the initial concept In others a complex mockup is required
GE 121 – Engineering Design Managing Generation/Selection of Design Alternatives Useful to remember that the generation and evaluation of alternatives includes many tasks and demands Also useful for the team to review some of its earlier work during these activities, including those shown in the following sections
GE 121 – Engineering Design Task Management Team should review the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), and the Linear Responsibility Chart (LRC), to determine if any new tasks have emerged Of particular interest are tasks related to Testing and Proof of Concept work
GE 121 – Engineering Design Scheduling Team should update schedule during this phase Probably several times As team learns that some activities require more or less time than originally expected
GE 121 – Engineering Design Budgeting Team should revisit budget Insure that necessary resources are available to complete testing and evaluation of alternatives
GE 121 – Engineering Design Monitoring Progress Should be done at each meeting! How team is performing relative to the plan What adjustments are required