Creative Engineering Design: THE KNOT KNOB
OVERVIEW:
Our Creative Engineering Design project was incredibly vague. We started by just getting a problem. Our problem was that people's shoelaces come untied. Then, we had to do something about it. And that was where the problems started.
While other groups had problems like "redesign the zoo" or "cure world hunger," we had the most difficult one: stop shoelaces from becoming untied. Some thought our project was "petty," or "not helpful to the world at large," or even "incredibly boring and dumb," but we showed them. We showed them all. I don't see anybody that cured world hunger getting their own parade dedicated to how useful and amazing their solution was, because that's what happened to us! Beat that!
Our Creative Engineering Design project was incredibly vague. We started by just getting a problem. Our problem was that people's shoelaces come untied. Then, we had to do something about it. And that was where the problems started.
While other groups had problems like "redesign the zoo" or "cure world hunger," we had the most difficult one: stop shoelaces from becoming untied. Some thought our project was "petty," or "not helpful to the world at large," or even "incredibly boring and dumb," but we showed them. We showed them all. I don't see anybody that cured world hunger getting their own parade dedicated to how useful and amazing their solution was, because that's what happened to us! Beat that!
Okay, in all seriousness, this was a difficult project. First, we had no idea what we would even DO to fix the problem of shoelaces coming untied. We couldn't make a special shoe OR laces, because we didn't have the materials or expertise. So we eventually had to invent a cinching mechanism to hold the laces in place.
CONCEPTS:
There really weren't any physics concepts in designing a shoe knob, so I guess I'll just talk about the Engineering Design Cycle.
STEPS:
Step One: IDENTIFY THE NEED (Figure out what the heck you're doing)
This step involves you identify what you're trying to fix. In our case, it was shoelaces coming untied.
Step Two: RESEARCH THE PROBLEM (Get a clue)
This step requires you to gain information on your topic. For us, this mostly involved scouring the internet for shoe-related articles. And boy, you would be surprised by the amount of absurd, awkward, and oftentimes hilarious shoe websites out there. I think my favorite was Shoelacesexpress.com. Yeah, they really didn't think about what their website name would look like without the spaces...
Step Three: DEVELOP POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS (Terrible prototypes)
In this step, you ram your head at a wall to see if it breaks. Basically, come up with a bunch of terrible ideas.
Step Four: FIND THE MOST PROMISING SOLUTION (The one that doesn't suck)
Find a plan that could actually work. Preferably one that does not involve bird feathers. I'm looking at you, Pokie.
Step Five: BUILD A PROTOTYPE (Put your materials where your mouth is)
Construct (or in our case, 3D print) your design, or at least a small model of it. Try to see how each piece works together.
Step Six: TEST AND EVALUATE THE PROTOTYPE (You built the one that doesn't suck, right? No? Uh oh.)
Test the prototype for problems. There are usually a lot.
Step Seven: COMMUNICATE THE DESIGN (Stop speaking gibberish)
Tell people what you got wrong. Tell people how you got it wrong. Tell people what you were trying to do.
Step Eight: REDESIGN (Ctrl+Z)
Try, try again.
There really weren't any physics concepts in designing a shoe knob, so I guess I'll just talk about the Engineering Design Cycle.
STEPS:
Step One: IDENTIFY THE NEED (Figure out what the heck you're doing)
This step involves you identify what you're trying to fix. In our case, it was shoelaces coming untied.
Step Two: RESEARCH THE PROBLEM (Get a clue)
This step requires you to gain information on your topic. For us, this mostly involved scouring the internet for shoe-related articles. And boy, you would be surprised by the amount of absurd, awkward, and oftentimes hilarious shoe websites out there. I think my favorite was Shoelacesexpress.com. Yeah, they really didn't think about what their website name would look like without the spaces...
Step Three: DEVELOP POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS (Terrible prototypes)
In this step, you ram your head at a wall to see if it breaks. Basically, come up with a bunch of terrible ideas.
Step Four: FIND THE MOST PROMISING SOLUTION (The one that doesn't suck)
Find a plan that could actually work. Preferably one that does not involve bird feathers. I'm looking at you, Pokie.
Step Five: BUILD A PROTOTYPE (Put your materials where your mouth is)
Construct (or in our case, 3D print) your design, or at least a small model of it. Try to see how each piece works together.
Step Six: TEST AND EVALUATE THE PROTOTYPE (You built the one that doesn't suck, right? No? Uh oh.)
Test the prototype for problems. There are usually a lot.
Step Seven: COMMUNICATE THE DESIGN (Stop speaking gibberish)
Tell people what you got wrong. Tell people how you got it wrong. Tell people what you were trying to do.
Step Eight: REDESIGN (Ctrl+Z)
Try, try again.
REFLECTION:
I feel like i learned a lot during this assignment. I learned that when there was a vacuum of authority, and nobody was doing anything, I had to become a team leader and get everyone going. I also learned that sometimes people need to goof off a bit in order to let it all out and become more focused. However, I could have done better at the leadership role. I often let the group get too far off task, which is most certainly a bad thing. Also, I could have done better in time management, as we were still coming up with ideas while we were going up to present.
PEAKS:
I think the most major peak was when we finally decided on our knot-shaped design. We had spent way too much time hypothesizing about what we could do to make a shoelace or even a full shoe. When we realized all of that was unnecessary, it was a huge relief. Another peak, while not as productive, was certainly funny. It was when we surfed the internet for shoelace sites. Some of them were hilarious, some were helpful, and some were huge. I had no idea there was such an underground shoelace subculture.
PITS:
There were, however, quite a few pits. Most of these pits fall into a category: distraction. While it could be fun, it was terrible when everyone got completely off task. Eventually, I would have to round everyone back in. Luckily, we were able to overcome those distractions and present a finished product.
I feel like i learned a lot during this assignment. I learned that when there was a vacuum of authority, and nobody was doing anything, I had to become a team leader and get everyone going. I also learned that sometimes people need to goof off a bit in order to let it all out and become more focused. However, I could have done better at the leadership role. I often let the group get too far off task, which is most certainly a bad thing. Also, I could have done better in time management, as we were still coming up with ideas while we were going up to present.
PEAKS:
I think the most major peak was when we finally decided on our knot-shaped design. We had spent way too much time hypothesizing about what we could do to make a shoelace or even a full shoe. When we realized all of that was unnecessary, it was a huge relief. Another peak, while not as productive, was certainly funny. It was when we surfed the internet for shoelace sites. Some of them were hilarious, some were helpful, and some were huge. I had no idea there was such an underground shoelace subculture.
PITS:
There were, however, quite a few pits. Most of these pits fall into a category: distraction. While it could be fun, it was terrible when everyone got completely off task. Eventually, I would have to round everyone back in. Luckily, we were able to overcome those distractions and present a finished product.