Product Design Specification Report

Air Movement Device – “Flat Fan”

Winter 2009

Prepared for

Intel Corporation Group

Prepared by

Brass SearsForrest HublerRobert GassoScott Clark

With assistance from

Portland State University AdvisorDr. Chien Wern

Intel Corporation AdvisorJered Wikander, with the Mobile Platforms Group

IntroductionIntel Corporation is the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturer and the inventor of

the x86 microprocessor which is found in most of the world’s personal computers. Within Intel, the Mobile Platforms Group is responsible for investigating and developing promising new technologies specifically for implementation in mobile electronic devices such as laptop computers and handheld electronic devices which encompass an ever increasing role in world-wide computer sales.

As manufacturers seek to decrease the size of electronic devices without decreasing their performance, the need for smaller components grows. Especially important is any technology that facilitates the cooling of these components within the device. Desktop PC’s and many larger electronic devices use relatively large axial fans that can sit vertically due to few size constraints. As computers decrease in size, and specifically thickness, radial fans or blowers that have been flattened are used to move air and cool through convection. Currently, some of these miniature blowers have a footprint of less than a dime and operate in a space 6mm thick. Blowers can be made increasingly smaller (see Figures 1 and 2), but the technology is primitive and the efficiency is static.

Figures 2, 3: Examples of current small scale blowers used in electronic devices.

Intel is actively exploring new methods of air movement on an even smaller scale. The goal of this project is to produce an air moving device that that fits into a space 3mm thick space, with limited decrease in air volume transport, air speed, and pressure with respect to current technology.

Explanation of This DocumentThis product design specification report defines the criteria and the considerations given

to design of an air movement device. This document represents the customer base for this fan technology and the teams overall objectives.

Mission StatementOur mission is to design and manufacture a miniature air-moving device that produces

maximum airflow and satisfies all size and pressure requirements set forth by Intel.

Completion Date

Our team is expected to deliver and present a fully functional prototype on or before June 1, 2009. The prototype shall be presented with accompanying documentation, including cost analysis, detailed design process/analysis, and appropriate drawings. The prototype and documentation shall be presented to both PSU and the teams contact engineer with Intel, Jered Wikander.

Project Plan

The process is as follows: Write PDS, Research, Brainstorm, Evaluate, Detail Design, Prototype, and Document. Major milestones and completion dates for the project are:

February 9, 2009 - Concept Evaluation

March 2, 2009 - Progress Report

April 27, 2009 - Prototype Completion

June 8, 2009 – Presentation to PSU and Sponsors

A detailed Gantt Chart is presented in Appendix A.

Customer IdentificationThe external customers for this project are Intel and the buyers and consumers of Intel’s products. The following is a list of the customers within Intel:

Accounting Purchasing Manufacturing Maintenance Quality Control-Quality Assurance Legal

The internal customers of this project are Intel’s Mobile Platform Research and Development division, Intel’s Sponsor Jered Wikander, PSU’s capstone faculty advisor Dr. Chien Wern, and PSU’s capstone instructor/director Dr. Faryar Etesami as well as the Flat Fan Capstone team.

Customer Interviews and FeedbackThe team has had two interviews and a tour of the Mobile Platform Group’s lab with

Intel Engineer and project sponsor Jered Wikander. During the meetings Jered emphasized that Intel was interested in exploring new or creative methods of air movement. The meetings clarified the intended use of the device as a stand-alone technology with direct application and manufacturing details to be determined by Intel at a later time. The absence of specific implementation led to the division of parameters into flexible and inflexible categories. The bulk of both meetings concentrated on this flexibility and determined targets for this project. Inflexible specifications, which were set by Intel through benchmarking tests on existing technologies, include the 3mm thickness requirement and air flow parameters. Flexible specifications, such as available and required power, footprint area, service life, and nominal operating conditions were assigned values for the purpose of this project, however, it was agreed that these targets might be adjusted in the event of a promising design that was limited by a parameter not associated with thickness or air flow. In addition, it was determined that certain aspects of the design could be ignored such as magnetic and electric fields which would be addressed in packaging methods by Intel or other manufacturers.

In the lab, the team was able to inspect many blowers of comparable size and scale. At the testing facility, Jered demonstrated the equipment and benchmarking methods used by Intel which would be available to the team for production and testing. The team also shared some of the early brainstorming ideas, in which Jered expressed interest and provided some possible direction and insight.

Product Design SpecificationsThis project has four main design goals to achieve. These goals are as follows: air

volume transport, air speed, air pressure, and housing space. Each of these requirements is of the highest priority to our customers. Lower priority goals represent the flexible specifications assigned by Intel and the team.

Figure 3: PDS Chart

•••• Highest Priority in design

•••  

••  

• Lowest Priority in design

Category Requirement Priority * Metric Target Customer Verification

Performance            

  Air volume transport ••••

actual cubic feet per minute

(acfm)

0.01-0.1 acfm INTEL Testing

  Air speed ••••meters / second (m/s)

0.1-1 m/s INTEL Testing

  Air pressure ••••inches of

water (IWG)

0.01-0.05 IWG INTEL Testing

  Thickness •••• mm 3mm INTEL Prototype

  Power supply ••• volts less than or equal to 20V (laptop battery) INTEL Prototype

  Service life ••• years 7 yrs INTEL Design

 Nominal operating conditions

•••Degrees Celsius

and humidity

Indoor ambient conditions INTEL Testing

  Footprint area ••• mm within 200 x 300 mm INTEL Design

Figure 3: PDS continued

Category Requirement Priority * Metric Target Custome

rVerificatio

nEnvironment            

 Extreme operating conditions

•• Degrees Celsius Up to 95° C INTEL Testing

  Durability •• shock able to withstand 3 foot drop INTEL Testing

  Safety •Safety during

Installation/ Service

No sharp points or edges. All electrical meets UL and safety

codes.

Installer/ INTEL Prototype

Adaptability            

 ability to use in a variety of form functions

••• Yes/No able to adapt without significant redesign INTEL Design

Maintenance            

 

Ability to repair or replace mechanical parts

•ease of

access to mechanica

l parts

Must be able to access if service life is

determined to be less than 7 years

INTEL Design

Manufacturing/ Installation            

  Cost •• Dollars between 2-5 for 20,000 units INTEL Design

  installation •• time Time to install falls within cost requirements INTEL Design

  manufacturing •• time Manufacturing falls within cost requirements INTEL Design

Materials            

  nothig toxic or exotic •• expense

and safetyMust meet design cost

requirements INTEL Design

House of Quality:

A House of Quality table lists engineering metrics listed in the PDS section of this document with measurable values. Once the design is completed, a prototype will be tested against the House of Quality. In this way, the project team may verify the success of the design.

    Engineering Parameters

  acfm m/s IWG mm V ° C years $/20,000 units

Requirements Customer                Air volume transport INTEL

0.01 - 0.1              

Air velocity INTEL  0.1 - 1.0            

Air pressure INTEL    0.01 - 0.05          

Thickness INTEL       3        

Power supply INTEL         ≤ 20      

Footprint area INTEL       ≤ 200x300        Operating conditions INTEL          

20 - 95    

Service life INTEL             7  

Cost INTEL               $2-5

Priority LegendHigh priority  

   Lower priority  

Conclusions:The project team’s objective is to design and prototype an air moving device that

provides air flow comparable to currently available devices and fits within a space 3mm high. The projects challenge will be to prototype a device that meets the inflexible parameters identified in the PDS while achieving or exceeding the more flexible parameters assigned as targets for the team. Intel’s challenge for the team is to meet these requirements with the development of new and creative technology. A successfully designed miniature device could result in smaller PDA’s, thinner notebook computers and televisions.

Appendix A: Gantt Chart