Xtreme Robot OlympiadThe Design Process

Dr. Peter Laz Associate Professor

Department of EngineeringUniversity of Denver

Outline

• Design Process

• What makes a good design?

• Engineering Specification• Objective• Constraints• Goals

• Example

• Exercises

Design Process• Given a Request for Proposal (RFP)• Formulate Engineering Specifications (ES)• Brainstorm conceptual designs• Evaluate conceptual designs

• Preliminary analysis and qualitative evaluations (plus/minus, feasibility)

• Select design concept• Develop a final design

• Subsystem Design and Analysis • Structural analysis, power consumption, programming memory

• Synthesize a prototype • Component selection, fabrication, integration

• Test and evaluate

Who is interested in your product?

Design Team

Users/ Customers

Management

What is a good design?

• A good design is one that satisfies its design requirements

http://www.enm.bris.ac.uk/research/nonlinear/tacoma/tacoma.htmlwww.apple.com, www.toyota.com

Engineering Specifications

• Quantifiable description of a feature or measure • Used to guide decisions in the design process• Also referred to as Design Requirements

• Forms the basis of a contract• Payment occurs when the product meets the

requirements

Engineering Specifications

• Objective – statement of the purpose of the design

• Constraint – a target specification that is fixed or rigid

• Goal – a target specification that is desirable • Softer than a constraint• What are the consequences of failing to meet the

goal?

Engineering Specifications

• Specifications must be quantitative whenever possible • The design should look cool.

• Constraint• The design must successfully perform the

task.

• Goal• The design should have a suspension.

ExampleExample

1. How is the ladder to be used?2. How high should someone on the ladder be able

to reach?3. How much weight should a safe ladder support?4. Should the ladder be portable?5. How does one define safe?6. How much should it cost?7. Will the ladder be made of wood, aluminum

or fiberglass?8. How many steps are there on the ladder?9. How are the steps attached to the frame?

You are tasked with designing a safe ladder.You are tasked with designing a safe ladder. What questions come to mind? What questions come to mind?

Common Specifications

• Performance/Function

• Ergonomics

• Size

• Weight

• Cost

• Manufacturing

• Usability

Ladder - Engineering Specification

Objective: To design a ladder that …

Contraints:

• The ladder must …

Goals:

• The ladder should …

Qualitative +/- Studies

Category Category

Weight

Design

Alternative

1

Design

Alternative

2

Design

Alternative

3

Stability

Weight

Cost

Manufacturing

Total

Exercise

• Work within your groups to complete the exercise

• Gain design approval from a TA or Teacher

• Get your kit and begin construction

Exercise

• Develop an engineering specification for your soccer-bot• Objective• Constraints• Goals

• Brainstorming for your soccer-bot• Each team member should develop at least 3

conceptual designs

• Receive +3 points if you perform a +/- analysis

Design Modifications

• Has your team considered…• the different driving modes?

tank versus arcade• lowering your center of gravity?• Using truss members to create a strong

structures?• both offensive and defensive strategies?

Soccer Match

• 5 minute matches (double whistle)• 90 sec Driver 1• 15 sec Driver switch• 90 sec Driver 2• 15 sec Driver switch• 90 sec Driver 3

• Single whistle – foul (10 second penalty) • Unsafe behavior• Driving early or late