Intro to Engineering Design

Ram Pillai 1A Liberty High School

Assignment: Make a puzzle cube with 5 different coloured parts. No parts can have the same shape. The parts cannot be in the shape of an L, square, or rectangle.

What I learned: This was my first project on Inventor so I learned how to make objects, put them in drawing files, and assemble them together. I also made the puzzle cube in real life, both with coloured cubes and wood cubes I had to glue together.

What I need to work on: The objects I made were basic and mostly rectangular, so I needed to work on making more complex objects. Also, I needed some help assembling the objects properly so I needed to work on that too.

Ram Pillai 1A Liberty High School

Assignment: Draw a multiview of the shapes given, then model the objects in inventor.

What I learned: I learned how to model more advanced objects in inventor and draw them too.

What I need to work on: My circular and cylindrical drawings weren't perfect. Also, my dimensioning in Inventor wasn't completely accurate as well/ I need to work on these two things.

Ram Pillai 1A Liberty High School

Assignment: Measure parts of a coffee maker with a dial caliper and reverse engineer them on Inventor. Also, make a poster explaining the functional and visual design of the coffee maker.

What I learned: I learned about how functional and visual design works, and I used it on a real-world object. I learned about the RE black box and I learned how to measure objects with the dial caliper.

What I need to work on: I need more practice with the dial caliper since I had trouble with it. I also didn't manage to finish part 9 so next time I should probably choose simpler parts or make the part quicker. Also, I need to fix some grammar and punctuation mistakes on my posters.

Ram Pillai 1A Liberty High School

Assignment: Design a box with objects according to a theme that moves up and down when the handle is moved. The objects must be moved by cams.

Design Process: First I looked at the design brief to see what the problem I had to fix was. Then, I drew concepts for the cams. Afterward, I made the Automata Box, tested it by driving the axle, and got feedback on what to improve. Finally, I presented my solution with the final drawing file with each part shown. Some steps of the design process weren't applicable here since we already knew what to do and we weren't making it physically.

What I learned: I learned how to constrain objects so they can move together and how to drive the constrain. I used joint for the first time. I learned how to draw complex shapes like pears and snails, which I used again in my Millennium Falcon. I also learned what cams are and how and what they are used for.

What I need to work on: I should have capitalized the entire parts list. I had a lot of trouble constraining the cams, followers, and axle handle so I need more practice on stuff similar to that. I feel like the size of my objects was a bit too small and they could be scaled better to how they would have been in the movie.

Ram Pillai 1A Liberty High School

Assignment: Create parts of a lightsaber from the dimensions given and then assemble them together and add a blade.

What I learned: I took my learning of the materials given in Inventor one step forward as I used new materials for all the parts. I also learned how to approximate dimensions, when they are not given, from other dimensions. In this project, I found out how to add trapeziums onto a cylinder and I used the mirror feature for the first time in a project.

What I need to work on: It took me a long time to do part 4, so I could have asked for help or looked it up earlier. Also, I'm not sure if all of my dimensions were exactly correct. Mostly, I need to work on the pacing of the project.

Ram Pillai 1A Liberty High School

Assignment: Design and create a cardboard chair for Elementary school students.

What I learned: I used a design matrix for the first time and learned how to narrow down my ideas to the best one. This was also my first construction project, and I learned how to efficiently use the cardboard. I also learned how to find good inspirations for my design and improve on my prototype. During this project, I improved my teamwork as well when we worked on partner checkpoints. It was really helpful to have to do the presentation, which improved my speaking skills. Overall, I really enjoyed this project and especially the freedom we were given for designing our chair. Finding my favorite design for the chair was the highlight of the project for me.

What I need to work on: I need to remember to spell check and double-check all of the work that is submitted, even if my partner was responsible for it. To improve my project, I would have added more inserts to the final chair to add extra stability.

Ram Pillai 1A Liberty High School

Assignment: Using a one-point perspective, complete the other half of the street scene.

What I learned: I learned how to use one and two-point perspective sketching, which significantly improved my drawing skills.

What I need to work on: I need to improve my circle drawing skills, because currently it looks wonky and misshapen.