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Unit 6: Reverse Engineering
Unit 6: Reverse Engineering
Preface
Through reverse engineering, all aspects of a product can be analyzed. Reverse engineering can provide important information about products when documentation is not available. The information gathered can help designers improve the product or manufacturing process, provide interoperability between existing and new products, or provide information on competitor products.
In this unit you will have an opportunity to reverse engineer a product by analyzing the product’s function, structure, and visual elements.
Unit 6 Knowledge and Skills
Unit 6 Knowledge and Skills
(In previous years, Unit 6 represented 10% of the PLTW End of Course Assessment)
- Students will be able to:
K1 – Identify and describe the visual principles and elements of design apparent in a natural or man-made object.
K2 – Describe the process of reverse engineering.
K3 – Explain the various reasons to perform reverse engineering (including 6.3 Functional Analysis and Reverse engineering)
S1 – Explain how the visual elements and principles of design affect the aesthetics and commercial success of a product.
S2 – Perform a functional analysis of a product in order to determine the purpose, inputs and outputs, and the operation of a product or system.
S3 – Perform a structural analysis of a product in order to determine the materials used and the form of component parts as well as the configuration and interaction of component parts when assembled (if applicable).
S4 – Select and utilize technology (software and hardware) to create high impact visual aids.
Subunits covered:
6.1 Identifying Principles and Elements of Design
6.1 Identifying Principles and Elements of Design
1st home assignment - given Monday, March 16th..........Activity 6.1 Visual Design Principles and Elements Identification
The purpose of this assignment is to raise your level of observation and be able to analyze how elements of design are designed to create a dynamic and aesthetically pleasing shape.
- Watch the PLTW powerpoint/pdf explaining the Elements and Principles of Design (6_1_A_ElementsPrinciplesofDesign.pdf attachment in Google Classroom)
- find an item that you want to observe and analyze in your house or on the internet. Take a photo or capture a screenshot.
- Open the 6.1 assignment in Google Classroom - Open your copy of the 6.1 matrix(attached to the assignment) and paste your photos and fill out the form to show your understanding of how to observe elements and analyze how a designer has used those elements in the Principles of Design
- Be sure to click the submit button to be graded for your work.
Assessment :
Be sure to include a photo
Be sure to observe at least four elements and find at least one Principle of Design with each of your elements
Be sure to analyze at least four different Principles of Design between your four or more elements.
This will be graded with a rubric for 15 points - also attached to the Google Classroom assignment. I expect at least 16 observations between many elements and many principles of design in the chart. Try to fill as many spaces as you can, thinking of how each element can use each principle of design.
6.2 Analyzing the Principles and Elements of Design
6.2 Analyzing the Principles and Elements of Design
I am modifying the PLTW assignment since you do not have access to the Automoblox vehicles that are usually used, because they are in the classroom.
Instead, you will analyze your own automata design and come up with colors or edits that will improve your automata's visual and tactile appeal, while you proceed with developing your design.
You will take a photo of your page in the engineering notebook and submit for grading with a rubric.
Procedure:
1. In your engineering notebook, go to the page where you have a sketch of your design at actual size(or resketch on a new page, if you prefer).
2. On the same page as your sketch(or on the new sketch, if you prefer), add notes or add colors to your sketch, describing how you will apply the Principles of Design to your automata to make it more appealing. Add notes that explain which parts are moving and arrows in which direction. Also, create a NAME for your automata machine. Give it a catchy title.
3. Below your sketch, or on the next page of your engineering notebook, create an "Elements and Principles of Design" table with at least four columns and four rows. (note that this table is similar to the PLTW table you filled out in the last assignment, 6.1.
Along the top of the columns, list the Elements of Design
Along the side of the rows, list the Principles of Design
Inside the cells, below each Element of design, describe how you will use at least one Principle of Design to make this element visually pleasing. Use this time to brainstorm new materials or ideas you can employ before you actually finish creating the elements.
Assessment :
Be sure to draw a visual that illustrates and describes a good design, as well as identifying the intended moving part(s)
Be sure to use at least one Principle of Design with each of your four elements
Be sure to use at least four different Principles of Design between your four elements.
This will be graded with a rubric for 20 points - also attached to the Google Classroom assignment
6.3 Functional Analysis & Reverse engineering
6.3 Functional Analysis & Reverse engineering
You will reverse engineer a household product in your home and perform a functional analysis and a structural analysis of it.
It may or may not be the same object you used in the 6.1 assignment. A stapler or a tape dispenser would be a good example with simple machines.
The functional analysis will determine the purpose, inputs and outputs, and the operation of a product or system, using the functional input-output diagram.
NOTE: You should watch the PLTW presentations available on the PLTW website or attached to the assignment in Google Classroom. The powerpoint presentations prepared by PLTW are your introduction to the assignment, since I cannot give my own presentation during class.
6.3B Functional Analysis of your automata design
6.3B Functional Analysis of your automata design
Activity 6.3 Functional Analysis (Alternate) - analysis of the function of your own automata in your engineering notebook.
Objective: Explanation and Visual communication of your Simple machine with manual multi-view drawings (with explanations about how you are using the circular motion of the crank handle to turn an axle, which will rotate a cam to transfer rotational motion into a vertical motion, using the wedged rise of the cam to lift the follower, which is connected to the part.)
These Final Manual Multi-view Drawings show FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS, which is the next step in the reverse engineering process, which involves the study of the object’s function. This is done through careful observation of the object’s sequential operation. You will hypothesize how your automata will operate and then compare your predictions to your actual findings after your automata is actually constructed.
Procedure for functional analysis of your automata:
- Complete working drawings that are full size on graph paper, (preferably in your engineering notebook) You may want to redraw your profile view, including your box below it, or you can be using the profile view you already have, because you already included the base. These drawings will now focus on working out the function - the placement of the elements, the placement of the cams and the followers.
- Think through how your followers will attach or push the parts and how the followers will be stabilized with a guide or a way to be constrained into one vertical axis without falling over.
- Think about how (or if) you want to use leverage to move your parts with hinges. If so, where are the hinges located? How will the movements be controlled (will the follower be attached so it will not only push up but also pull it back down?)
- Take a photo of each view, when finished, using the DocScan app to straighten the drawing and make it easy to interpret.
Usually I have all views due at one time, at the end of the week. However, with our home instruction, I cannot circulate and comment or help you along the way, during class, I will now break down this assignment into three parts, due three different days, starting with the front profile view, to be drawn during "class time" on Monday. At the end of the week, you will revise your three drawings, if necessary, and place them in one document with functional explanations that will represent a section of your term paper on your automata design, completed in June.
6.5 Structural Analysis in Reverse engineering
6.5 Structural Analysis in Reverse engineering
This assignment is focused on the structural integrity of materials and construction. In the past, I chose to have our IED class disassemble a disposable camera, in teams, documenting how it was put together and the different mechanical and electrical functions we discovered along the way. Due to shortage of time last year and the home-instruction this year, this project has be skipped again.
However, you will do a structural analysis after we have created our drawings and all the parts of your automata.
The structural analysis determines the materials used and the form of component parts as well as the configuration and interaction of component parts when assembled . This is an important part of your final paper, but requires you to finish designing all the parts and the crank handle.
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