Solve a World Problem

Description of Project: In this project I worked with 2 other students. We were asked to come up with an idea and make a prototype to solve a world problem. My group chose to solve discomfort of toilets. We made a carbon fiber heated toilet seat complete with arm rests. We started by researching our problem. We worked together to decide how we hoped to make toilets more comfortable.

1. Identify a need: Our group discussed some problems in the world. We brainstormed lots of ideas and found lots of problems. We found that toilet discomfort seemed to be a problem that no one else had tried to solve.
2. Research the problem: In researching our problem we took 9 pages of notes about sanitation. different materials and peoples discomfort on toilets.
3. Develop a possible solution: Our group talked about ways that we could make toilets more comfortable. We talked about temperature, different materials, the sanitation of different materials and overall comfort for people using toilets.
4. Select the most promising solution: We decided the best way to solve our problem was to focus on heating toilet seats and providing comfortable arm rests for people to use while using the toilet.
5. Create a plan: The plan for heating the toilet was to line the inside of the seat with an electrical element that uses friction to provide heat. The toilet would also have padded foam arm rests to provide added comfort.
6. Build a prototype: We created a slideshow that highlights the features of our project. It has a digital blueprint of the toilet. We also made a 3-D printed model of our comfortable toilet!
7. Test and evaluate the prototype: We did a survey with our class to ask their feelings about overall toilet comfort or discomfort. We asked them questions like, "Are you happy with your overall comfort on the toilet?" We used the survey results to make a graph that we included in our presentation.
8. Use the data from the test to communicate new ideas and design: One of our survey questions proved that most people had never used a heated toilet seat. This encouraged us to create our design with a heated seat.
9. Refine and redesign: Our survey results helped us because they supported the need of our product.
10. Repeat: Towards the end of our project we did more research to help us add on to our presentation.

Reflection: In this project I felt that I did well at being creative. I had never used the 3-D printer. I made a digital blueprint of the toilet, then downloaded the blueprint to a USB Drive and then printed it off the computer in the Makers Space. I was impressed with how simple it was to use the printed and it helped me in being more creative. I also tried hard to stay on task and focus on my work ethic in this project. I tried my best and followed the gantt chart that my group made in class. Two things I plan to improve on in future projects are content and critical thinking. I will think and research all areas of my project and make sure that all the content is 100% complete and necessary to the project.