Capstone Step 1

Process/What We Have to Do?

We had to concentrate on some of the most crucial parts of engineering and designing for step 1 of the final Capstone project. This involved conducting market, consumer, and existing product research, establishing a demand and want list for our water turbine, drawing numerous design options, and conducting a customer survey to better understand what people value and are seeking for with this renewable energy turbine. Step 1 was all about describing the issue, coming up with ideas to address it, investigating the requirements that our product would need to satisfy, coming up with potential designs, and coming up with a list of design requirements we desire for our turbine. Step 2 of the capstone design will follow.

Our Designs:

Design We Are Going With

Market Research Presentation

Demand & Wish list

Customer Survey Questions

Content

Human-centered design: an approach to problem-solving that develops solutions to problems by involving the human perspective and emotion in all steps of the process. it aims to make systems usable and useful by focusing on the users, their needs, and their values.

Design specifications: a detailed document that sets out exactly what a product or a process should present. the design specification could include required dimensions, environmental factors, ergonomic factors, aesthetic factors, maintenance that will be needed, etc.

Demand and wish list: a list of different specifications that you either need your product to have, or want your product to have. demands are things you need to make sure your product has or can perform, and wishes are things you want your product to have but it is not necessary for it to function properly.

Market research: an organized effort to gather information about target markets and customers. you must research them to know about their values and problems, in order to create a product that will help them. it is very important to the engineering, designing, and marketing aspect of inventing a new product. 

Constraints:  limitations on the design, such as available funds, resources, or time. together, the criteria and constraints are referred to as the requirements for a successful solution, so you must work around your constraints and make sure to hit all of the important criteria.

Prototypes: a simple model of a proposed solution intended to quickly test or validate ideas, design assumptions, and other parts of its conception so that the designers involved can make necessary refinements or changes to improve it.

Tinkering: a branch of making that emphasizes creative, improvisational problem-solving. It centers on the open-ended design and construction of objects or installations, generally using both high- and low-tech. it is the first step in the experiential learning continuum.

CAD: the use of computer-based software to aid in design processes. CAD software is frequently used by different types of engineers and designers to create two-dimensional drawings or three-dimensional models. we used CAD like Onshape and Autodesk to make our sketches come to life.

Customer survey:  a method of collecting consumer feedback. it helps companies assess customer satisfaction, measure customer engagement, perform market research, and gauge expectations. we are using the feedback from our customer survey to help us out in the design process.

Reflection

Although the first part of the final Capstone project required a lot of work, it undoubtedly prepared me for the further steps of this assignment. I've learnt a lot about the engineering and design process over the last two weeks. I particularly performed well in two of the six 6 C's, but I wasn't at my best in the other two. I did well in teamwork for my first C. During step 1, there were a lot of assignments to finish, so my group and I worked together every day to finish everything.  Conscientious learning was the second C that I did well on. While we did work well together we still do need to work on getting our work in on time and fully completed. One thing I do regret is not being present during our Market Research Presentation and I think that did have an effect on our final product and presentation. So that is one thing I would like to improve on and I cannot wait to continue with this project.