Break it Apart! Challenge Take One

Break it Apart Challenge: Take One

For this Break it Apart challenge, it student in the class had to bring one object from home to break apart to see what each individual piece looked like. Then, each student was to ask questions about the object, figure out why it worked, what connected to what, what is the human need around the object, and more like that. We also had to sketch each individual part of the object, and sketch an exploded view of the object to show kind of what each part is connected to.

The object I chose was a Bluetooth computer mouse. I chose this object because I was always curious about how when you clicked each side of the mouse just about anywhere, it would still click. I was also curious on how you could use the scrolling part of the mouse to move things on the screen. I also wanted to see how the censors worked on the mouse, so that when you moved the mouse, the cursor on the screen moved, too.

Parts of the Mouse

  • Cover

  • Main Base

  • Circuit board with plastic battery holder

  • Battery cover

  • Battery

  • Cursor mover

  • USB Bluetooth

Engineering Thought Process

The computer mouse allows humans to move the cursor on the screen to click things and adjust the screen. The product moves based on the humans energy, and the human follows the motion the human makes. Its materials include a plastic base and cover, and a circuit board. All of this allows humans to get information off of the internet. It is safe to use, cheap, small so it can fit in any computer bag, fits in all hands, uses a battery, and is Bluetooth.

Questions I had

How does the censor know if the computer mouse is on the surface or not?

Why can the computer mouse only work on surfaces? Why only certain ones?

How does Bluetooth work? How does the Bluetooth for the computer mouse react so quickly?

How does the spring attached to the wheel press the button is the wheel isn't being pressed down, it is just spinning?


Reflection

I really like my choice in the computer mouse. I think that is was a good choice for a basic break down project because it was crazy complex, but it was unique and different than what everyone else was doing. I had fun breaking apart the mouse because at first I struggled to open it, but then I just decided to throw in on the ground outside, and it broke apart into its separate sections perfectly with breaking any individual piece. I think that I did a good job thinking outside of the box when it came to breaking apart my object with only using my brain as a tool.

I think I could work on learning more and more on how the circuit board works. For my next assignment, the Wii Remote, I learned a lot about the circuit board. I wish that I had done more research on the circuit board in the computer mouse and how everything works individually and together. With that, learning more about the circuit board and how everything works, I would have been able to make a more detailed flow chart because I would have understood how all of these parts work.

Overall, I enjoyed this project because I had never thought about what a broken apart computer mouse looked like, and it was really cool so see!