Do It Better

In contrast to the previous project regarding our furniture, we were tasked with physically building the recliner. Considering all the mechanical and logistical points of piece, this was by far one of the most difficult projects I have done this year, yet it was also one of my most enjoyed project. Not only did I work within a project of three from one class, but I also had two others who were working with me on the project. While me and my two partners worked on the construction of the recliner, my other two workmates from the earlier class worked on assembling a detailed PowerPoint presentation on our project. While going through the construction of the recliner, I was greatly impressed with the work that we had executed through our efforts, as the recliner worker better and better each day we had advanced it. Although my original blueprint had the base design connected well, the more complex, mechanical portion of our project was what we had most difficulty with. When we had finished on the day of the building, we had only gotten the base design of the chair done and had not gotten to the armrest portion of the recliner, which held the complexity of the design. However, with the 2 weeks we had to work on the piece, we were able to successfully finish the build, and to be frank, this was by far the most satisfied I have been with the resulted of the project. The result was complete, everything that I had in mind was implemented, and the entire mechanism worked perfectly and efficiently.

Area of Impact - 

For this project, we focused on the Engineering Design Cycle, as it was the foundation of our progression throughout the project. Starting with the idea, we had to implement additional features which all required additional testing and research to conclude with the most optimal design and placement.

Intention/Need - Of course, our intention and need for this project was to build a recliner that worked effective and efficiently. Also we wanted to add additional components to the piece in order to make it unique and aesthetic, as it is going to be placed within the school or years to come.

Research - In terms of research, we focused largely on the testing of various different designs that would work well for our chairs computation. This required us to use different techniques and mechanisms to find the best way to shift the armrest.

Additional Content can be found on the following PowerPoint...

This project not only gave me even more experience with the difficult areas of physical engineering, but it also taught me a number of life skills. During this project, I took a strong leadership role, in which I led my build group in the construction process, guiding them through what was needed to be done and what was to be expected. Additionally, I managed the creation of the PowerPoint with my group in the earlier class. While they were completing the parts of the presentation that they knew, I gave them advice and guidance on what to specify on certain parts. This was a great experience of what a realistic setting of a team is, and that the most important person within the group is the one that does the least amount of work, while guiding everyone else through the necessities of the project, which is along the lines of what I had done. Lastly, this project built a very valuable skill and characteristic, determination and persistence. By the end of the original build day, we had barely gotten much done because of the difficulty of the build. The other group I was working with at that time was largely doubtful of the success of this project, and many of them decided not to continue it on their next project; however, I was the only one in that group that took the initiative and thought, "We will finish it." After working partners who had the same mindset as me, we all enjoyed the satisfaction of finding a way out of that doubt and making it something to motivate ourselves off of. To be completely frank, I don't have anything that I believed could have been done better. Every detail and effort put into the work days, the communication between the groups, and the collaboration that we had during the building was all done so well and organized, which is another reason as to why I am as satisfied as I am now.