Reverse Engineering

evidence of work

For this project, my group and I were tasked with choosing one of the objects that we took apart in the Break It Apart Challenge and trying to figure out how someone would actually engineer it. I was partnered with Zane and Holden, and we chose Zane's alarm clock to investigate. We researched and analyzed every part of the clock, including how it was manufactured, how much it likely cost, what the function is, and how it connects to the other parts. Then, we started the redesign process by thinking of something that would make our clock better. We decided that it lacked a stop button, so we researched how the stop button could be added. We made a new bill of materials, flow chart, and even an online simulation of the flow of energy. All of these aspects are thoroughly described in our report, which is below. We also made a much shorter presentation with the basic ideas of what we did, which we presented to the class.

reverse engineering report

Reverse Engineering Presentation

content

reverse engineering -

to disassemble an object and analyze it to help with engineering a different product
requires extensive research about the manufacturing, function, and placement of each piece

Gantt chart -

chart that uses horizontal lines to show the productivity of a group working on a project
we used a Gantt chart to show when we needed our work done by and as a timeline for the project

flow chart -

a step-by-step diagram that shows how a product works
we created a flow chart for both the original alarm clock and our redesign to show the flow of energy and how the pieces connected

reflection

Overall, I think our final report and presentation turned out really well done. They were both very thorough and described our process well. Although, I'm not sure I fit in well with my group because they were so much more technically advanced at this than I was. I found it hard to contribute sometimes because I didn't understand the basic processes. For this reason, I am very excited to start working with my capstone group because I think we will be on a more even playing field and I will be able to contribute more.

I think one good thing I did was trying my best and doing what I could. Although I wasn't always able to keep up with my teammates, I focused on the things I knew how to do. I worked a lot on the formatting of both the report and the presentation, and I researched a lot for the manufacturing analysis. Another thing I did well was staying on track with my deadlines and offering help to my teammates. I used my time in class wisely and worked on it at home.

Going forward, I want to work on being bolder and asking for help when I don't understand something. I think it's just hard for me because I was the only one who didn't know what was going on, so I didn't want to interrupt the group and make them explain everything to me. In this class, I am going out of my comfort zone because I really don't know much at all about engeneering. I also want to work on my communication, because I feel like I didn't talk to my team much and I did my work on my own. I think this will improve when I work with people I'm already friends with.

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