Break It Apart Challenge: take one

Our Goal

Break it Apart! was our first assignment/project of the year in Senior Engineering. Instead of having to build or produce something, we were tasked with taking apart a simple object. In our engineering notebooks we completed a conceptual sketch of the item in exploded view, developed a flowchart, and listed things we knew about the object or questions we still had. 

Content

Conceptual Sketch - 

A conceptual sketch is a sketch that is simplified but illustrates the main aspects of a system, includes labels and connections between parts, shows relationships between systems and functions. 

Flow Chart - 

Similar to a conceptual sketch but in the form of a step by step diagram that shows the function, steps, and movement of something to reach the final product

Engineer Drawing - 

A 3-dimensional object that is drawn on paper or a computer screen. The 5 common types of engineering drawings are isometric, axonometric, oblique, perspective, and orthographic.

Reflection

Overall, I am proud of the work that I did on my Break it Apart project, as it was the first project/assignment of the year and we had limited time to work on it in class. I chose a fairly simple object, a depiller, and was able to deconstruct it fully in class with the tools I brought in and a little help from Mr. Tronconi. Although this was a fairly simple object, I am glad I did not bring anything more complex otherwise I feel that I would not have finished. In class, I demonstrated a strong work ethic by being very focused and productive, allowing me to be able to get a lot of the drawing work done. This was the most time consuming part of the project because my drawing skills are very limited and I wanted my work to be the best it could. Also, although this was an individual assignment, I was able to collaborate with my table group about what should or should not be included and how to improve my work. 

 One area where I have room for improvement is time management. I wish I had spent less time drawing and a bit more time completing research as that would have helped me stay on track with the deadline. My work could be improved with more research to further label materials used in the product, the energy flow, and if I had better drawing skills or more practice. I also could have improved my problem solving skills. Even though there were not too many problems, I would immediately turn to my peers or Mr. Tronconi in search of an answer instead of critically thinking about ways to solve it. I am looking forward to continue improving on these skills and working hard on projects during and outside of class.