Reverse Engineering Project

Evidence of Work

The Reverse Engineering Project was a group project intended to dig deeper into the types of engineering research that would be necessary in this class. Many of the steps for this project mimicked the Break It Apart assignment. For example we had to fully take apart and sketch all the components to the object that make it a whole and make it function. Where it broke off from this project was in the research, instead of just asking questions and trying to detail out a flow chart from what we saw, this project dug heavily into the research aspect. There were four different topics of analysis that had to be covered fully; functional analysis, structural analysis, material analysis, and manufacturing analysis and through all this analysis hopefully come up with a proposed way to improve the object. The end result of the presentation was a detailed report and presentation on the object that our group chose to focus on.

For our project, my group reverse engineered a remote control toy jeep. We first took it apart, with most all of it being held together with screws or plastic clasps that were built into the object itself. We ran into some trouble with the realization that the circuit board was soldered onto the back of the battery pack, but one of our team members stepped up to solder it off again so we were able to look and detail out the back of the board. once all of these pieces were separated, it was time to draw them. Starting with a full view of the intact object, we copied and sketched down even the little details on the circuit board. After we were able to look at and study all the separate pieces and how they work together, than it was time to do the research. Much of the research could be gleaned from analyzing the object itself and seeing how everything connects, but for some of it we took to the internet to find the necessary info. The project was a great learning experience and ended up being super interesting while still being engaging.

Content

Functional Analysis: the function of the different parts, how they work together, and the underlying scientific principles behind their functioning

Brief Project Overview: The mechanical input onto the control sends message to transmitter which translates the signal to the receiver. From there it is sent to the circuit board and then to the motors.

Structural Analysis: The purpose of each part and how it is connected to the other respective parts.

Brief Project Overview: The parts are connected with screws and plastic clasps and the circuit board is soldered down. The circuit board sends messages to the motors through wires and the motors turn the wheels using gears.

Material Analysis: The materials being used and their properties.

Brief Project Overview: The tires are made of silicon rubber, the structure of the vehicle is high-density polyethylene, and the mother board is made of copper, fiberglass, and resin.

Manufacturing Analysis: The way the product and parts were made.

Brief Project Overview: All the pieces of our object were assembled in China with the plastic pieces being made from a mold. The motherboard was made on a factory line for mass production.

Reflection

For this project I think me and my team utilized critical thinking and problem solving the most. This is because the project focused around research and so we had to find work arounds when information wasn't easily available. Critical thinking and problem solving went hand in hand for this, we would need to problem solve the lack of information with critical thinking on our own part. We would have to look at all the parts of the object logically, and based on that see what information we could learn about how they function. Another way we problem solved was when the circuit board was soldered in place and we needed to access the back of it. One of our members stepped up to learn some simple soldering and detach the pieces.

The things that we needed to work on during this project were collaboration and time management. While we were able to talk and plan well in person, this didn't translate well into actual productivity. The end result is that people ended up doing more or less work than originally agreed upon because we simply couldn't find a good balance or reliance on each other. The time management was also hard due to our struggle with collaboration as we would be unable to get the assigned parts completed until the last minute. This led to some members doing parts they weren't assigned in order to get everything in on time. While we definitely had struggles, this project was a lot of fun and gave us some very valuable skills that will be helpful in this class and future jobs.