The project Cup mate is a product that is placed into a rod holder on a boat or dock and is intended for people to have a place to put their cup or bottle where there is no secure cup holder. While it is limited there is some products is the subject area but they don’t have the ability to adjust and fit bigger bottles while being compact. The expected users of this product are people that need a convenient area to place their cup where it will be secure, specifically people that own and have boats that have rod holders and people that have a dock with rod holders mounted on the pillings. The functional requirements that this project needs are to  be able to fit into a rod holder and hold a cup or bottle.

The goal for this project is to effectively mount into a rod holder and hold hold a cup or bottle with in it. Features that will be included in the project are notch locking in the rod holder. There will be a notch at the bottom of the tube that will lock into the rod holder and will prevent it from rotating side  to side while still being allowed to be pulled out of the rod holder. There will also be adjustability with in the product. Not all rod holder are at a straight 0 degree angle, must are at 15 and 30 degrees of angle. The product takes that into consideration and has multiple different holes for locking at different angles so it can be used at many different angles in many different rod holders while being able to keep your cup or bottle sitting straight up. The product will also have notches on the actual cup holder where cups with handles will also be able to fit inside allowing for more versatile use. With the original project idea it was going to be fabricated with stainless steel and welded together, however available resources have prevented that from happening without having access to proper welder needed for the job. Following that the project will be constructed with pla 3d filament and stainless steel hardware. When the product if finished being constructed testing will be done with multiple different cups and bottles. Testing will also be done in different angled rod holders, as well as how will it hold sup while the boat is motion. Some critical design parameters for the product are it fitting in the rod holder being adjustable and fitting bigger bottles and cups. Some challenges that might stand in the way of accomplishing design objectives are the depth of rod holder. Depending of the rod holder the tube may not fit all the way down in the rod holder not allowing for a secure fit and no locking feature, also if the rod holder is to small the tube will stick higher off the side of the boat making it less compact possible making it more of something to be in the way. Another challenge that may be faced is how well the cup or bottle fits in the holder. Some bottles may be loose and have wiggle room and some may be too big to fit into the holder. Overall this will fit within the professional and social context because it is a problem many people are faced with as they enjoy a day on the water they are worryiong about where they are going to place a drink so it isnt in the way and gets knocked over. Economically this product is indeed affordable since it does not contain any complicated mechanisms or pricey parts. Manufacturing this product will be ideally simple by 3d printing and few pieces of hardware that are widely available.

This project has been envisioned and thought to make life easier. Attacking a problem that many boater across the country face whether you are an avid fisherman or weekend cruiser overall making your time more enjoyable. When the product was in the design phase there was one one main idea on how it was going to solve the problem at hand. Through the thought process of creating the product there were a few things that were changed. The bracket that is mounted to the tube originally was rectangular and had limited room for locking holes for different angles. It was adjusted to be a bit bigger and a rounded side which allowed for more room for holes also adding room for more adjustability and tightening space. The holder on the other end originally was one solid piece, it was later edited where it was cut out where a handle for a cup could fit through it. Also the bracket attached to the bottom of the holder was originally just one piece which was later changed to have supports on both sides to make it more sturdy and able to support more weight. Through the simulation of testing there will be many different test that will display if the product has flaws that need to be changed to better improve the products functionality. If there is any flaws they will be changed and the product will be tested again if all is good it will be put through final testing where it will be proven that the product will solve the problem most effectively. rint model

• Perform initial test

• Redesign and improve model

• Reprint model

• Perform test over again

• Improve anything still not performing at best

• Reprint model

• Perform final testing

The test procedures that the product will be put through will be all to prove that it solves the problem. The product will be tested under high stress situations and made sure that it will not fail when it is most needed. The product will be tested in multiple different angled rod holders with multiple different sized cups and bottles with multiple different weights. On the bottom of the tube ther is a notch that locks into the rod holder. That will be tested to see how well it holds up when there is plenty of weight in the cup holder. During testing it should no break and keep the tube from rotating in the rod holder. The adjustable locking bracket will be tested to make sure that each hole is placed in the desired angle to keep the cup or bottle placed upright and that it hold sup to keep the holder locked at that angle during use. The cup holder itself will be tested to see how well it holds a cup or bottle. It will be tested with multiple sized cups bering multiple different weights to see how well it handles under different stress loads. The cup holder will also be tested to see how well it is able to hold a cupo with a handle and how it fits inside with the cutout for the handle. Overall with the testing of the individual systems of the product will overall be able to prove the functionality of the main product, and show through testing how the design features will be able to solve the problem at hand.

With the product to be created the parts that ar eneeded the make the product are plastic filament and stainless steel hardware. Equiuptment that will be needed is solidworks and 3d printer.The cost to construct the individual project is estimated to cost $10 per unit. ($50/hour) 20=$1000. Develop model 10/5-10/12, Buy Parts 10/13-10/16, Build product 10/17-10/24, testing 10/25-10/26, Redesign 10/27-11/4, Retesting 11/5-11/7