Reverse engineering is the process of taking pieces apart to know how an object works. We came up with our T9 Truck advancements by thinking about the safety and realism of a cookout truck. The bumpers were the main part of safety; we wanted children to be able to bump the trucks together without getting them scratched. The front truck grill was more for realistic appearance, to make it look like a real truck. The cooking grill put the whole truck all together; the fun idea lets children pretend that the truck is at a real cookout.
Summarize
There are three stages of reverse engineering:
Visual Analysis- observing an object and how it was made without taking it apart.
Functional Analysis- predicting how each part of the object functions.
Structural Analysis- finally taking apart the object to observe how it works effectively within the inside.
Black Box Method: A part of the functional analysis step; it can be viewed from a diagram of its inputs and outputs without knowing how the inside of it works.
Define a Problem
Generate Concepts
Develop a Solution
Construct and Test Prototype
Evaluate Solution
I showed my final product to both of my parents. Both of them were "impressed" and thought it looked very functional, and saw a big difference in the main improvements. They liked the realism of the truck and how it represented the idea of a cookout truck. My dad personally liked the cookout grill on the back. He suggested that I put I spoiler on the back of the tailgate to give it more of a sporty look. My mom really liked the color scheme of the truck, and the look of the bumpers and tires. She suggested that I put people in the passenger base so that it would look like it was being used by figurines.
Present Solution
The T9 Truck Improvements wasn't my favorite project that we've done so far, but I did enjoy creating it. At first, I hadn't based my ideas around making a cookout truck, but instead of a race car. The brainstorming ideas my team thought of put the rest of the pieces together, and the final product turned out to be really cool. We hadn't thought of the cookout grill until a couple days before the due date, but it didn't take up a lot of time and it ended up making the truck look even better and more realistic. We made 3 additions: the bumpers- which enhanced safety, the truck grill- which gave a more realistic feel to the truck, and the cooking grill- which just added a fun look. I also really liked the color scheme that was thought of, even though it didn't count as an addition or modification. Although this wasn't my favorite project, it did give me and my team more freedom for creativity, just like the deer project, where we could literally think of anything and build parts to improve and make a theme for our truck. Of course, I learned a lot more about inventor and how to use it's tools, i.e. learning that tangent constraints existed (which made constraining the spherical parts a lot easier). I realized that even though we hadn't made the original parts (wheels, windshield, base, etc.) at the time that we were making our improvements, we had designed them earlier in the semester during different activities; I felt more satisfied by this, knowing that I had contributed to making the whole truck at one point in time.
BEFORE
AFTER
i. The factors needed when changing or enhancing a design include, knowing whether the product will actually work, whether you'll need to upgrade the parts, the cost, or the convenience for the consumer.
ii. It is important to document the brainstorming process, because everything that you brainstorm is important and can be used, and new ideas can be developed from those original ideas.
iii. The purpose of sketching your ideas makes the design process more efficient, and increases the ability of others to understand your ideas more easily.