Fin
ding
Ans
wer
s to
the
Pro
blem
- I
IIF
indi
ng A
nsw
ers
to t
he P
robl
em -
III
GE 121 – Engineering Design - 2009
Engineering DesignGE121
Finding Answers to the ProblemPart III / IV
Lecture 12A
Fin
ding
Ans
wer
s to
the
Pro
blem
- I
IIF
indi
ng A
nsw
ers
to t
he P
robl
em -
III
GE 121 – Engineering Design - 2009
Limiting Design Space to a Usable SizePragmatic (practical) issues related to how
an artifact will be used, and how it will be made
Provides ‘guideposts’ for development of the search space – may narrow rather than expand the search space
Design alternatives must be functions ofUser NeedsAvailable TechnologiesExternal Constraints(and some common sense!)
Fin
ding
Ans
wer
s to
the
Pro
blem
- I
IIF
indi
ng A
nsw
ers
to t
he P
robl
em -
III
GE 121 – Engineering Design - 2009
Limiting Design Space to a Usable Size(Continued)
Example – Design of vehicles for a campus transportation systemCandidate Vehicles
Simple bikesHigh Tech bikesRecumbent bikesTricyclesRickshaws
User Needs may dictate consideration of:Parking availabilityCarrying PackagesAccess for Handicapped
Fin
ding
Ans
wer
s to
the
Pro
blem
- I
IIF
indi
ng A
nsw
ers
to t
he P
robl
em -
III
GE 121 – Engineering Design - 2009
Limiting Design Space to a Usable Size(Continued)
Available Technologies may affect design alternatives:Materials (affects appearance, manufacturing, price)
External Constraints may limit design alternatives:Team’s area of expertise (may be expert in tricycle design)Available Manufacturing Facilities (may dictate material)
Practical Considerations – Common Sense!Invoke and apply constraints (similar to user needs, as above)Freeze the number of attributes (avoid those unlikely to
seriously affect design – i.e. color)Impose some order on the list (which functions / features are
most important)Get Real! (watch out when silly / infeasible options are
repeated too often)
Fin
ding
Ans
wer
s to
the
Pro
blem
- I
IIF
indi
ng A
nsw
ers
to t
he P
robl
em -
III
GE 121 – Engineering Design - 2009
Morphological Charts: Organizing Functions and Means to Generate Designs that Work
Morphological Charts - Important Alternative Development toolsChart or Matrix
Functions or Key Features are listed in the first column
Alternate Means of achieving each function are given in that function’s row
Generating the Means for each function can be a highly creative processMeans do not have to be Words – some designers
use sketches or thumbnails to show some alternative means
Fin
ding
Ans
wer
s to
the
Pro
blem
- I
IIF
indi
ng A
nsw
ers
to t
he P
robl
em -
III
GE 121 – Engineering Design - 2009
Morphological Charts (continued)
The Morphological Chart can be used to generate Complete AlternativesLeftmost column lists ALL functionsSelecting a means from EACH row guarantees that
the solution satisfies all required functionality
Will NOT, however, guarantee thatAlternatives will WORKOr even be internally consistent (see Fig. 5.2b)Judgement is still required
This approach can result in a HUGE number of alternatives
Fin
ding
Ans
wer
s to
the
Pro
blem
- I
IIF
indi
ng A
nsw
ers
to t
he P
robl
em -
III
GE 121 – Engineering Design - 2009
Morphological Charts (continued)
Start with FunctionsContain BeverageMaterial for Beverage ContainerProvide Access to JuiceDisplay Product InformationSequence Manufacture of Juice and Container
Fin
ding
Ans
wer
s to
the
Pro
blem
- I
IIF
indi
ng A
nsw
ers
to t
he P
robl
em -
III
GE 121 – Engineering Design - 2009
Morphological Charts (continued)
Add Means for Each FunctionContain Beverage: Can, Bottle, Bag, BoxMaterial for Beverage Container: Aluminum,
Plastic, Glass, Waxed Cardboard, Lined Cardboard, Mylar Films
Provide Access to Juice: Pull-Tab, Inserted Straw, Twist-Top, Tear Corner, Unfold Container, Zipper
Display Product Information: Shape of Container, Labels, Color of Material
Sequence of Manufacture: Concurrent , Serial
Fin
ding
Ans
wer
s to
the
Pro
blem
- I
IIF
indi
ng A
nsw
ers
to t
he P
robl
em -
III
GE 121 – Engineering Design - 2009
Morphological Charts (continued)
Create Morph Chart (words)
Or – Use Thumbnails (next page)
Fig. 5.1 p104
Fin
ding
Ans
wer
s to
the
Pro
blem
- I
IIF
indi
ng A
nsw
ers
to t
he P
robl
em -
III
GE 121 – Engineering Design - 2009Fig. 5.3 p106
Fin
ding
Ans
wer
s to
the
Pro
blem
- I
IIF
indi
ng A
nsw
ers
to t
he P
robl
em -
III
GE 121 – Engineering Design - 2009
Morph ChartGenerating a Complete Alternative
Morph Chart showing one means for each function which can be combined to form one complete alternative that looks feasible
Fig. 5a
Fin
ding
Ans
wer
s to
the
Pro
blem
- I
IIF
indi
ng A
nsw
ers
to t
he P
robl
em -
III
GE 121 – Engineering Design - 2009
Morph ChartComplete Does not Mean Feasible
Morph Chart showing a complete alternative that is not consistent – Glass Bottle with a zipper (zip-lok requires plastic)
Fig. 5b
Fin
ding
Ans
wer
s to
the
Pro
blem
- I
IIF
indi
ng A
nsw
ers
to t
he P
robl
em -
III
GE 121 – Engineering Design - 2009
Managing Your Group
You may want to consider appointing someone to fill each of the following roles:Project leaderScribe/recorderProject file keeperReport co-ordinator
Fin
ding
Ans
wer
s to
the
Pro
blem
- I
IIF
indi
ng A
nsw
ers
to t
he P
robl
em -
III
GE 121 – Engineering Design - 2009
C-Sketch MethodIt may be helpful to use the C-Sketch Method
to generate ideas from your Morph Chart(examples from microlaryngeal stabilization device)
Fin
ding
Ans
wer
s to
the
Pro
blem
- I
IIF
indi
ng A
nsw
ers
to t
he P
robl
em -
III
GE 121 – Engineering Design - 2009
Activity
Create a Morph Chart for your projectStart with a List of functionsBrainstorm a List of Means for each Function
Be Creative in your Brainstorming!