Design Process, Specification and Conceptual Design Flashcards
List the Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs).
0 - Idea 1 - Basic Research 2 - Technology Formulation 3 - Applied Research 4 - Small Scale Prototype 5 - Large Scale Prototype 6 - Prototype System 7 - Demonstration System 8 - First of a Kind Commercial System 9 - Full Commercial Application
List the 8 Design objectives of car design.
- Cost
- Technical Performance
- Environment
- Aesthetics
- Safety
- Ergonomics
- Luxury
- Reliability
- Manufacturing
List the four key future developments.
- Electric cars
- Robotics
- Renewable energy
- Domestic products
What are the 3 types of design?
Incremental - Minor changes/improvements (low risk). Common in industries with mature products.
Adaptive - Significant changes/improvements to sub-systems (medium risk). Common when significant new technologies come along.
Original - Major changes/improvements (high risk). Usually only when there is an acute need for change.
List the product life-cycle given by BS 7000-2.
- Trigger
- Product planning
- Feasibility study
- Design
- Development
- Production
- Distribution
- Operation
- Disposal
What is the Pahl and Beitz design process model?
- Top-down design process that starts with abstract ideas and finishes with complete details.
- Advantage: distinct stages make the process more manageable.
- Concurrent design is where the stages overlap (feasible for incremental design).
What is the Double Diamond design process model?
Can be broken down into 4 stages:
- Discover: divergent stage where users and markets are researched.
- Define: convergent stage where user and market research is aligned with business goals.
- Develop: a divergent stage where a wide range of design solutions are developed.
- Deliver: convergent stage used to complete product definition.
Advantages: breaks the stages into tasks with outputs and puts emphasis on the clarification of specification.
What is the V-Model design process model?
Top-down during design phase and bottom-up during verification phase.
Advantages: makes sense to plan the overall system before deciding on details and makes sense to ensure components work correctly before testing the entire product.
What is the Stage-Gate design process model?
A model that emphasises that certain achievements are required before progress in the design can be made.
Advantages: regular design reviews, performance of design can be assessed and managers can sign off before progressing.
List the prototype models.
Breadboard - Checks broad feasibility of a technology.
Engineering - Physically verifies the main performance aspects.
Qualification - Checks the entire performance of a product compared to requirements.
Delivered - Checks actual product performance before delivery.
What is a man-machine interface?
The interface between a human operator and a machine.
What are hard and soft requirements?
Hard - non-negotiable terms (the car must meet safety standards).
Soft - desirable characteristics (the car should have a range greater than 500 miles).
What should a problem statement be?
Solution-neutral.
List the multidisciplinary checklist.
- Technical performance
- Environment
- Ergonomics
- Luxury
- Aesthetics
- Safety
- Cost
- Regulations
- Maintenance
- Materials
- Reliability
What does a function-means tree aim to do?
It aims to convert abstract functions into more specific sub-functions and eventually into concrete features.
Going down is how and going up is why.
What is worse case loading?
Where a product is designed to withstand the worst possible situation, not the worst case that is normally expected.
List the drivers of innovation.
- Legislation
- Customer wishes
- Technology breakthroughs
- Innovators/entrepreneurs
- Elite activities
- Affluence
- Competition
Describe the conceptual design method ‘Study the Competition’.
Analyse the designs of competitors and draw inspiration. Be aware of the legal and ethical limitations of this.
Example: Automotive and phone design.
Describe the conceptual design method ‘Insight’.
Understand the physics of the problem to help produce effective ideas.
Examples: Ship scale and range, spline life is increased with increasing size.
Describe the conceptual design method ‘Bio-Inspiration’.
Be inspired from solutions found in nature.
Advantages: Large range of concepts that are proven to work in harsh environments.
Disadvantages: Often very complex at micro-scale, not necessarily long life and some strategies in nature are brutal.
Examples: Inverted parallelogram 4-bar mechanism hinge joint (human knee) and self healing composite (vascular system).
Describe the conceptual design method ‘Technology Transfer’.
Transfer elements of technology from one product to another.
Examples: Artificial intelligence, cyclone vacuum cleaner (from factory application).
Describe the conceptual design method ‘Functional Decomposition’.
Identify the sub-functions of a product and then consider the best/feasible combinations of sub-solutions.
When sub-functions and sub-solutions are put into a chart it is called a morphological chart.
Describe the conceptual design method ‘Backwards Design’.
Identify and idealistic solution and then work backwards to realise it.
Example: Double-action worm gear-set for spacecraft.
Describe the conceptual design method ‘Prototyping’.
Creating initial models of design solutions.
Advantages:
- Quick feedback
- 3-D visualisation
- Can be cheaper than computer modelling
- Learn more things than from just CM
- Aids team-work and selling to investors
Describe the conceptual design method ‘Brainstorming’.
Uninhibited idea creation by a team of people bouncing off ideas.
Team made up of engineers from many different backgrounds.
Criticism of ideas is not allowed.
Describe the conceptual design method ‘Structured Questioning’.
Create a set of questions that consider what can and cannot be done to solve a problem.
Describe the conceptual design method ‘Inversion’.
Investigate whether an existing design can be done another way around.
Examples: Helicopters (rotating wings), Push-rod suspension instead of vertical to allow lower car profile.
Describe the conceptual design method ‘Technology Opportunities’.
Use the latest tech breakthroughs to design new products.
Examples: Maglev, Artificial intelligence.
Describe the conceptual design method ‘Sketching’.
Sketch the design.
Advantages:
- Quick to make
- Focus on essential parts
- 3-D visualisation
- Aids team work
What are the types of drawing and when should they be used?
3-point perspective - tall buildings.
2-point perspective - cars.
Isometric - cars.
Oblique - close up product.
What is TRIZ?
A method for improving the state of a system.
‘Ideality’ is a key concept, it is where all of a systems functions are achieved without causing any problems. The knowledge of an ideal system help to improve the existing system.
What is the method behind TRIZ?
- Contradiction checklist of 39 features that can be improved.
- Contradictions are improved using a list of 40 design principles.
- Contradiction matrix is created with improving and worsening features.
What design methods does TRIZ involve?
- ‘Ideality’ is similar to ‘Backwards’ design.
- Checklists are similar to structured questioning.
- ‘The other way round’ is similar to inversion method.
- Several methods use physical insight.
