Project 4: Power In Community
In this project, we were in an engineering design team that focuses on real-world issues that a client from our local community faces. The objective of this project was to come up with a solution that makes the client’s daily living better.
After thoroughly going through the project at hand, we first met with the client and acquired different information through information sessions and Q&A sessions. From this we had learned about his way of life and how the client performs daily tasks.
From these sessions we had learned that the client has difficulty pouring tea from a teapot as he suffers from EDS, which causes fragile skin and over flexible joints. Performing this task can have a risk of dislocating the joints and inflicting further pain. For this problem we decided to come up with a solution.
To begin, we had come up with an initial problem statement for our issue:
Design a solution that allows James to lift and pour a teapot without lateral movement in his joints since the weight distribution of the handle results in his joints dislocating.
From here we completed an objective tree to refine and guide the focus of the project.
Finally, we had concluded our primary objectives for our solution. These objectives being a resilient, ergonomic, and lightweight solution to best suit the client. We then had outlined our project plan, by indicating each group members prior experience and expertise, as well as the tools/resources/materials that would be required.
After completing our own research in relation to our problem, as well as compiling our notes from the meetings with the client, we refined our problem statement and looked further into the different functions of our solution and the means in which they would be carried out.
We had further looked into designs for the mechanism, by completing multiple concept sketches of potential solutions.
