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For the first skill practice, we had to make a roto-copter. This is how the project went.
The objective was to create a roto-copter with an A4 size paper, for this we had to use a design cycle called DMAIC. Which stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control. Picture 1.1 shows how it the system works.
1.1
The cycle is a road plan for design problems. With your prototype, you go through the DMAIC to see if it will actually work. My teammate and I had to walk through the cycle multiple times because there were still occurring problems in our design. Eventually, we understood the principle of the cycle and at last, our prototype passed the cycle. Picture 1.2 is our roto-copter.
1.2
The requirements for the roto-copter were:
- We were only allowed to use 1 piece of paper. scissors and paperclips.
- The roto-copter had to stay at least 5 seconds in the air.
- We had to drop it from the second floor.
So everyone knows the famous egg drop project. The objective of the project is to design a system to protect an egg from cracking or breaking.
This is how we(my teammate and I)implemented the DMAIC cycle to this project.
Define is a part of the DMAIC cycle, you have to define the project goals.
Because of Gravity, the egg falls faster and faster, If you assume that the gravitational acceleration is 9,81 m/s² If an object falls from 2 meters height then it will fall and hit the ground in 0,639 seconds. The speed during the fall until it hits the ground is 6,26m/s. The egg itself is very breakable and will not survive such a fall.
Measure is another part of the cycle, you have to measure the process to determine current performance and quantify the problem.
-The egg not allowed to break.
-The egg container can only weigh 25 grams.
-The egg should be easy to get out of the container.
-The egg is not allowed to be wider or higher than 45 cm.
The reason the egg breaks is because the speed and the force combined that hit a point on an egg makes it break. If the force is spread evenly over the egg the chances of breaking it are smaller and if there is no direct contact with the egg during the fall, the chance of breaking is smaller. You can also slow down the fall by using a parachute for instance.
We made a couple of designs, some failed. The design that succeeded was a pyramid made of straws. It separated the egg from the ground so that the force would be on the pyramid and not on the egg.
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