00/10/2020

4991 (Capstone I)

Topic 2: Engineering Design

 Overview  Risk
 Product quality  Interfaces
 The design process  Factor of safety
 Qualities of a good designer Review questions

Original contributions from Armağan Karamanlı,

adapted for the Capstone Course by Andrew Beddall
4991 Capstone I Engineering Design 1
Overview
A design is a plan or specification for the construction of a product or service
that should satisfy certain requirements. The aim of design is to maximize the
quality of the product given available resources and limitations of constraints*.
Many constraints exist, such as budget, time, standards, legal, economic,
environmental, sustainability, manufacturability, conformability, aesthetics,
safety, marketability, ethical, health, safety, socio-political. These are
important considerations during the design process, they will be discussed
separately in the next lecture (Topic 3). Please consider these constraints once
you understand the basic design process.
Remember that these topics will be examined in the mid-term exam, should be applied
during the design phase of your project, and should be expressed in your project
proposal.

* anything that limits the designer’s freedom of choice is a constraint.

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Product quality
Quality means fitness for use. There are many components to quality
but in the Capstone course we will focus on:

Features
What does the product do?
Performance
How well does the product perform the intended function?
Reliability
Can the product perform its function repeatedly?
Not just the day before the final presentation! ;-)

By the end of your project you should be able to measure these attributes
and present proof of fitness for use.

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The design process
Design is a highly iterative and innovative process. A number of solutions should
be considered and the ‘best’ chosen for prototyping.

The design process can be broken down into a number of steps:

1. Identification of the need

2. Definition of the problem
3. Research the field This process can be
4. Conceptualization highly iterative with
5. Synthesis into a physical architecture some steps revisiting
6. Materialization and optimization earlier ones before
7. Evaluation (verification and validation) converging on a final
8. Presentation to stakeholders solution.

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Identification of the need
Design begins with the identification of the need for Identification
a product or service. Ask yourself, what engineering
problem needs to be solved? what product or service Definition
needs to be developed?
Innovation plays an important role here. An Research
innovation can provide an incremental
improvement in an existing product, or it can lead Conceptualization
to a completely new product that creates an
Architecture
entirely new market (see Topic 5).
In the capstone course, projects descriptions are Materialization
already provided to the students. In some cases a
project will be suggested by the student team; in Evaluation
such cases we require a demonstration of need,
that is the project brings some value to society. Presentation

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Definition of the problem
Once the need has been identified, a technical Identification
definition of the problem is stated in terms of
specifications of the product or service. Definition
- feature and performance requirements;
- objectives (see the SMART requirement for objectives); Research
- engineering constraints.
Conceptualization
In your capstone project, some features and
performance requirements will already be defined Architecture
for you by the project advisers; you will need to
discuss these with your advisers and define them in Materialization
more detail. The definition of objectives is a core
task of project management (see Topic 1). The first Evaluation
constraints that you need to consider are those of
budget and time; more constraints should be Presentation
considered (see Topic 3).

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Research the field
Usually, similar products or services will already exist Identification
in the market. Identify similar design solutions that
already exist, investigate relevant technologies and Definition
methods.
During this step, the designer should also investigate Research
broader design constraints placed on your product
due to legal, ethical, sustainability (etc) Conceptualization
considerations. Standards, set by the relevant
profession, should also be noted. Architecture
For your capstone project, identify what similar
products already exist in the market and state what Materialization
differentiates your product from them. Often a
capstone project attempts to reproduce existing Evaluation
features at a lower cost or provides innovative
feature enhancements or prototypes a new product. Presentation

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Conceptualization
Conceptual solutions are imagined, discussed and Identification
compared. The designer will prepare a number of
different conceptual solutions that will satisfy Definition
requirements and constraints differently.
At this early stage of the project it is important to Research
find solutions that minimize costs and risks, and
maximize the potential for quality. Conceptualization
For your capstone project, get together with your full Architecture
team to discuss the established methods for solving
the problem. Also "brainstorm" and try to "think out Materialization
of the box" to establish innovative ways of solving
the problem. Make sketches and predict the costs, Evaluation
risks and performance of each idea. Finally discuss
your conceptual solutions with your advisers. Presentation

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Synthesis into a physical architecture
In the synthesis step, a conceptual solution is Identification
decomposed into a physical architecture (a set of
objects that represent actual components). The Definition
architecture can be mathematically modelled and/or
prototyped. A number of conceptual solutions Research
should be considered and compared and the best
one chosen for the next step. Conceptualization
In the capstone course, you are not required to
Architecture
physically build your product until the second
semester, though prototyping can be very useful. You
Materialization
are expected to at least mathematically model the
physical architecture in enough detail to predict the
Evaluation
quality of the final product. The best concept should
then be chosen for the next step.
Presentation

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Materialization and optimization
The chosen physical architecture is ready to be Identification
transformed into a material form, that is a physical
prototype. This will be an iterative process where Definition
the architecture, components and manufacturing
methods are optimized to obtained a system that Research
best meets the product specifications.
Important: up to this step, the design process should Conceptualization
place emphasis on designing safety into the product;
consider all uses, including likely abuse. Architecture
In the capstone course this step is usually started in
the second semester (Capstone II). You will face Materialization
many practical problems, failures, or even the
realization that the physical architecture has Evaluation
significant design flaws. You may need to go back
one or more steps to redesign your solution! Try to Presentation
get it right on the first iteration.
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Evaluation (verification and validation)
The completed prototype is thoroughly tested to Identification
obtain objective proof that the product performs
according to the design specifications (verification) Definition
and satisfies user requirements (validation).
Research
This step requires testing the product under normal
operation conditions and any likely extreme
Conceptualization
conditions.
In the capstone course you will be expected to give Architecture
proof that your product is performing according to
the give requirements in the project description. As Materialization
well as testing the completed product, the
performance of each subsystem should be Evaluation
measured, and the results documented. More
details are given in Topic 4 – Product Verification. Presentation

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Presentation to stakeholders
The final step is to present the product to Identification
stakeholders (supervisors, managers, manufacturers,
clients) in an effect way to give proof that the Definition
solution is successful. In a commercial setting for
example this will determine whether the product Research
goes on to be manufactured for sale. Presentation
includes all kinds of communication including Conceptualization
detailed documentation of evaluation, and user
manuals. Architecture
In the capstone course, requirements for
presentation of your project are clearly set out in the Materialization
course syllabus (4991 & 4992). They include a written
project proposal, a written status report, a final Evaluation
project report and at least two major presentations.
Presentation

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Qualities of a good designer
After studying the design process, it becomes clear that to be successful a
designer needs to

1. be creative to be able to imagine solutions in innovative ways as well as

using established problem-solving techniques.
2. have good theoretical knowledge to be able to mathematically model
solutions, optimize and evaluate them.
3. have good practical skills to be able to physically construct a system
quickly, reliably and safely.
4. have good communication skills to communicate effectively with all
stakeholders, including team members (which may be from different
disciplines), manufacturers, managers and clients.

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Risk
The potential for failure in a project is minimized by good project management
and good design. However, the possibility of failure cannot be excluded entirely.
The possibility for partial failure also exists; that is although requirements are
met, the quality of the product might be lower than intended.
To help to minimize failure, the engineer should identify risks. In this context, risk
can be defined as the product of the probability of the failure and the severity of
the failure.
Risk = Probability of the failure  Severity of the failure

The Probability of the failure is how likely the failure will occur during the project
lifecycle and can be represented on a scale, for example, from unlikely to likely.
The Severity of the failure is a measure of how much harm the failure brings to
the project and can be represented on a scale, for example, from Minor to
Major.

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Each significant source of risk to the project is identified, and a "Risk Level"
(VERY LOW, LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH, VERY HIGH) is calculated based on the
intersection of the probability and the severity of the risk event (left table).

Depending on the risk level, a generalized plan for mitigation is determined

(right table) and adapted to the specific event in the form of a Risk Assessment
Table.
An example for a capstone project is given on the next page.

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Example Risk Assessment Table for a capstone project. The final column provides
recommendations for the mitigation of specific risks. Many more signficiant risks should
be identified and tabulated.

A “Risk Assessment Table” should be included in your Capstone Project Proposal.

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Interfaces
Interfaces are mechanical, electrical, electro-magnetic and data connections
between elements of a system. Details about interfaces can include
information in the form of diagrams, tables, protocols, and textual information.
And example interface diagram is given below.

An interface diagram should be prepared for your capstone project. The

diagram should indicate the interface of sub-systems, the flow of material and
information, energy distribution, sensor-processing-control paths etc.
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Factor of Safety (FoS)
Products are generally designed to exceed the performance requirements to
allow for unexpected loads, misuse, or degradation. This can be quantified in
terms of the factor of safety (FoS) which can be defined as the ratio of the
actual performance to the required performance.
The factor of safety can be determined by the designer to ensure that the
product meets the requirements or can be imposed by law or standards.

Examples
A pick-and-place robot is required to have a precision of 6 mm. The robot is designed to
have a precision of 3 mm to allow for degradation. The FoS is therefore 6mm/3mm = 2.
A bridge is required to support load of up to 100 Tonnes. The bridge is designed to
support 800 Tonnes (a FoS of 8) to allow for unexpected loads and degradation.
A motor driver is required to supply a maximum current of 2.4 A. The designer selects a
driver that can support 3.0 A; the FoS is 3.0/2.4 = 1.25.

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Review questions for Engineering Design
The following questions are designed to help you to focus on the important
concepts; you will also find them helpful for the mid-term exam.

What is meant by the term "Quality"? In engineering design, briefly summarize

List the eight steps of the design process. the activities in the following steps:
- Identification of the need
List the four qualities of a good designer.
- Definition of the problem
Define "Risk". - Research the field
List the four types of interfaces that form - Conceptualization
connections between elements of a system. - Synthesis into a physical architecture
- Materialization and optimization
Define "factor of safety".
- Evaluation (verification and validation)
- Presentation to stakeholders

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