Workshop lessons - week 1

We spent this week in the workshop working on our prototypes for our desk tidies. To create a prototype we had to have all our designs finalized and have created a one to one scaled drawing. Our prototypes were created with cardboard and tape. I started creating my prototype in the style of a net. I did this because I will then create my actual desk tidy on acrylic as a net so it doesn't use an unnecessary amount of cardboard and I can bend it on the strip heater. 

When I was creating my prototype I found the most difficult thing was drawing lines straight and parallel. If I didn't keep my lines parallel then the measurements would be wrong and the pieces wouldn't fit. I've now finished my prototype and have started drawing my net on my chosen acrylic plastic (dark green). 

Designs - Part 2

Design 5: 

Pros: 

- Basic design: doesn't use much plastic 

- Can hold a phone/iPod 

- Won't use much surface space 

Cons: 

- Too basic 

- Can't hold A4 paper/iPad 

- Visually not nice 

Design 6: 

Pros: 

- Holds both phone and iPad/A4 paper 

- Holds tall objects 

- Long: can fit against a wall

Cons: 

- No place for smaller things i.e. paper clips and rubber 

Design 7: 

Pros: 

- Holds almost everything I need 

- Is nice visually 

- Long: can fit against wall 

Cons: 

- To big? 

- Have no place to hold pens/pencils 

Designs - Part 1

Design 1:

Pros:

- Visually nice 

- Good design 

- Holds small things

Cons: 

- No place for A4 paper/notepads

- Using to much surface space? 

Design 2: 

Pros: 

- Good design 

- Can hold iPad and A4 paper 

Cons: 

- Visually, prefer design no. 1 

- No place for phone/iPod 

- Would need to fit everything together more 

Design 3:

Pros: 

- Can hold iPad and A4 paper 

- Holds many things, big or small 

Cons: 

- To tall? 

- Base is to big and will take up too much surface space 

- No phone/iPod stand 

- Don't like it visually 

Design 4: 

Pros: 

- Holds many things 

- Can hold both iPad/A4 paper and phone 

Cons: 

- Base to big 

- Is not nice visually 

- Uses a lot of plastic 

Workshop lesson with Mr Ward

So in today's lesson Mr Ward took us through the workshop and showed us many things including:

- the type of plastic we are using and some facts about it (thermoplastic) 

- how to bend the plastic on the strip heater, including bending it on different angles 

- how to put the plastic in the oven to heat the whole thing up, making it floppy 

- techniques to glueing the plastic and how to use the glue 

- the different colours of plastic which are downstairs 

- the buffer and how we should always tie our hair up 

- some of the other classes designs and how they made them with cardboard 

- how to use the cutting board and whether it's better to use a Stanley knife or scissors. 

I learnt a lot in this lesson and am thankful that Mr Ward took the time to teach us these many things. 

TERM 3 - Desk Tidy Reviews

 Here are some of my reviews on desk tidies that I found online...

What I like:

- It has a lot of compartments

- It's compact and wouldnt use much desk space

- It goes up on different levels

What I don't like:

- I can't put A4 sheets of paper in it

- I can't see my phone screen 

  

What I like:

- It looks nice visually

- It's small and would fit in a corner of a desk

What I don't like:

- The compartments are mades for specific things only

- There's no place to put my phone or ipad

- There's no place to put paper or a notepad

What I like:

- It looks nice visually

- It holds my phone so that I can see the screen

- It doesn't take up much space

What I don't like:

- It only holds pens and a phone

- There is no space for paper or notepads

What I like:

- It looks nice visually

- The phone holder is really nice

- It can hold things other than pencils

What I don't like:

- It has no space for paper or a notepad

- I can't see the phone screen

Research Questions

Research Questions

What does CAD stand for? Computer Aided Design

What is a prototype? And why is prototyping important? A prototype is a early model built to test a design or process or to be replicated and learned from. It is important to have a prototype so the designer/s can test the safety of the design and the suitability of the design.

What is Rapid-Prototyping? Rapid Prototyping is techniques used to quickly make a scale model of part or assembly using CAD.

 

Before Rapid-Prototyping, how were prototypes manufactured? Before Rapid-Prototyping, Topography and photosculpture were used to test designs. 

What is the difference between a prototype and a production design? A prototype is used to test the design of a certain idea, where as a production design is the final design used to show businesses to have them stock that certain item. 

What is the difference between a visual prototype and a functional prototype? A visual prototype is a picture or drawing of what the final design should look like, these are used to show potential customers or businesses. A functional prototype is a model of the design that has been made which works. 

What is 3D Printing? 3D printing is a process of making a 3D solid object of any shape designed on a digital model. The 3D printing procedure is made using an additive process, layers of material are laid down in different shapes, slowly creating a 3D object.

What does the term CNC stand for in the design and technology industries? Computer Numerical Control. It means that a computer converts the design produced by CAD, into numbers.

What is an STL file? STL or stereolithography is a certain file used for the CAD software created by a 3D system.   

Cube with rounded edges and a hole in

This was one of my first designs that our class did together, which I've just realised I have a picture of.