Reverse Engineering
Project Description
The engineering redesign project was focused on analyzing a product and its various systems and then coming up a hypothesis we, as a group, wanted to prove. The hypothesis my group came up with was that when the speaker was disassembled and all the individual parts were analyzed, the connection points of the wires to the circuit boards and speaker would be the weakest and have the highest potential for failure. Before we came up with this hypothesis, we first each brought in an item then individually took that item apart and drew conceptual sketches of it. I brought in a broken ultrasonic humidifier. As a group, we decided to analyze the speaker because it seemed like the most interesting item we had. After we decided on the speaker, we analyzed the different speaker parts. The analysis was broken into four sections: manufacturing analysis, structural analysis, functional analysis, and material analysis. For the project, we had to create an in depth report on each of these areas and a presentation to present our findings to the class. In our group, we decided to break up the work so each person had one section to analyze. I ended up with material analysis. While we were analyzing the speaker, we decided to break up our presentation into the different subsystems of the speaker. This seemed like the most organized way to convey the information we found and was thus a logical choice to present our findings. Our hypothesis ended up being somewhat true. The connection points of the wires to the various elements were the weakest parts, and in fact, they broke while we were looking at the speaker, even though we were delicate. Despite this, we concluded this was not the weakest point because the wires were internal. They would not be moved even the slightest because they are inside the speaker, so the odds of them breaking are very low. We couldn't find any other points of wear, but there could have been some electrical wear, but we didn't have the skills to tell if there was. We then presented this information to the class in the form of a Google Slides. The presentation and report can be found below.
The engineering redesign project was focused on analyzing a product and its various systems and then coming up a hypothesis we, as a group, wanted to prove. The hypothesis my group came up with was that when the speaker was disassembled and all the individual parts were analyzed, the connection points of the wires to the circuit boards and speaker would be the weakest and have the highest potential for failure. Before we came up with this hypothesis, we first each brought in an item then individually took that item apart and drew conceptual sketches of it. I brought in a broken ultrasonic humidifier. As a group, we decided to analyze the speaker because it seemed like the most interesting item we had. After we decided on the speaker, we analyzed the different speaker parts. The analysis was broken into four sections: manufacturing analysis, structural analysis, functional analysis, and material analysis. For the project, we had to create an in depth report on each of these areas and a presentation to present our findings to the class. In our group, we decided to break up the work so each person had one section to analyze. I ended up with material analysis. While we were analyzing the speaker, we decided to break up our presentation into the different subsystems of the speaker. This seemed like the most organized way to convey the information we found and was thus a logical choice to present our findings. Our hypothesis ended up being somewhat true. The connection points of the wires to the various elements were the weakest parts, and in fact, they broke while we were looking at the speaker, even though we were delicate. Despite this, we concluded this was not the weakest point because the wires were internal. They would not be moved even the slightest because they are inside the speaker, so the odds of them breaking are very low. We couldn't find any other points of wear, but there could have been some electrical wear, but we didn't have the skills to tell if there was. We then presented this information to the class in the form of a Google Slides. The presentation and report can be found below.
Reverse Engineering Report |
Reverse Engineering Presentation |
Terms and Definition
Reverse Engineering: A process that can be used to gather information and find answers using an existing product to better help design and create a similar product. This was the method we used to guide this project and the different steps, minus the creation of a new similar product.
Invention: The creation of a product that is unique or novel.
Innovation: The manner in which a current product or idea is changed and modified.
Material Analysis: A look at what each material is in the product, the different properties of each material, and why that specific material was chosen for that product. This helped us gauge the effectiveness of the materials chosen and if they needed to be changed or not.
Manufacturing Analysis: The analysis of how each part is created from the raw materials. This helped us take a closer look at how each part was constructed and if there was a better way to do so.
Functional Analysis: An examination of how each part functions and how those functions contribute to the overall functionality of the product. Looking at this helped us better grasp how the speaker functioned, and judge whether or not this process could be improved.
Structural Analysis: An analysis of how the product is put together and connected and how the different parts are connected to each other. This analysis helped us better understand how each part was connected, and we could use this information to decide if there was a way to do this better.
Reverse Engineering: A process that can be used to gather information and find answers using an existing product to better help design and create a similar product. This was the method we used to guide this project and the different steps, minus the creation of a new similar product.
Invention: The creation of a product that is unique or novel.
Innovation: The manner in which a current product or idea is changed and modified.
Material Analysis: A look at what each material is in the product, the different properties of each material, and why that specific material was chosen for that product. This helped us gauge the effectiveness of the materials chosen and if they needed to be changed or not.
Manufacturing Analysis: The analysis of how each part is created from the raw materials. This helped us take a closer look at how each part was constructed and if there was a better way to do so.
Functional Analysis: An examination of how each part functions and how those functions contribute to the overall functionality of the product. Looking at this helped us better grasp how the speaker functioned, and judge whether or not this process could be improved.
Structural Analysis: An analysis of how the product is put together and connected and how the different parts are connected to each other. This analysis helped us better understand how each part was connected, and we could use this information to decide if there was a way to do this better.
Reflection
The biggest problem my group struggled with in this project was time management. We each had to complete our own section in both the report and presentation, but we also had to complete our individual resumes. Better communication and work delegation would have helped lead to a better use of time and less of a time crunch at the end. One thing we did really well was that we each finished our respective work. We were able to divide up the work and rely on the other people to finish what they were assigned, which helped lead to a better overall final product. One other thing we could have worked on was our communication. When someone was going to work on the resume and weren't really available to talk to other group members about the project, it wasn't really communicated. I did this a couple times, and it was hard to extract myself from working on my resume to help my group with the report and presentation. Another thing we did well was the detail of our work. Everyone had very in depth, but easy to understand, information that helped greatly in to leading to a better presentation. This project went well, but like everything, there was always something that could be improved upon. For the next project, I plan to focus on effective communication and time management.
The biggest problem my group struggled with in this project was time management. We each had to complete our own section in both the report and presentation, but we also had to complete our individual resumes. Better communication and work delegation would have helped lead to a better use of time and less of a time crunch at the end. One thing we did really well was that we each finished our respective work. We were able to divide up the work and rely on the other people to finish what they were assigned, which helped lead to a better overall final product. One other thing we could have worked on was our communication. When someone was going to work on the resume and weren't really available to talk to other group members about the project, it wasn't really communicated. I did this a couple times, and it was hard to extract myself from working on my resume to help my group with the report and presentation. Another thing we did well was the detail of our work. Everyone had very in depth, but easy to understand, information that helped greatly in to leading to a better presentation. This project went well, but like everything, there was always something that could be improved upon. For the next project, I plan to focus on effective communication and time management.