EML1533 Design Project

EML 1533: Introduction to CAD for ME

Final Project

Due:     1/29/2011       Submit one paragraph description of your design.

4/16/2013       Submit a complete package of the project.

 Objectives:

1. Use SolidWorks 2008 or 2010 to accomplish a mechanism design and motion animation.

2. Reinforce the document preparation and presentation skills.

3. Reinforce the team-work spirit.

 Requirements:

1. Three or four students as a team use SolidWorks 2008-2010 to complete the design.

2. The project has to include:

      a. the models and drawings of all the parts, at least two parts for each student.

b. an assembly and assembly drawings.

      c. a video clip of motion animation.

3. A MS Word document of your design has to be prepared which includes:

a. an introduction of the design.

b. the typical functions (screenshots) of the design.

c. discussion and conclusion.

d. a set of technical drawings as an appendix.

4. Each team has to use MS PowerPoint to prepare a 5-10 minutes presentation and present your design in class on the due day.

5. Submit both printed and electronic copies of the project on the due day. All of the electronic files have to be saved in a CD which includes a Word document, a PowerPoint presentation, part models, assemblies, drawings, and animation video clips.

 Grading Criteria:

Design: 80%

   1. A useful and/or interesting application.

2. Correct mechanism design.

3. Correct models and drawings (standard dimensions and tolerances) for each part.

4. Correct assembly and assembly drawings.

5. A satisfactory video clip for mechanism animations of the design.

Document     :   10%

Presentation:   10%

Approach

Your Report

Writing Suggestions

Advice (Not Compulsory)

   - Abstract

   - Table of Contents

   - Introduction

   - Background

   - Body of Report

   - Results and Discussion

   - Conclusions and Future Work

   - Acknowledgments

   - References

   - Appendix

Back to the Course Page

   Approach

A final design project is required. All teams must complete an assembly design that incorporates mating parts and fasteners (bolts, screws, washers, etc.). You must also produce a drawing for each part that has appropriate dimensioning and tolerance, an assembly drawing, an exploded drawing. The emphasis is on proper dimensioning and tolerance (including geometric dimensioning and tolerance) so that the assembly is manufacturable, inexpensive, and can be assembled properly.

You should do this design project in teams of 3-4 people. You should tell your instructor your team members by November 17, 2011.

Your final design project report's due is on 23 April, 2013!

   Your Report

Your report should clearly describe a design that meets the system goals and design requirements as well as possible. You should evaluate whether your design is better or worse than the existing system. Do not forget to include diagrams where appropriate.

You should solve the stated problem explaining your design, and decisions' purposes. Your solution should be as simple as to do the job, because unnecessary complexity is bad. Your solution should fit well with the rest of the system. If your design requires modifying process for the parts, it won't be credible, unless you can come up with a very good story why everything needs to be changed. Your design should be extensible for later addition of desirable features that you decided to neglect. Your analysis must be clear!

   Writing Suggestions

This section provides some suggestions and guidelines on writing style and some of the things you should care about.  Your paper should be as long as is necessary to explain the problem, your solution, the alternatives you considered, and the reasons for your choices. It should be no longer than that. A good paper begins with an abstract. The abstract is a very short summary of the entire paper. It is not an outline of the organization of the paper! It states the problem to be addressed (in one sentence). It states the essential points of your solution, without any detailed justification. And it announces any conclusions you have drawn. Normally, abstracts can fit in 100-150 words, at most.

The body of your paper should expand the subjects made in the abstract. Here you should: Explain the problem and the externally imposed constraints, and elaborate your solution. And then show how your solution satisfies the constraints and solves the problem (or how it fails to do so). Don't forget to document your sources, giving a list of all references (including personal communications). The style of your citations (references) and bibliography should be similar to the styles in the technical papers you're reading in this class. In particular, a bibliography at the end and no citations in the text of your paper is insufficient.

   Advice (Not Compulsory)

     Title Page: Must include your design project's title, your names, contact information (e-mail addresses), and the name of your instructor/professor.

 IMPORTANT: Before submit your report you should assemble a project directory which contains all your programs, drawings, pictures, etc. and your project report (source files and pdf or postscript). Make sure this directory is readable! You should submit both hard copy and a CD containing all your files related to your design project.

     Abstract: The abstract is a very brief summary of the report's contents. It should be about half a page long or should fit in 100-150 words. Somebody unfamiliar with your project should have a good idea of what it is reading the abstract alone and will know whether they are interested in.

     Table of Contents: Include the page numbers for the beginning of each section. It should list the main chapters and (sub) sections of your report. If possible you should include page numbers indicating where each chapter/section begins.

     Introduction: It is best to present the objectives of the project, and the main results and outcomes, clearly in the first two or three pages, possibly in the abstract but certainly in the introduction. The personal contribution you made should be clearly stated. Therefore you need to specify your sources of information.

This is one of the most important components of the report. It should begin with a clear statement of what the project is about. It should summarize everything you plan to achieve, provide a clear summary of the project's background, relevance and main contributions.

     Background: The background part of the report should state the context by relating it to existing published works which you read at the start of the project when you were considering your approach and methods. There are always many ways of solving a given problem, and you shouldn't just pick one at random. You should describe and evaluate as many alternative approaches as possible. The background section can be included as part of the introduction but is usually better as a separate chapter, especially if the project involved significant amount of prior research (In your case you can just combine these two sections). The published work may be in the form of research papers, articles, text books, technical manuals, or even existing software or hardware. You must acknowledge the sources of your inspiration. You are expected to have seen and thought about other people's ideas; your contribution will be putting them into practice in some other context. However, you should avoid plagiarism^*: if you take another person's work as your own and do not cite your sources of information, you are being dishonest; in other words you are cheating. When referring to someone's work, you should cite and refer to them.

     Body of Report: It is the main part of your project detailing the technical work you do. You should explain if you have done design, implementation, experimentation, optimization, or evaluation etc. You should name the section depending on your project. You should evaluate and compare your work with existing techniques.

     Results: You should come up with a result section containing your results which you reached. You should summarize your results and be careful not to mention about anything that wasn't already mentioned in the previous parts of your report.

     Conclusions and Future Work: The project's conclusions should list the things which have been learnt as a result of the work you have done. It is common to finalize your report by listing further work that are possible for your project.

     Acknowledgments: In this section you should give credit to everyone who assisted you partially while you were doing your project.

     References: You should include any documentation that is not your own, such as books or articles, that you used.

     Appendix: The appendices may contain information which is peripheral to the main body of the report. Information can be parts of the codes, tables, drawings, pictures, and any other material. You should try to bind all your material in a single volume if possible.

You should strictly avoid from plagiarism!

^*Plagiarism: A student must not adopt or reproduce ideas, words, or statements of another person without appropriate acknowledgment. A student must give credit to the originality of others work and acknowledge whenever he/she does. You can quote another person's actual words or paraphrases another person's words, idea, opinion, or theory.