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Summary Page for Individual Wiki Report

Date Completed: 29 November 2006

Table of Contents

Report Summary Problem Statement Summary Requirements Summary Specifications Summary Concept Generation Summary Design Refinement Summary Final Selection Summary Lessons Learned Summary Problem Statement Requirements Specifications Concept Generation Design Refinement Final Selection Lessons Learned

Team: Solar Car

Problem Statement Summary

With the Solar Car already having batteries and a motor, the Solar Car needed a driver interface in order to control the acceleration and velocity of the car. This interface was tremendously important in allowing the Solar Car to begin moving. With an extremely confined environment around both the driver’s hands and feet, the accelerator needed to be space conservative. Furthermore, with the Solar Car’s budget being very tight, the solution to the accelerator problem needed to be particularly inexpensive.

Requirements Summary (Click Here to Go Back to Top)

Some of the requirements and considerations that the Solar Car’s accelerator needed to meet in order to accomplish its task were:

• Safe
• Cost Effective
• Ease of Assembly and Manufacturing
• Intuitive to Use
• Space Conservative
• Smooth Acceleration

The above requirements and the following specifications were facilitated by performing lab work and design selection methodology.

Specifications Summary (Click Here to Go Back to Top)

In order to fit the needs of the Solar Car Team, the accelerator needed to be:

• Space Conservative
• Light Weight
• Cost Effective
• Degree of Total Travel

Concept Generation Summary (Click Here to Go Back to Top)

The concepts thought of and the tools used during the generation process can be downloaded from the links below.

• Mind Map
• Hand Drawing of Hand Accelerator
• Perspective Hand Drawing of Hand Accelerator
• Picture of a Gas Pedal (Courtesy of http://store.bobdrake.com/19gasped6.html)

Design Refinement Summary (Click Here to Go Back to Top)

The QFD and the ProE isometric views (2 views for each of the top candidates) made to help refine the accelerator design can be downloaded below.

• Excel File of the Initial QFD (Or Click Here for a Picture File)
• ProE View of a Foot Pedal (1st View)
• ProE view of a Foot Pedal (2nd View)
• ProE View of a Hand Lever (1st View)
• ProE View of a Hand Lever (2nd View)

Final Selection Summary (Click Here to Go Back to Top)

The information for the final selection of the hand lever as the accelerator, namely the QFD and a ProE engineering drawing, can be downloaded below.

• Excel File of the Final QFD (Or Click Here for a Picture File)
• ProE Engineering Drawing of the Hand Lever

Lessons Learned Summary (Click Here to Go Back to Top)

It was found that the most conventional solution is not always the best. Furthermore, it was found that clear guidelines of requirements and specifications early on in the design selection process tremendously speeds up the process. Also the end result is much more specific and exact to solve the problem(s). Another lesson learned was that even after a design has been selected and implemented, the design can be improved or even combined with other ideas thought of during the design process.

Acknowledgements and References (Click Here to Go Back to Top)

• All pictures and excel files were done by me unless otherwise stated.
• Special thanks to Joseph Alston, Ryan Jamison, Kelty Wakeley, David Call and Jacquee Lee for their help with wiki source code and formatting ideas.

Continue to Problem Statement Page
Or head to the Lessons Learned Page