Creative Engineering Project
For this project, our task was to pick a world problem and try to come up with some sort of prototype to help or fix the problem. We had no limits to what we wanted to study and could pick any problem. My group and I chose to study drought. We chose drought because it is a MAJOR world problem and although we may not be able to fix it entirely, there are many ways that we can greatly help. We started brainstorming a lot of ideas. We came up with a water saving shower head. The shower head would conserve water by shutting of after a certain amount of water and time is used. We started researching about shower heads, water conservation, and how much water Americans use per day (for showers), While researching about all this we found a water conservation and timed shower head had already been invented and up for sale. We could no longer use our idea so we started brainstorming some more. After thinking through a lot of other ideas, we decided to come up with an water desalination tank. The idea of our tank was to have saltwater heated up in the middle of it causing it to evaporate. The evaporated water would raise to the top of the dome-shaped shelter and condense. It would then fall down the curved sides Into the tubes on the side and be pushed into a container. The salt would have stayed in the tank so when the water is collected it is now fresh water!
Engineering Design Cycle
1. Identify the need: to turn saltwater into freshwater by the process of desalination
2. Research the Problem: we researched that when water evaporates that the salt in it stays behind making the evaporated water fresh pure water
3. Develop Possible Solutions: we figured that if we made a dome shaped container that the fresh evaporated water could slide down the smooth sides
4. Select the Most Promising Solution: our dome-shaped shelter was the best thing for us to get fresh water
5. Construct a Prototype: we made our dome out if cardboard, wire, plastic wrap, multiple containers, and some tissue paper
6. Test and Evaluate the Prototype: we were not able to test the product because we could not get a heater or flame under the salt water to actually heat it up and have it evaporate
7. Communicate the Design: for this project we made a powerpoint presentation as seen above- it contains all the information
8. Redesign: we were not required to redesign our project
9. Repeat: not applicable for this project
Reflection
This was a very interesting project. One thing I liked about it was that we got to pick any problem we wanted and try to come up with solutions to help/ fix it. A lot of thought went into this project and I really feel like it benefitted my group and I. During this whole process a peak i observed was the research. I learned a lot of new things about world problems- especially drought. Another peak that we had was our model prototype. My group and I are very proud of how it turned out. Its a simple design with not a lot of factors to it, but it is very clean and organized. We made it to the scale we wanted it at and it looks very good. It also gets the point across well and really shows how it would be set up. Although this project was one of my favorites we still had some struggles. One thing that could have gone better was our focus. Sometimes we found ourselves side tracked with other projects. Although this took a lot more time we still got it done and our happy with our project and presentation. Another little part that could have gone better for us was time management with our researching. Because we had the first idea of a time/water conserving shower head, we spent a lot of time on that. After finding out it was already invented, we knew that we could no longer do it. From this setback, we had a lot less time to research drought and our new project. Next time we should search the actual product name first and see if it is invented or thought of before we research the whole thing. Then we won't have the time setback and struggle of brainstorming a new project. I think our desalination tank is a very clever and thought through idea and one day, with the money and time, can hopefully be built for use and really help solve the problem of drought.
For this project, our task was to pick a world problem and try to come up with some sort of prototype to help or fix the problem. We had no limits to what we wanted to study and could pick any problem. My group and I chose to study drought. We chose drought because it is a MAJOR world problem and although we may not be able to fix it entirely, there are many ways that we can greatly help. We started brainstorming a lot of ideas. We came up with a water saving shower head. The shower head would conserve water by shutting of after a certain amount of water and time is used. We started researching about shower heads, water conservation, and how much water Americans use per day (for showers), While researching about all this we found a water conservation and timed shower head had already been invented and up for sale. We could no longer use our idea so we started brainstorming some more. After thinking through a lot of other ideas, we decided to come up with an water desalination tank. The idea of our tank was to have saltwater heated up in the middle of it causing it to evaporate. The evaporated water would raise to the top of the dome-shaped shelter and condense. It would then fall down the curved sides Into the tubes on the side and be pushed into a container. The salt would have stayed in the tank so when the water is collected it is now fresh water!
Engineering Design Cycle
1. Identify the need: to turn saltwater into freshwater by the process of desalination
2. Research the Problem: we researched that when water evaporates that the salt in it stays behind making the evaporated water fresh pure water
3. Develop Possible Solutions: we figured that if we made a dome shaped container that the fresh evaporated water could slide down the smooth sides
4. Select the Most Promising Solution: our dome-shaped shelter was the best thing for us to get fresh water
5. Construct a Prototype: we made our dome out if cardboard, wire, plastic wrap, multiple containers, and some tissue paper
6. Test and Evaluate the Prototype: we were not able to test the product because we could not get a heater or flame under the salt water to actually heat it up and have it evaporate
7. Communicate the Design: for this project we made a powerpoint presentation as seen above- it contains all the information
8. Redesign: we were not required to redesign our project
9. Repeat: not applicable for this project
Reflection
This was a very interesting project. One thing I liked about it was that we got to pick any problem we wanted and try to come up with solutions to help/ fix it. A lot of thought went into this project and I really feel like it benefitted my group and I. During this whole process a peak i observed was the research. I learned a lot of new things about world problems- especially drought. Another peak that we had was our model prototype. My group and I are very proud of how it turned out. Its a simple design with not a lot of factors to it, but it is very clean and organized. We made it to the scale we wanted it at and it looks very good. It also gets the point across well and really shows how it would be set up. Although this project was one of my favorites we still had some struggles. One thing that could have gone better was our focus. Sometimes we found ourselves side tracked with other projects. Although this took a lot more time we still got it done and our happy with our project and presentation. Another little part that could have gone better for us was time management with our researching. Because we had the first idea of a time/water conserving shower head, we spent a lot of time on that. After finding out it was already invented, we knew that we could no longer do it. From this setback, we had a lot less time to research drought and our new project. Next time we should search the actual product name first and see if it is invented or thought of before we research the whole thing. Then we won't have the time setback and struggle of brainstorming a new project. I think our desalination tank is a very clever and thought through idea and one day, with the money and time, can hopefully be built for use and really help solve the problem of drought.