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Product Design Portfolio 2013
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Product Reality And Commercial Viability
I am a second year Product Design (BA) student at the University Of Hertfordshire.
I am enthusiastic about design, and have good knowledge and skills in a range of disciplines. My design skills have rapidly progressed in the past months of work, and I feel this is reflected through my portfolio. I have recently taken particular interest in sustainability and the design practice, and have achieved 1st
grade honours in three different modules based around the subject.
Contents:
3) Product Reality And Commercial Viability6) Product And The User9) Product Lifestyles And Futures
1st Year Work
12) Recycled Chair14) 1st Year Drawings15) Turntable Automata16) Ergonomic Analysis17) Time and People
This is a 2nd year module based around redesigning a puschair.
Lack of equipment area
Frame shape for strength, and adaptablility
Vibration when using the Pushchair
Protection for the baby
Improved Step/ Gap bridging system
Carrying HandleThe first part of the project involved primary research using a low-end buggy on a trip via Funsbury Park Station, this eventually culminated in a group presentation. After identifying six key areas that needed improving upon, I set about drawing intiial improvement ideas in the next part of the project, which was a solo task.
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Cup Holder: Al-lows the adult to store drink, easy to hand.Secondary Handle: Allows the buggy to be carried up stairs easily, also
can be used as a footrest by the child.
Storage Compartment: Allows shopping and other items to be easily stored.
Large Pneumatic Wheels: Reduce vibration felt in hands and seat, pushing the buggy is smoother and easier.
Soft Ergonomic Foam han-dles: Reduce Vibration and make the buggy easier to hold and push.
Extended Handle: Allows the buggy to be pushed up easily to get over steps and gaps.
Weather Cover: Protects the baby from the elements, retractable if not needed.
Wire Attachments: Allows the seat to sway gently as the buggy is pushed; reducing vibration and helping the child rest.
Cushioned Seat: Reduces vibra-tion on the baby, allowing it to rest easy.
Adjustable Length Handles: Allow the user to walk behind with more room, improves ergonomics.
Collapses Inwards:
Collapses Down:
In the development phase of the project I chose designs from different aspects of my idiation that I wanted to develop. This included hooks that allow the seat to hang, that would reduce vibration felt by the child, while also allowing the seat to be produced form a thin material for collapsibility. Among other ideas I also added a lever to the handle which would allow the user to cross a gap easily; this is an area that needed addressing which we found in a our primary research from the gap between the platform and train.
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This is a second year project that focuses on sustain-able design and product paradigm I first set about ana-lysing the lawnmower to understand areas that could be adapted and improved upon. This included a num-ber of pages ranging from ergonomic analysis to the analysis of task, based around three different types of mower. I consequently used this information to help with the idiation phase. I looked at 7 key areas to develop ideas through:
• Innovation• Low Impact Materials• Optimized Manufacturing• Efficient Distribution• Low Impact Use• Optimized Lifetime• Optimized End-Of-Life
PRODUCT AND THE USER My developed idea was to adapt a petrol powered rotary lawnmower, so that it can also collect and provide rainwater as an additional function. In the existing paradigm a lawnmower is used occasionally, for only half of the year. In this multi-functional redesign the mower is able to convert into a rainwater harvesting system when it is not in use; increasing functionality and saving resources. The mower is easily adaptable, and the owner will be able to do it within minutes. The transformation will not require any ad-ditional parts, just the mower’s handles, engine cover and grass box.
Handle/ Stab-liser Part 1
Handle/ Stab-liser Part 2
Engine Cover/ Harvesting Lid
Grass Box/ Water Tank
Recycled Garden tools
Recycled Sandpit
Recycled Flower BedSheep cutting service
Sustainable Materials
Composting Grassbox
Lawnmower Chair
Lawnmower Wheelbarrow
Goalkeeper Attachment
Rainwater Collector
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Various recent studies have found powered lawnmowers to be particularly detrimental on the environment – even more so than automobiles. The air pollution from cutting grass for an hour with a gasoline powered lawn mower is about the same as that from a 100 mile automobile ride, according to a new study from Sweden. While a 2001 US report states that the emissions produced from an old mower are equivalent to driving 650 miles in a 1992 model automo-bile. The 20,000,000 small engines sold in the U.S. each year contrib-ute about one tenth of the total U.S. mobile source hydrocarbon emissions, and are the largest single contributor to these non-road emissions. Each weekend, about 54 million Americans mow their lawns, using 800 million gallons of gas per year and producing tons of air pollutants. A typical push type lawn mower is run for an average of 25 hours per year, according to the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute. Since this equipment is used mostly during the hot summer months, when ground level ozone is the highest, it can also cau se problems for asthmatics and aggravates other respiratory conditions. Mowers also create significant noise pollution, and could cause hear-ing loss if used without hearing protection.
Electric-powered lawn mowers don’t emit pollutants by themselves, but the electricity needed to power them is often generated in power plants that burn fossil fuels. Solar-powered electric mowers require no external source of electricity, but they can only run for a limited time on each charge. Since push reel mowers are powered exclusively by the person doing the pushing and are much cheaper than solar-powered mowers, they’re the most environmental mower.
On the other end of the spectrum, petrol lawn mowers are inef-ficient and release 25-30% of their mixture of oil and gas unburned into the air. A four-cycle lawn mower engine burns its fuel more efficiently, but it still emits hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide and other pollutants linked to global climate change.
Lawn mowers could run on electricity powered by the sun, if the technology improves. Or they could run on biodiesel or hydrogen fuel cell technology already under development. The Swedish re-port, is the first to compare lawn mower pollution with auto mile-age, recommends using catalytic converters on mowers. One of the main lawnmower polluters, Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, can be cut by more than 80% using a catalytic converter like those used in automobiles.
Lawnmower Product AnalysisCase Study
Based on the questions that I have been given, I have researched existing cases where a similar type of issue have been solved.
Can I propose a product that cuts the grass without involving any physical or technological effort that may be harmful on the environment?
Can the technology and methods combating environmental issues involved with Lawnmowers be advanced to decrease the products impact on the environment?
Bike Sharing Scheme: The Barclays (Boris) bike sharing scheme in Lon-don, is an example of a product that has been made into a service for en-vironmental reasons. The system is designed to help make London a truly cycle friendly city. By sharing bicycles, less Bicycles need to be produced therefore meaning the environmental impacts in manufacturing and materials are lessened. Furthermore when the bikes get old or break down, they are more likely to be repaired and maintained better. Currently, there are 8,000 bikes available from 570 self-service docking stations. Regular users of the scheme can register on the TfL website and sign up for one of three levels of access: daily, weekly or yearly. Users are then sent a key in the post to oper-ate the docking stations which they must activate before they use it for the first time – a key costs £3, and up to four can be registered under a single account. Scheme members insert the membership key into a docking point key slot; an amber light indicates that the account is being verified, then a green light indicates that the cycle can be undocked. So far, the scheme has proven to be an enormous success.
Environmentally Designed Light Bulbs: Energy efficient light bulbs are an example of a product that has changed with the influence of new technol-ogy allowing them to be more environmentally friendly. Energy saving light bulbs are fluorescent not incandescent. Fluorescent bulbs produce much less heat; therefore a higher proportion of the electrical energy is converted to light energy, for the same amount of light output. Fitting just one energy-sav-ing light bulb can save users on average £3 a year - and by swapping all the inefficient bulbs in a home for energy-saving alternatives could save around £55 per year. Inefficient light bulbs are all being phased out by the govern-ment, retailers and energy companies. Light bulb manufacturers are looking to change their factories, so they can produce enough energy saving light bulbs to meet the growing global demand. The UK scheme began by phas-ing out bulbs greater than 100W. Lower rated bulbs were then also phased out step by step until they had all been removed from the shelves of major retailers.
User: The user of a lawnmower could vary between any age and either gender. In general a lawnmower would be used to cut the lawn of the user’s home, this would suggest users between the age of 20 and 70. Many adolescents may try and earn pock-et money by cutting peoples grass, although it is recommended that a mower should not be used by children under 11 years of age. The mower is also used in industry for cutting grass for sports events (golf courses, football pitches) where the technology would be more complicated and may take the user time to learn. Mowers are also used in public parks and gardens by paid gardeners.
Safety: In the US, over 12,000 people per year are hospitalized due to mower accidents. The vast majority of these injuries can be prevented by wearing protective footwear when mowing,; some mowers incorporate a blade guard. It is recommended that children be at least 12 years old before they are allowed to mow. Com-mon lawnmower injurys include: • Electrocution when using electric powered lawn mowers caused by cutting through the lawn mower cable.• Injuryfromaflyingobject,somelawnmowerscancausesmallstonesanddebristobe‘fired’outfromunderthelawnmowerataspeedofover100mph.• Cut foot after contact with the rotating blades.• Burns by having bare skin come into contact with the engine casing.
Function: The function of a lawn mower is to cut grass; however it can differ slightly based on the purpose and the type of mower. A mower is traditionally intended for basic lawn maintenance for homeowners; keeping the grass clippedandtheweedstrimmed.Sportsfields,Golfcoursesandparksmayneedamoreheavydutytypeofmower,with different heights of grass becoming an adaptable aspect. Similarly for lawn maintenance businesses, customers may require a higher standard of cutting therefore grass height and quality will need to be addressed. Typically these mower’s may also be able to add nutrient rich mulch to the ground , and have the ability to clear up leaves in the autumn.
Aesthetics: Their are two main types of lawnmowers that use a different type of technology; cyclinder (reel) mow-ers and rotary mowers. Cylinder lawnmowers use a revolving cylinder made of sharpened blades that rotate around at an offset angle, when the mower is pushed the blades will cut the grass. A bed knife forms the other part of the cutting action, which scissors the grass as the rotating blades swing around. Cylinder mowers are able to cut lawns more cleanly than rotary mowers with the height of the bed knife allowing the grass length to be altered. Reel mowers use the same type of cutting system as Cylinder mowers but don’t require any power, this means they require more effort to use. Rotary mowers are always powered and use a petrol engine or electric motor mounted on the top of the blade housing, they are the most common type of mower found. Rotary machines rely upon a spinning blade held horizontally above the ground, the sharpened edge and movements of the blade therefore “skim” the top of the grass and cut to the required level.
Maintainance: Reel mowers are cheap, easy to maintain and suitable for smaller lawns they are the perfect solution for someone with easily maintainable lawns. Some reel mowers use contact-free blades which increases blade life dramatically, and sealed bearings – all helping to keep the cost of maintenance down considerably. Powered mowers will require more maintaining; the user should always use the fuel and oil recommended by the engine manufacturer and make sure the oil isn’t more than three months old as it could cause problems when trying to start the machine. It is recom-mended that Rotary mower blades are sharperned and replaced every two years from fatigue and the grass collecter bag/box should be kept unclogged as it will block air-flowwhichcouldcauseapoorcollectionofgrass.
Cost: A lawnmower costs between £30 and £1000 depending on what type is bought and the job in hand. Electric Rotary Mowers are generally the cheapest, with small low main-tenance hover versions now easily available. From looking at the Argos selection, mower’s tend to average an around £50, the most expensive mow-er is a petrol version costing £230.
Lawnmower Product Analysis
Product Lifestyles And FuturesAdam travels regularly based around his job and interests, so the idea I developed was based around improving efficiency and reducing the stress involved with packing a bag. It helps save both time and money as it enables the user to know if an item is missing.
This is a 2nd year mo-duel based around the consumer and product lifestyles. We first cre-ated an in depth imagi-nary profile (Adam Lees) who’s life we attempted to improve by designing a product for him.
This is a model of my final idea, that shows the general principle of the design; like the concept the model is also adaptable so that it can be made into two seperate forms. I made the majority of the model using chemiwood and sculpted the form in the workshop using the band saw and disk sander among other tools. The grass box is made from fabric glued around four rods of wooden dowel, that also make up the handles. The engine cover was made from vacuum forming around a wooden mould.
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HOW IT WORKS
This section is for variable items or new items which would cause the weighing system to miscal-culate the weight. The items in this section will not be weighed. Eg. Bottled Water
This section is for essential items such as clothing, electronic items and books. The items in this section will be weighed.
The user will twist the handle so the the screen faces upright to engage the weight system.
When the bag is in transit or not being used, the screen will remain switched off and the handle will click into place.
The weight of the es-sential items in the bag.
The weight of the items missing from the bag.
Top Button: Units of weightMiddle Button: Reset to zeroBottom Button: Save hte set weight.
The lower part of the back of the handle has a removable section that allows two AAA batteries to be placed.
The handle has a textured rub-ber cassing and finger grooves for usability and ergonomics.
How do you use it?
The user will pack the essential items they need in the main section, they will pack the variable items in the other section. Once this is completed, the user will twist the handle, so that the interface is facing upwards, this will activate the weighing system and will automatically inform the user of the weight of the essential items. If the weight is not to the satisfaction of the user (weighs too much) they can take items out of/ put more in the bag to change the overall weight. Once the user is happy with the weight and the items in the bag they will press set which will save the weight for next time. The user will then twist the handle so the interface switches off and faces horizontally; this is the position which the bag can be pulled along in.The next time they use the bag (return trip) they will pack all the items as they did before, before twisting the handle again. If the bag contains all the same items it will weigh the same as before, if not the bag will let the user know the weight of the items missing from the bag,
1ST YEAR WORK
The aim of this project was to modify, reuse and recycle existing chairs to create a new product. My design worked around a plastic orange classroom chair and the chrome frame of a leather armchair.
RECYCLED CHAIR
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TURNTABLE AUTOMATA1st year University project, the task was to design and build an Automata. After researching various different mechanisms and designs I decided to base my idea round the Technics 1213 Turntable. The record turns round while the needle has a snail cam that leads to a drop, the sizings for the automata are to scale from the Technics turntable.
DRAWING DEVELOPMENT
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PHILIP DAVISTIME AND PEOPLE
This is a first year project called Time and People. My final idea, is a clock that works in years instead of minutes, highlighting the typical landmarks in a lifetime. The clock should be purchased and iniatated for a child, at the start of its lifetime.
Each landmark is based around the UK average age for the event to happen, the hour hand works on this unit. The minute hand works turns on a weekly basis, where each unit on the outside repre-sents one week.
16= The average age a child leaves school29= The average age to have a first child31= The average age of marriage38= The average age to buy first house49= The average age to become a grandparent64= The average age of retirement80= The average age of death80+ = Contingency time
16
2931
3849
64
80
MONDAY 8TH
ERGONOMIC HANDLEThis is a first year project based around ergonomics and anthropometrics. The task was to improve the ergonomics of the handle using test rigs and drawings.
16
2931
3849
64
80
Clockof
MONDAY 8TH 16
2931
3849
64
80
Leave School
Marriage
First House
Grandpar
ent
Retirement
Death?
Childbirth
Birth
Clockof
MONDAY 8TH
Leave School
ChildbirthMarriage
First House
Grandpar
ent
Retirement
Death?
Birth
16
2931
3849
64
80
Clockof
MONDAY 8TH
Leave School
ChildbirthMarriage
First House
Grandpar
ent
Retirement
Death?
Birth
16
2931
3849
64
80
Clockof
MONDAY 8TH
Leave School
ChildbirthMarriage
First House
Grandpar
ent
Retirement
Death?
Birth
16
2931
3849
64
80
Clockof
MONDAY 8TH
- Clock Design Development
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