Conceptual Design Report: An Accessory to Improve Posture while Defecating
Team Members: Peter Li, Mackenzie de Carle, Thomas Lee, and Omar Khan
Conceptual Design Report (CDR)
The Conceptual Design report is the engineering response to a Design Brief. It documents all the phases of concept formulation. It also documents supporting research, design decisions, and justification
Process
The team was initially handed a design brief (from another engineering team) outlining the problem and the objectives: health issues arising from non-squatting defecation. As a team we first broke down the given problem using attribute listing and brainstorming. This was done in order to reframe the issue so that it can be solved by first year engineering science students. Specifically the team research the term squat in the problem statement because we could not confirm what the term was restricted by. Thus, the term squat was defined in terms of a range of angles between the torso and thighs.
After reframing the problem, each team member set out to "design" a unique solution. Each individual implemented their own design values into their concepts. For myself, maintainability, compatibility, safety, usability, and cost efficiency were my prioritized design values. I then documented and justified my design decisions. I also, drew visual concepts to communicate my concept better.
Each team member, after having undergone the development of their own concepts, including myself, brought together all the concepts and compared each of their strengths and weaknesses. Each concept was meted against another using comparison and convergence techniques. And thereafter, a unique solution was selected: the squat stool. After having completed the conceptual design, high level objectives were set for the details pertaining to the squat stool including dimensions, materials and relative heights. These objectives were then passed onto the Detail Design team.
The Conceptual Design report is the engineering response to a Design Brief. It documents all the phases of concept formulation. It also documents supporting research, design decisions, and justification
Process
The team was initially handed a design brief (from another engineering team) outlining the problem and the objectives: health issues arising from non-squatting defecation. As a team we first broke down the given problem using attribute listing and brainstorming. This was done in order to reframe the issue so that it can be solved by first year engineering science students. Specifically the team research the term squat in the problem statement because we could not confirm what the term was restricted by. Thus, the term squat was defined in terms of a range of angles between the torso and thighs.
After reframing the problem, each team member set out to "design" a unique solution. Each individual implemented their own design values into their concepts. For myself, maintainability, compatibility, safety, usability, and cost efficiency were my prioritized design values. I then documented and justified my design decisions. I also, drew visual concepts to communicate my concept better.
Each team member, after having undergone the development of their own concepts, including myself, brought together all the concepts and compared each of their strengths and weaknesses. Each concept was meted against another using comparison and convergence techniques. And thereafter, a unique solution was selected: the squat stool. After having completed the conceptual design, high level objectives were set for the details pertaining to the squat stool including dimensions, materials and relative heights. These objectives were then passed onto the Detail Design team.