Design and Manufacture of Autonomous Vehicle using Pugh's Total Design Methodology

This assignment is designed to help develop and assess your design and manufacturing skills via a constrained engineering problem. You will need to use Pugh’s Total Design methodology to design and build a scale model of an autonomous vehicle. You may choose to design a truck, boat, drone or plane. You are limited to using sheet manufacturing processes for the main body of the vehicle. You are to model your vehicle in Solidworks making use of the sheet metal tools for the main body (you may use other tools for other parts). You will then create engineering drawings of the flattened sheets which you can use to construct a scale model of the vehicle out of scrap materials e.g. paper, cardboard, straws, glue, tape etc.

You are also to complete a career action plan. Whilst you are at university you have the chance to get the skills you need for your dream job. The career action plan will help to get you thinking about opportunities to upskill (these may be related to design and manufacturing or something else). We will revisit your career action plan towards the end of the year to get an update on progress.
Given scenario:
Sheet metal manufacturing can be a very cost-effective option for making large parts. Your boss has asked you to design a prototype autonomous vehicle to be used for shipping/deliveries. Their only constraints are that:
?You must use Pugh’s Total Design methodology
?You add any other product design specifications you feel are important for the chosen vehicle type
?The vehicle should be optimized for shipping and delivering goods autonomously
?The vehicle should be optimized for mass production at low cost
?Solidworks sheet metal tools must be used for the design of the body
?Low-cost materials (plastic sheet, cardboard, paper etc) is used for the prototype scale model

You will be given support on how to implement a Total Design strategy, how to use Solidworks (including the sheet metal tools) and information on sheet-based manufacture.
Tasks:
A.Product design Specification: Make a list of specifications that meet the SMART criteria (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Testable).
B.Concept generation: Choose one type of autonomous vehicle to design. Sketch a range of concepts for the vehicle that meet the brief. Choose the scale of your model.
C.Detailed development: Select one concept to develop further. Model the final design in Solidworks using the sheet metal tools. Produce professional engineering drawings of the vehicle and flattened patterns to be used for manufacture.
D.Manufacture and assembly: Build the scale model according to your design.
E.Evaluation: Reflect on your work. How could the design be improved? Could you have worked more efficiently? What would you do differently next time?
F.Write a basic report. The report must contain a separate section for each task (A-E).
G.Complete the 5 min career action plan and upload to blackboard (template available on Blackboard).

Report details:
The maximum word count is 1,500 words (not including the career action plan). Your report should contain a separate section for tasks (A-E). Use plenty of figures and tables to communicate information effectively. The report should be written in 3rd person (except for task E), and the target audience is your fictional boss. By reading the report your boss should be able to understand the logic and reasoning behind the design and the manufacturing method.
This assignment is worth 20% of the overall assessment for this module. All assessments submitted late without good reason will be given a maximum of 40%.

Learning Outcomes:
The following learning outcomes will be assessed in this assignment: 
1.  Use and manage appropriate activities and processes within a Total Design methodology to design and develop components, sub-systems and systems
2. Apply and extend engineering design and manufacturing techniques by application to a development project.
4. Write effective formal written reports.