Design and Make of Radio-Controlled Rover: First Assessment Stage

Teams and Learning through Doing

This is the first of the two stages involved in the design and make of a radio-controlled rover. This assessment involves:

• Teams: The teams shall be composed of five students;

• Learning through doing: this assignment will require a lot of learning to be done outside the lecture hall.

Design context:

You work as a designer in a company that has just received requirements for the design and manufacture of a small radio-controlled rover. Apart from being able to operate in a harsh environment, the rover should meet the following requirements:

• Must be able to safely transport a load of 300 g (safely meaning without falling out while in transit).

• Must be able to move forwards, backwards and be able to change direction.

• You must consider an appropriate speed to include in the design specification.

• All the structure components will be designed in a CAD software and 3D printed. 3D printing means that there is a size limit for any component – the size of the 3D printer. Hence the rover should be kept small and light within a limit of 15 cm in length. Research into designing components for 3D printing will also be necessary.

• You may consider the use bolts and other fasteners to assemble your prototype in the second stage of the design.

• Must meet British/International Standards and relevant safety regulations. You may access the database through the University website.

Optional/Extra requirements: The following requirements are not compulsory but I want you to sit down with your group and think about anything that would help the little rover to move in a harsh environment, for example:

• May be equipped with a camera

• May be equipped with a little crane, or a system to unload

• Not limited to wheels, you may use treads, for example

Tasks:

This first stage of the process for designing the given product is to identify design solutions, evaluate the identified solutions and select the optimum design. The optimised design solution will be evaluated further to optimise it for quality and value.

You will then write a report detailing the steps taken to create, evaluate and refine your design concepts. It should include evidence to show that you have undertaken the following tasks:

(i) The group should read the design brief given above and create product design specifications (PDS) for the product ensuring specifications meet the requirements stated in this brief and others that you may add to them. Structure the PDS to include categories of requirements such as function, materials, environment, cost, manufacturing process, maintenance, quality standards and safety regulations.

Design Context and Requirements

(ii) Use the appropriate technique such as brainstorming, systematic search technique, simulation and research, to produce at least 3 possible design solutions. The adopted Prepared by  technique(s), including details of each possible solution, must be explained in your report.

(iii) Using evaluation matrix, evaluate the possible solutions with respect to selection criteria that meet the design requirements. The criteria should include function, cost, materials (any relevant property e.g. weight, corrosion resistance, etc.), manufacturing process, maintenance, etc. Select the optimum design solution and justify your decision .

(iv) Develop suitable project plans (Gantt chart and network diagram) showing key tasks, sequence, durations and floats required to complete the design and manufacture of the product.

(v) Apply quality function deployment (QFD) to ensure the optimum design solution meets customer expectations.

(vi) Carry out value analysis of the optimum solution to ensure the product offers value for money. Here, you will not have exact relative costs of value attributes. It is however essential that you identify the value attributes and score them i.e. derive value ranks

Other optional design requirements were the use of treads instead of wheels which would have many advantages over wheels, the use of a crane system as a means of loading/unloading the rover and the use of an onboard camera so the pilot can remotely direct the rover while out of line of sight.

Safety Requirements

The main requirements for safety regulation is:

·satisfy the ‘essential safety requirements’ within the law

·be properly marked to ensure traceability

·bear the CE mark

·be accompanied by instructions for use, and warnings where necessary

·correct use to ensure safety, and safe maintenance, inspection and testin 

Technical documentation and a description of the conformity assessment method used for each toy must be available.

There are differing levels of obligation depending on your role as an economic operator in the supply chain with manufacturers having the most significant obligation.

Also, Instructions should cover not only intended use of a product, but take account of reasonably foreseeable misuse, warning of ways the product should not be used. instructions should be worded and laid out taking account of the level of general education and understanding that can be expected of such users. Short quick start guides may be a useful additional approach.

The quality standards in UK must have high-quality transmitter and simple scale appearance Including a basic car battery and charger.

Product specification

Function

·The rover will be able to transport 300g (cargo) safely from a start point to a finish point

·The main body must be built light so that it can transport weight at ease as well as an increase in manoeuvrability  

·(optional) – a crane can be added to the rover to be able to remove the cargo without needing assistance from an operator

Materials

·We can use carbon fibre as the main body frame as it is 10x as strong as steel however it is also lighter than both competitors (aluminium and steel)

·Depending on the conditions of the environment the rover will be used at, we can use a form of recycled plastic as the main body frame, if needed, it can have a additional material reinforcing the rovers main frame

·The rover will have some features which do not require a strong tensile strength which enables us to use a cheaper/weaker material such as recycled plastic manufacturing process

·Due to carbon fibre being such a complex material we will have to order the carbon fibre either ready made to our specification or order the rolled cable form of carbon fibre for a 3D printing machine this applies to the plastic too

·Carbon fibre – we can use a rotary saw with fine teeth to be able to cut through the carbon fibre without exposing much of the carbon fibre integrity

·Plastic – due to the rover being at such small dimensions we can use a 3D printer to transform the plastic to the required part of the rover

Environment

·Due to carbon fibre being a new advancement in the material industry there have been no effective recycling methods for carbon fibre

·Plastic is a widely recyclable material however, every time it is recycled the strength of the plastic becomes weaker

·We will aim to use sustainable materials as it is beneficial for the environment and it is cost effective