Classroom Card #4179
Carport Innovation Challenge in Statics
Summary
This hands-on project in Statics is designed to raise students’ curiosity and lead to a successful product development that integrates technical knowledge.
Course
Engineering Mechanics: Statics
Time
Semester
Materials
For hands-on experiments, educational toy sets that include beam, column and deck pieces suitable to create carport systems would be useful.
Description
This activity will enable students to apply their freshly learned knowledge from Statics to product development. The objective is to empower students to explore innovative solutions, improve their ability to make connections between statics and real-life applications, and validate the concepts with a hands-on experiment. The project includes four components:
1. Market Research to identify opportunities for new product development. Students will use AI/ML tools, such as Google trends and Chat GPT, in identifying the market, investigate currently available products, and identify two to three system options.
2. Physical Experiments to test the stability characteristics of the systems identified. Students will create a 3D model for each system using the experimental modules (including beam, column, joint, and roof elements) and eliminate the systems with undesirable characteristics.
3. Structural Analysis to identify the most efficient system. Students will create idealized frame or truss models of at least two systems that passed the experimental tests. They will analyze each system using the three equilibrium equations covered in this class. Students will make their final product decision in the light of the analysis results.
4. Sales Materials to persuade potential customers to purchase the developed carport. As the final deliverable, students will create a single sheet flier to summarize their product development efforts and promote their final product. This may include photos, hand calculations/sketches, charts, and tables as appropriate. Students will make their final sales pitch by stating the advantages, load ratings, gaps that their product fills in the market, and so on.
Curiosity
- Demonstrate constant curiosity about our changing world
Students will have the opportunity to conduct research to learn about the products available in the market and identify opportunities for new product development. This will involve learning and using AI/ML tools, such as Chat GPT and Google Trends. Each team is required to identify two to three options to investigate. The goal is to raise students’ curiosity and lead to a successful product development that integrates their technical knowledge with their innovation while creating exceptional value for the customer.
Connections
- Integrate information from many sources to gain insight
Students will conduct physical experiments to test the deflection and stability characteristics of each product option (frame system) considered. This will also require them to use their knowledge accumulated through pre-requisite courses such as physics and calculus. The subsequent structural analysis stage will require students to apply their freshly learned knowledge from this course to their product development. They will make decisions on the most suited analysis method and cross check the results between team members.
Creating Value
- Identify unexpected opportunities to create extraordinary value
Each team is required to demonstrate the value created by their innovation to potential customers. This will require creating a sales brochure for making their final sales pitch by demonstrating the advantages of their innovation, and gaps it fills in the market. While the project does not have a formal design component, the support reactions will be used to justify the design efficiency.
Log In to View More