Engineering Practice - Mechanism Design Resit Exercise 2024Python

Java Python DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

2024

Engineering Practice - Mechanism Design Resit Exercise

You are to analyse and propose a solution for the design of the mechanism of a car roof.

This exercise is to be completed as an individual. You must not work with your previous group.

Figure 1: Car roofon (left) Fiat 595 Abarth, and (right) BMW Mini Cooper

You areacting as atechnical designer performing a feasibility study for the car roof during technical design stages. This means you should propose with evidence the best mechanism, motor, and gearbox combination you can find, but are not expected to produce a completed system.

The mechanism must connect to the car within the boundary marked (A) and must extend to reach the windscreen (B). You should aim for the mechanism to be stored within boundary (A). You are not required to meet dimensions exactly but should get as close as possible. An example mechanism is given in Fig. 2 with dimensions as in Table 1, although these dimensions will need to be scaled to align with requirements for the car. 

Figure 2: Roof dimensions (left) and example concept (right)

Your submission should include assessment against a PDS, technical modelling of system behaviour, selection of a motor and gear ratio, and explanation of key design decisions you have made including with respect to manufacture.

You are required to present three brief report sections. Further guidance for each is provided in Table 2.

Your work will be marked exactly against the content stated. You MUST provide exactly this content.

Table 1: Example concept dimensions

Beam              Length (cm)

B1                          72

B2                        111

B3                          64

B4                         40

B5                        80

D(p) to S(p)            31

Submission Requirements:

You are required to submit TWO pdf documents for this reassessment.

1.    An Engineering Management Plan

2.   Technical Design Portfolio

Your submissions should be font size 11 and 2cm margins for each page.

All materials present on Blackboard for Engineering Practice remain relevant and should be used for guidance.

1.   Engineering Management Plan

Engineering Management Plan (no page limit)

•    Produce a project plan for this project, assuming you are working in a group of four. At a minimum, this plan must contain:

-    A project schedule

-    A risk register

•    Additionally, in a maximum of 500 words, discuss how you prefer to work in a team. Discuss your own strengths and weaknesses and how these may impact your own performance in a team.

2.   Technical Design Portfolio

Introduction and Concepts (up to 3 pages):

•    An introduction to the problem, specifying stakeholders and design priorities of your choice.

•    A basic PDS for the mechanism.

•    An evaluation of the concept provided in Fig.2 compared to at least one other. You should   propose this second concept yourself, as an improvement to the provided mechanism. This should conclude with your choice of a single mechanism to take forwards.

Technical Analysis (up to 3 pages):

•    Present a model of your chosen mechanism as a simple inverted pendulum, by solving its equation of motion in Python.

•    State assumptions, boundary conditions, and equations you have used in your modelling, and discuss their impact on your modelling precision.

•    Present graphs showing the deployment and retraction times of your chosen mechanism for:

-    2 different motors from the Bosch catalogue provided on Blackboard. You must choose from DC motors WITHOUT transmissions.

-    3 different gear ratio options for each motor

Design Report (up to 5 pages):

•    Referring back to graphs presented in the previous section, recommend a motor and gear ratio combination for your system. Explain your decision.

•    Select gears that will meet your desired gear ratio. Provide calculations evidencing their suitability, and evaluate your choice.

•    Discuss the performance of your system, highlighting any key strengths, weaknesses, or other features.

•    Provide a Bill of Materials for your system, and discuss the likely stock materials, standard components, and key manufacturing processes for your system.

•    Evaluate your final concept against your PDS, highlighting strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement.

All elements of the above will be assessed and must be included in your submission. Further guidance on section contents is included in Table 2.

Table 2: Guidance on Section Content

Section	Content
Engineering    Management Plan No page limit	This part of the submission requires you to prove your use and understanding of engineering management processes and tools. Although this project is an individual one, we would like you to produce a plan as if you     were completing it in a group of four. You should consider how to divide tasks between a team. For your risk register, discuss how you implemented your mitigations. Overall, you should present engineering management evidence in the context of the    specific project and to your own personal way of working. Avoid simply discussing the general importance of management techniques. Screenshots of schedules/spreadsheets are acceptable in the report. If you wish to include any of these in their entirety, please include in an appendix. Please note, throughout the entire reassessment submission your written communication skills will also be assessed. Ensure you present your work professionally and succinctly.
Introduction and Concepts 3 Pages	This section shows your understanding of the problem and how you decided on the working principles of your solution. Page 1: An introduction to problem, specifying stakeholders and design priorities of your choice. Page 2: Your PDS for the system, based on your own thoughts for key priorities. This should include a minimum of 20 specifications. Page 3: An evaluation of the concept provided in Fig.2 compared to at least one other, highlighting strengths and weaknesses against relevant PDS points. -      You should design and propose the second concept yourself. -      You should use numeric analysis where possible in your comparison and selection. -      You should explain the reasons why you have chosen your selected concept