Design of the Snowblower - Essay Example

Snow blower Affiliation: Introduction A snow blower is a machine that is used for removing snow from an area. It can be a sidewalk, driveway, roadway, runway, etc. It is also referred to as a snow thrower because it gets rid of snow where it is unwanted and ‘throw’s it to another location or into a truck to be hauled away. They come in different versions; electrically powered or gasoline/ diesel powered. They are also designed in different sizes ranging from very small that can remove a few inches and very large (Schooter, n.d.). On the contrary, this project aims at exploring the designing of the snow blower and the constraints that may come up in designing them Task 1 Constraints of the Project Every project faces constraints at the drawing stage. Constraints are the challenges or obstacles that affect an undertaking. It is therefore very important to analyze all constraints that a project may encounter before it begins. However, constraints do not imply a failure but they act as a guide to success. That being said, designing a snow blower is not an easy task because of the various designs in the market. Before we started the project, we were determined in producing an electric snow blower for a start before further engaging in producing gasoline or diesel powered snow blower machines. The following are just but a few of the constraints encountered and their significance (Kolisch, 1995). Technical constraints These constraints generally focus on architecture decisions that have a tendency to limit the project’s solution design. They therefore tend not to be flexible and static. They have a great impact on the implementation of the solution (Kolisch, 1995). Technical constraints in our case included materials, design, whether manual or computerized, type of engine whether electric or gasoline powered and the size of the snow blowers. This was very challenging because the mentioned constraints are very significant for the success of the project. These types of constraints are required due to the fact that the theme of our project aimed at designing something unique and not available in the market. This was a driving force for further innovation in the design of the snow blower. Quality Quality is a vital constraint in a project because in designing a product, quality is fundamental for the customers to accept the product. It was very significant because our snow blower had to be a state of the yard invention that delivers the required workload as expected in a short time frame. Under this constraint, the idea was whether to develop a single stage or a two stage snow blower. Single stage machines use high-speed impeller to move the snow and force it to a discharge chute. On the other hand, a two stage snow blower involves the use of double mechanism, i.e. moving the snow, feeding the snow into the impeller and finally blowing the snow out of the machine. It was hence a vital aspect towards the theme of the project and was thus necessary in increasing the efficiency of the snow blower. Cost Cost is a common and frequent constraint in undertaking a project. In our theme, it came to be because there had to be input of resources for a research on the available snow blower machines. Furthermore, it was also fundamental because the design of the snow blower would be unique which implied different type of raw materials and an investment in a computer system. This computer system was to carry out simulations on the stability of the required design and also creation of 3-D images of how the computerized snow blower would be run. Other than the raw materials, labor or manpower had to be involved in the project. This in turn depicts payment of salaries and wages towards the service provided. Furthermore, rent to a warehouse where all research was to take place was of importance. Finally, cost was a major issue in fulfilling the theme of creating snow blowers that that the market would consume more. Target market Target market is always a concern and a constraint in undertaking a project. Before a project is started, the target market must and should be clearly stated. It was therefore important to know the specific industries that are assigned with the work of moving snow off roads and sidewalks. Secondly, identifying the target population that buy’s the small snow blowers for domestic use. It was therefore important to know the statistics on the purchasing power of the general public in buying snow blowers. Moreover, it was vital to advertise our new brand of snow blowers as the future of such machines to attract more companies and individuals to buy the new design after a release into the market. Therefore, this constraint was of relevance and to the theme of the project. Safety It is estimated that there are 5,740 snow blower related injuries in the United States by the US consumer product safety. Most of the reported problems are the jamming of the stalling motor. Those statistics were of significance in fulfilling the theme of the project. Our design had to be free from mechanical issues to ensure safety while operating the snow blower. The constraint was demanding in exploiting all the safety measures to avoid adding injury statistics to the current data. Safety was thus a relevant issue for the future of the project and in attracting sales and risk minimization. Task 2 The design project was meant to create a more unique and creative piece of snow blower that is more advanced as compared to the current machines. The first of the functions of the snow blower machine was basically the fight against snow meaning removing snow from roads or sidewalks. That is the most basic function of the snow blower machine. However, the idea of a multi-purpose machine was the driving force towards achieving the themes of the project. A secondary function would be about blowing or sucking dust during the summer. This would be of use in fighting dust and sweeping sidewalks, roads and pavements. As a secondary function, it is necessary to increase competition on the current machines that perform the same task. This would also attract buyers due to its diverse range of functions. The following listed secondary functions are all required. a. Collection of littered leaves. b. Collection of papers and plastic litter c. Leveling grass in stadiums and playgrounds d. Blowing of dust off roads and pavements e. Sweeping the road, parks, sidewalks etc. Task 3 Pairwise comparison chart to rank goals of the project The above illustrations implies that the goals of the project are ranked upon the outcome after considering the different factors or constraints in the project. It there implies that constraints should be handled carefully towards the achievement of the laid down goals of the project. A morphological chart indicating the time and space of the projects design. A morphological chart is a diagrammatic technique that is widely used to evaluate the combinations of a systems element in a project. It is a tool for analysis of data (Dym & Wood et al., 2002). The above data is very essential in explaining the design space of the project. It illustrates the advantage of using a computerized snow blower over a manual snow blower. This is because the snow blower under invention will utilize the space in its design to incorporate the missing qualities of the current machines in the market. Therefore, upon analysis, it implies a positive approach towards the theme of the project. Numerical evaluation matrix Design Constraints Weight (%) Single stage Double stage Electric Snow blower Gasoline Snow blower Technical 12 * * 0.01% 10% 0.08% 8% Quality 57 0.9122% 19.8% 0.1% 10% Target Market 9 0.8118% 14.4% 0.08% 8% Cost 11 0.22% 22% 0.3% 30% Safety 10 0.288% 28.8% 0.27% 27% Totals 99 95% 88% The above numerical evaluation matrix is a clear indication of the outcome of the project is well revised and implemented. However, the results are encouraging meaning that the project would be really a major achievement as well as a success. Therefore, the new snow blowers would be well accepted in the market and hence the company would result in increased sales implying very high revenues. In conclusion, the design to the point in relevance to the theme of the project of creating a state of the art snow blowers. References Schooter, J. W. (n.d.). Snow blower. Dym, C. L., Wood, W. H. & Scott, M. J. (2002). Rank ordering engineering designs: pairwise comparison charts and borda counts. Research In Engineering Design, 13 (4), pp. 236--242. Kolisch, R. (1995). Project scheduling under resource constraints. Heidelberg: Physica-Verlag. Read More