Student Portfolio

Engineering Design and CommunicationENG 1513

Lim Hong Koon (0319369)Lecturer: Dr. Leong Wai YieB. Eng (Hons) Mechanical EngineeringSemester 1 March 2014

TTable of ContentsPersonal Expectation3Taylors Graduate Capabilities4Personal Outcome8Learning Outcome10Personal SWOT11Learning Outcome 1:12Learning Outcome 2:13Learning Outcome 3:15

Personal Expectation

What started it all was when we were told about the Engineering Fair that will be held on the month of July, and what we were supposed to accomplish for the event. As fresh engineering students that are just entering the course, we were asked to construct robots that are capable of playing ping-pong against other robots. I immediately believed that this was not an easy task, as I have no technical knowledge for electronics and the like. Still, it was a task that must be done and I was assigned to a group of people that I have yet to meet. After a few discussions and getting to know each other, I was elected to be the group leader to handle this project. It turned out that none of us has any experience with things like this, so we had to come up with a simple way to do this project. The weeks went on and we were still quite lost and dumbfounded on what to do.Of course in the end, we were able to complete our project with satisfaction. Throughout the process of getting it done, we were faced with problems including busy schedules and personal problems. We had quite some trouble trying to meet up and discuss properly as a team. Nonetheless, my team members were very encouraging and were willing to put effort into making this a success. Overall, I am very happy with the way my group handled things.

Taylors Graduate CapabilitiesOverview

Taylors Graduate Capabilities (TGC) was created in 2007 to enhance university-level education to meet the ever- changing demands of industry, community and globalisation. TGC outlines the core knowledge, skills, abilities and qualities that students will develop at Taylors University regardless of their programme of study.

In a highly competitive and challenging 21st century workplace, graduates who are skilled will be relevant, responsive and work-ready to start ahead and stay ahead in the global marketplace.

A Taylors graduate who is equipped with TGC is not only readily adaptable to the changing workplace environment, but he/she also has the ability to take on new tasks and jobs successfully.

The teaching and learning approach at Taylors University is focused on ensuring that each student is able to acquire and demonstrate discipline-specific knowledge, cognitive capabilities and soft skills.

Impact on students

Every effort to instill TGC, whether in academics or extra-curricular activities, is significant in helping our students cultivate the competencies they need to be competitive in the working world upon graduation.

Academics in each school are responsible for embedding TGC in their teaching and learning activities. This is implemented at the module and programme levels through curricular design that involves mapping learning outcomes in relation to TGC, assessing TGC achievement and tracking student development. Evaluation and review mechanisms will be enhanced through regular audits and curricular review processes.

The universitys Student Support Services instils TGC in students at the co-curricular and extra-curricular levels. There are many opportunities for development university-wide, such as opportunities for development university-wide, such as international collaborations, fairs, community service initiatives, sports and recreational activities, competitions, internships and other personal and professional development activities.

The Integrated Teaching and Life-long Learning Centre at Taylors (INTELLECT) will monitor the implementation of TGC, as well as provide support and develop resources for stakeholders within the university to drive the TGC plan to its fulfilment.

With their valuable real-world input, employers in our Industry Advisory Panel, as well as our alumni network and business partners from varied industries also have a key role in keeping our strategic plan relevant, current and grounded in industry expectations.

Our students are at the centre of this plan. It is our hope they will take responsibility for consciously developing their own graduate capabilities and learning to demonstrate those important capabilities through reflection, portfolios and ultimately, a TGC Award.

The 8 Taylors Graduate Capabilities

DISCIPLINESPECIFICKNOWLEDGE

Able to puttheoriesinto practiceUnderstand ethicalissues in thecontext of thefield of study

Understandprofessionalpractice withinthe field of study

LIFELONGLEARNING

LearnindependentlyLocate, extract,synthesise andutilise informationeffectively

Beintellectuallyengaged

THINKING ANDPROBLEMSOLVINGSKILLS

Think criticallyand creatively

Define and analyseproblems to arrive ateffective solutions

COMMUNICATIONSKILLS

Communicateappropriatelyin various settingsand modes

INTERPERSONALSKILLS

Understand teamdynamics andmobilise thepower of teams

Understandand assumeleadership

INTRAPERSONALSKILLS

Manage oneselfand be self-reliant

Reflect on onesactions andlearning

Embody Taylorscore values

CITIZENSHIPAND GLOBALPERSPECTIVES

Be aware of andform opinionsfrom diverseperspectives

Understand thevalue of civicresponsibility andcommunityengagement

DIGITALLITERACY

Effective use ofICT andrelated technologies

Personal Outcome

Mechanical Engineering

PO1Apply the knowledge of mathematics, science, engineering practices, innovation techniques, entrepreneurship and human factors to provide value-adding solutions to complex Mechanical Engineering challenges.

PO2Identify, formulate, analyse and document complex engineering challenges to arrive at viable solutions and substantiated conclusions.

PO3Conceive, Design, Implement and Operate solutions for complex engineering challenges that meet specified requirements with appropriate consideration for public health and safety, cultural, societal, environmental and economical considerations.

PO4Conduct research and investigation into complex challenges using methods which include experiment design, analysis of data and synthesis of information to provide valid conclusions.

PO5Create, select and apply appropriate techniques, resources, and modern engineering and IT tools, including prediction and modelling, to complex engineering activities, with an awareness of the accompanying assumptions and limitations.

PO6Apply reasoning informed by contextual knowledge to assess societal, health, safety, legal, economical and cultural issues and the consequent responsibilities relevant to professional engineering practice.

PO7Explain the global impact of professional engineering solutions in societal, economical and environmental contexts and demonstrate knowledge of and need for sustainable development.

PO8Apply professional and ethical responsibilities of engineering practice.

PO9Effectively communicate complex engineering activities, both orally and in a written form, in both technical & non-technical contexts.

PO10Function effectively as an individual and in multidisciplinary settings with the capacity to be a leader.

PO11Recognise the importance of lifelong learning and engaging in continuous professional development activities in accordance with technological change.

PO12Effectively manage projects in multidisciplinary environments and apply project management tools and techniques to ones own work, as a member and leader in a team to satisfy stakeholders requirements.

Learning Outcome

In the completion of this module ENG 1513 Engineering Design and Communication, we will be able to obtain these learning outcomes: Learning Outcome 1 (LO1)

Produce useful ideas and concept using Brain Storming (C)

Learning Outcome 2 (LO2)

Design a system that solves a complex engineering challenge using the Design Process (D)

Learning Outcome 3 (LO3)

Conclude findings from working in a team through technical documentation (I&O)

Personal SWOTPositiveNegative

InternalStrength Motivation This project is very interesting and I am motivated to do it. Theorycrafting I often give out ideas and analysis towards my other members.Weakness Laziness I am easily distracted and lazy. Confidence I often feel inferior compared to the designs done by other groups, as I feel our design was not impressive.

ExternalOpportunities IT knowledge There are many chances to get to know how to use technical tools and more. Ideas and concepts I got to know a lot of physics concepts applied to reality and see how to work around it.

Threats Time management Each member of my group has very busy schedules and are often unavailable. Design flaws The designs we tested out were not as successful as we thought.

Learning Outcome 1: Produce useful ideas and concept using Brain Storming (C)Students evidence:

As this project began, concepts and ideas were heavily required to make it a success. Again, each one of us in the team has no technical knowledge about building robots. As such, we did our own research to come up with ways to get a practical yet interesting design.

Brain storming sessions were held during meetings, and we worked together to think about possible designs to be used in our robot. Our ideas were focused heavily on utilizing physics principles to allow the bouncing of the balls, making ping pong possible.

Some early designs included encasing the frontal part of remote control cars with pieces of plastic, covered by elastic rubber padding as shown below:

Covering the sides as well as the top of the car also covers a wider area to ensure the ball gets hit. These are the early concepts that were thought to be utilized. Overtime, different concepts and designs were also thought up by other members to change its practicality and cosmetics.

Learning Outcome 2: Design a system that solves a complex engineering challenge using the Design Process (D)Students evidence:

A lot of questions rose from our process of trying to build the robots. What type of remote control car should we use? How fast must it go? What sort of materials should be used to ensure maximum efficiency? All these questions were dealt with throughout the construction of the robots.

In the end, what we opted for was to try our best to use a non-technical design: one that required no usage of external motors, gears and additional wiring. This is to make it an easier project for us and to make it more accessible to others.

We began by purchasing two remote control cars of different size and frequency, to give a little more flexibility in designing and aesthetics. The photos of the cars purchased are shown as follows:Car 2Car 1

Of course, both cars were obtained with the aim of not having any form of frequency clashing. This was very important to take note of.The next step was to remove the casings of the both cars. After the casings were removed, it was an easy task to attach materials to shape it however we liked it. We opted to use thin wooden planks as lightweight and sturdy materials. The first design we ended up with was a pyramid-shaped car:

The reasoning for the chosen design was to ensure the car is widely covered, giving us a higher chance of reflecting the ball. The second car was decided to be fitted with a plank of wood, removed from a ping pong racquet and attach it to the front of the car:

This design ensured practicality and simplicity in one. Through the design process, we were able to propel and reflect incoming projectiles (in this case, ping pong balls) to achieve our desired goals, which is to allow a game of ping pong, played with robots.

Learning Outcome 3: Conclude findings from working in a team through technical documentation (I&O)Students evidence:

As time went on, each of us developed ourselves significantly. Working in a team taught us strong qualities, such as punctuality, learning to accept the opinions of others, and working together despite our differences.

As the team started out, some people having hard time voicing out our idea or opinion so we make use of modern technology such as facebook and whatsapp.

We were able to separated work nicely and listed reminder on facebook. Everyone took full responsibility on what they did and put all their effort into what they do.

Then we compile everything into one piece of work and held a gathering to discuss and edit slightly. With these website and method, we do our job more efficiently and time management problems are prevented.

Challenges faced and Proposed Solutions

It is expected to have tons of conflicts in the project this complex. Challenges were faced and tackling these challenges is not that easy yet we did come up with some solid solutions, it might not be the best but it put us at ease.The first and hardest challenge of all in this project is the dimension limit given for the robot we making. Limiting to a 15cm x 15cm x 15cm, it is hard to design let alone getting the materials for it. So we decided to make a square base as a limiter, and know that it is essential to limit our car (base) or our robot then as we set that as an example we get material and compartments smaller or similar to the size of the car. To be honest getting a car with that size and meeting all criteria we wanted was not an easy task. It was kind of time consuming and a lot of research was done to achieve the materials but it is worth all the while.Thinking how we had started, we encounter problem where own challenges are met. We wanted to dream big and make something big for this project. Our team PRIME is at first so excited and motivated for this but then with big outcome, we need big effort. Using a pressure compressor? It sure is not something you wanted to deal with. We planned to use that due to our high expectation and tons of challenges are faced. We design for a very long time and discuss overnight just for this and did a lot of trial and error, and in the end it seem to be able to function but it is not 100%. Air pressure is not focus on the ping pong ball. How to let the ball to the pressure gauge? How to shoot the ball over the net? A lot more questions are not answer in our mind. Every time we make a design we question our member the problem it might encounter and we tackle it and edit the design until it become slightly to our ideal design but making it was also no easy task.

Radar Chart of Project Budget

Toy motor RM120Motor RM 50Gear RM 30Battery RM10Wheels RM 15Plastic Casing/Support RM 20

# The list of shop visited to purchase your materials. Fantasy Toys - Sungai Wang Toy R'us - Sunway Pyramid 7-11 - Taylor Univeristy AceHardware - Sunway Pyramid Aeon One Utama

Radar Chart of LO Achievement

LO1 30%LO2 30%LO3 40%

Final EvaluationNAME: Choy Kheng HungEmail: ckhc613@yahoo.com.sg

Tel: 0102155366Student ID: 0318966 ME/CE/EE

Group Name:PRIME

Please rank (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) your team members accordingly , 1 refers to the BESTTeam MembersRankComments / roles and responsibilities

Yourself3Supportive role as in looking for material and IT works.

Kishen5Supportive role as in looking for material. (driver )

Zheng Quan2Secretary, record money usage and planning

Run Ting1More to theory work as in drawing and writing works.

Ming Wey4Leader

1. Please nominate the best Team Member. Explain why.

Run Ting, he stay calm at all time and manage to get his work done and very understanding person. Even though he stay far away, he is willing to stay late at university for the project.

1. Please name a passive member (if any). Explain why.

*none*1. Identify the challenges and difficulties you have faced in this subject. Why.The major challenges I faced could say how people can change and how hard it is to handle them during group project. (No offence just my thought)

1. What are the most fun and interesting you have face in this subject? Why.It is the fun practical works where it is not what you could get easily.

1. List down shops you have visited to purchase your materials. Briefly identify the materials.*listed above (page 19)

1. What is your suggestion to improve this subject.No suggestion. It is great as it is.

1. Please propose a Team Project for next semester (1st Year 1st Semester). Explain.Sumo Robot. I think football and all is too main stream or maybe I like more action.18