Group Design Projects for Students from Auburn and Plymouth

1. Introduction
For this assignment 3 or 4 students from Auburn will work with 3 or 4 students from the Department of Mechanical and Marine Engineering at the University of Plymouth as a single group to produce a business plan for starting manufacture and a design for one of the two systems described below.

You should note that both assignments are (deliberately) too big for you to produce a comprehensive solution. You should keep in mind the marking scheme and note that you must aim to show good understanding of the commercial and technical aspects of the task. Best marks will be achieved by carrying out detailed analysis on a small number of aspects or components, rather than repeating superficial analysis on several aspects or components.

2 The Assignments

The group will select one of the following assignments:

2.1. A Power Operated Tailgate for Cars
Electrically operated windows and sun roofs are widely fitted to cars now and many top of the range cars also have electrically operated seats. However the most difficult task on many '5 door' cars is opening and closing the tailgate.

You are required to produce a design for a powered tailgate to fit an appropriate range of cars.

2.2. A Retrofit System to Transport Wheel Chairs on Stairs

In many buildings the access of wheelchairs has been improved by providing sloping ramps on stairways. However the ramps occupy considerable space and are impractical on many stair systems.

You are to produce a complete design of a system that can be retrofitted to stairways and will transport wheelchairs safely in both directions. The system should occupy a minimum of space when in operation and when stored and have the flexibility to suit a wide range of stairs.

3. The Report

Your group report should include the following aspects:

• 1) market survey
• 2) summaries of initial ideas
• 3) evaluation matrices
• 4) a design layout
• 5) sketches and design calculations of key components
• 6) consideration of materials, manufacturing methods, assembly and testing
• 7) specifications of bought in items
• 8) safety, standards
• 9) costings - establish a selling price
• 10) marketing and sales strategy
• 11) business plan for setting up a manufacturing / assembly facility
• 12) examples of marketing / sales promotion material
• 13) brief individual reviews (one from every group member) of the final design (each typically up to about 1 page in length)
• 14) brief individual reviews (one from every group member) of how the group dynamics functioned (each typically up to about 1 page in length)

4 Other Information

Every page MUST be marked at the foot with the initials of the students who put together that page / section. This is to enable students to have individual marks.

Click here to see the recommended working plan and key dates.

Click here to find out what is required in the report and how to write a good design report.

Any queries - please e mail me: dgrieve@plym.ac.uk

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