Wednesday 28 December 2016

All in One Home Waste Disposal System

Designed a manual compacting waste disposal system which has optimized space and segregation capability of a household recycling bin with aesthetic compatibility. Utilized analytical product development tools like touchpoint model, QFD, down selection matrix to arrive at product design, Kansei methodology to convert the qualitative aesthetic input through consumer surveys into quantitative attribute selection, LIDS methodology for material and manufacturing process selection and cost model with break-even analysis assuming .The proof of concept was validated using conjoint analysis.


 Abstract:
The current waste disposal process in United States households is inefficient in terms of indoor space taken up by trash and recyclables, and time spent emptying the indoor bins. Survey of homeowners indicates frustration with these two steps of the recycling process as well as lack of knowledge on waste separation. The goal of this project is to design a home waste disposal system that can optimize indoor space and decrease the number of times needed to empty the indoor bins. The All-in-one Home Waste Disposal System is a three compartment bin for recyclables (plastic and paper), trash and returnable items. The three compartments are well labelled in order to inform the user on how to properly segregate waste. The bin has compacting capabilities in the trash and recycling sections. This is achieved by using a manual compacter with an increased mechanical leverage system. The user provides the compression force using a handle bar lever that attaches to the sides of the bin. This lever slides down in front of the bin and has two plungers attached to it, which compresses the recycle and trash compartments of the bin. The design was developed and tested using Solid Works and FEM to check stresses in the handle bar and plungers. A clean professional aesthetic look was applied to the All-in-one Home Waste Disposal System in order to blend it with modern household appliances. User tests will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of our product in comparison to the current household bin system. This product is expected to be competitive with normal indoor trash bins with increased volume optimization and segregation capability.

Highlights:

Market Research and downselection:

Combination Table of different ideas
Downselection Matrix

Ergonomic study and product design:
OSHA Max standards for pushing and pulling


Autodesk Forceeffect for force analysis in linkages
Trash compacting mechanism (Left) and Recyclables compacting mechanism(right)
SolidWorks stress and displacement analysis for critical components

Features of All in One Compacter
 Material selection and Mass Manufacturing:

LIDS circle for electric compacter mass manufacturing

MET Matrix for material selection 

Cycle Time Calculation for mass manufacturing

Capital Equipment layout for mass manufacturing

 Financial Forecast:
Profit Model

Proof of Concept at Design Expo 2016 at University of Michigan

Validation of design using conjoint analysis
Attribute comparison chart using customer feedback


















Thursday 8 December 2016

Assembly Modeling for Design and Manufacturing of a ‘clamp on’ mini bench vise


This ‘clamp on’ bench vise is different from the conventional ‘on’ table bench vise as it can be used for making ‘Do It Yourself’ (DIY) jewellery, soldering, assembling, or painting. It is portable and easy to maneuver. This report provides a detailed description of this bench vise, its key functions, product assembly, geometric key characteristics (K.C.), and the assembly liaison diagram.

Datum Flow Chain:
To analyze the datum flow chain, it is important to look at which assembly features are responsible for each mate and contact and how they constrain the degrees of freedom in the DFC. For this purpose, we need to define a global reference frame for defining the coordinate directions. Global reference frame is chosen as shown below. We analyze the two states of our product, which are before the screw (3) being fully tightened while the sliding jaw is on the start of the sliding track and after the screw (3) being fully tightened with sliding jaw when the sliding jaw reaches the end of the sliding track/when an object is fully clamped.

Need of Fixture:
Assembly sequence:

Improved Design:
  1. To improve the ease of assembly for the second sequence, it may be helpful to have a threaded hole in the fixed jaw and a through hole in the sliding jaw. This aids in separate assembly of the Sliding Jaw (1) with the sub assembly 1. The ease of assembly is increased in this case because the circlip can also be fastened in the subassembly without any hinderance.
  2. The location of the “military specification external retaining ring” is in a way that leaves 5 mm gap between it and the fixed body resulting in slack and it can only be assembled before the sliding jaw is inserted, hence, reducing the wobbling function of the screw. One bush of 5 mm can be added before the side-mount external retaining ring (E-style) thereby acting as shims as shown in Fig. 17. This improvement does not constrain the wobbling function during assembly as the screw (3) → bush → sliding jaw (1) → snap ring. After the snap ring is assembled in this case, the screw (3) does not have slack in ‘y’ direction thereby constraining the wobbling function (θx, θz) which is not needed by the customer.