ECE 2799

“The Engineering Design Process”

Prof. Bitarand

Prof. MichalsonLast Update – 3/18/15

www.projectcartoon.com

Major StepsVoland, “Engineering by Design”, 2004

Needs Assessment Problem Formulation Abstraction & Synthesis Analysis & Evaluation Implementation

Avoiding Temptation There are so many “rapid prototyping”

tools currently available: There is a tendency to “build first, think

later” “Hack” until things work Develop in a vacuum (just you and the

machine). Don’t confuse this process with

design! While this approach has a role in the

design process, it is not good design practice by itself.

Needs Assessment

Designs start with an idea for solving a problem At this point, the idea may be good or

bad Realization may be possible or

impossible The idea must be matched against

what the customer wants Who is the customer? Quantifying their

needs/wants/quirks/etc.

Empathy?

Customer Requirements Matching ideas with customers

Helps refine the idea What is necessary v. “nice” What is “nice” worth? “Impossible” increases time and budget…

Research customer requirements Market / Competitor analysis

Once you know what you need… Now you can think about customer

requirements to product specifications.

Needs Assessment& Problem Formulation

Homework #1

Perform Market Research

PerformTechnical Research

HW#1

NeedsAssessment

&Problem

Formulation

Customer Requirements

ProductSpecification

Need / Idea

We Still Haven't Built Anything!

At this point we know what the product must do. We still may not know how to do it.

Need to “brainstorm” solutions Need to evaluate competing

solutions Time/budget/skill/resource

considerations Select that solution which “best” fits

the problem and the team capabilities.

Abstraction & SynthesisHomework #2

ViableOptions

PreferredSolution

Research Prior ArtBrainstorm

ApplyConstraints

HW#2

Abstraction&

Synthesis

Possible Solutions

PerformValue Analysis

Closer to Building Something!

Now we know the major elements: We have specifications for each

element. Might have parts in mind for some

elements. May need research on some elements. We can form an “order of operations” to

realize the design. We still don’t know if our part selections

will work correctly together May need further refinement

(Defining Project Milestones)Homework #3

HW#3

System Block Diagram

Define ProjectMilestones

Detailed Schedule

Now We’re in the Details! It’s now that we need to answer the

question: “how do we build this”? Perform detailed design of elements

Confirm design is within datasheet specifications

Unit test of elements Detailed documentation

Possible redesign Maybe we got something wrong! Adapt/redesign/retest – schedule and

budget!

Analysis & EvaluationHomeworks #4 & 5

Define ProductInterfaces

Define ProductChanges

HW#4

HW#5

1

Analyze

2

Design

3

Build

4

Test

5

Evaluate

Analysis

&

Evaluation

Finally! We now have all the elements of our

product: Designed and tested(!)

Now is the time to integrate the elements into the final product System integration and test

Customer acceptance? The ultimate test!

ImplementationFinal Report

FinalReport

Implement Design

Working Prototype