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1 Psurtech Bubble Machine

Engineering Design Document

GENG 1103 Introduction to Engineering Spring 2015

Assignment

Team Design Project

Selected Topic

Bubble Machine

Project Presentation

April 22, 2015 3:00-5:00

Team Members

Alexis Morales

Daniel Lopez

Avelardo Raygoza Villa

Petrie Yang

Tyler Spreen

Instructor

Dr. Alex Stratigakis


Abstract

Members of the team decided to create an automatic bubble machine.

This bubble machine will be designed for the use of entertainment as a toy.

There are certain discussions on the requirements and constraints for the

product. The team’s idea is to design and create a bubble machine for those

who wish to use it as a form of amusement for any purpose. Our goal is to

create a product that is easy to use and is aesthetically appealing to the

consumer, which will mainly be marketed to children and teenagers. The

group came up with five different product designs which were narrowed by

using a design evaluation matrix, and also experimenting with different

aspects of each design.


Table of Contents

Title Page 1

Abstract 2

Introduction 4

Requirements and Constraints 5

Basic Features 6

Engineering Design Method 7

Assembling Design Team 8

Identifying Constraint and Criteria 9

Search for Solutions 10

Feasibility Study 11

Potential Solutions 11

Preliminary Design 12

Analyzing Solutions 13

Results and Conclusions 15

Appendix A: Design Matrix 16

Appendix B: Cost Structure 17

Appendix C: Project Pictures 20


Introduction

First of all, our overall objective of this project was to produce a

quality bubble blowing machine at a low cost, and also to create an overall

strong, and portable case. We also objectified creating an organized interior

with easy access to motor and batteries, and creating an effective drainage

system for the excess bubble solution. Our team’s idea should mostly be

aimed towards children since they love playing with bubbles, but it can also

appeal to the teenage community as well.

In response to the market demand for bubble blowing machines we

came up with the Psurtech Bubble Machine, which was meant to address

many of the problems that regular bubble machines suffer. All five of our

team members showed different strengths and weaknesses which coming

together formed a strong group full of ambition, and hope for creating a

product that can hopefully sell in the market. Other than just finishing the

prototype, we aimed towards building a strong communication, and also

physical skills in the mechanical and electric side, which will help us

understand and know how to put a product together from scratch. Hopefully

addressing the issues will enhance the fun, and usability of the product

overall towards kids, and teenagers.


Requirements and Constraints

Our bubble machine should be easy to assemble, and also easy to wire

up.

Our design should also be completely isolated from the outside world,

and the wires should all be covered up to avoid any electrical issues.

The case of the bubble machine should be strong and sturdy enough to

where if it falls on accident it won’t break or get damaged, this type of

sturdability can be accomplished through using strong materials such

as wood or plastic.

Our measure constraints were that any dimension (x,y,z axis)

Could not exceed 2 feet.

Our team has to make the case with a similar design to the designs

sold to the market because if the case is built with weird dimensions

or shapes than that will scare the market away.

The overall bubble blowing machine should be kept at a minimum

price to ensure that the machine actually sells in the real world stores.

(our team decided to keep the costs under $50)


Basic Features

The case is made out of utility shelving, and plywood to create the

case where the motor, and the batteries will be concealed and

protected.

We added on top hinged door, which can be closed by the person

whenever the bubble machine is not being used.

We added a drainage system inside the case to avoid any solution

spilling on the batteries.

We added a little door in the front of the case to easily access the

batteries or wires.

The overall case is divided into three compartments, the first one is

where the motor goes, the second includes the drainage system and

the batteries, and the third system is where the excess bubble solution

goes to.


Engineering Design Method

Identifying the need and defining the problem.

First of all when we were thinking of ideas of the overall project, we

wanted to design something that was more of an innovation to an existing

product. We discussed and concluded that the modern bubble machines that

are sold in stores are too small, and too weak to use as recreational toys on

the large scale. Bubble machines appeal towards little kids which would be

the market audience. Knowing this we needed to come up with a design that

was the least complicated, and could be used by little kids without being

hazardous or dangerous. Although the team wanted to appeal to just kids,

we made up our minds that we should aim at a more general audience to

increase profit. The biggest problem that bubble machines on the market

right now have is that most of them are mostly exposed to the environment

through cutouts in the bases of the design, and we wanted to make a design

that was completely isolated from the environment to ensure that the

battery’s or the motors could not be damaged recklessly.


Assembling Design Team

When we were first forming teas we had to check what skill set each

one of the members had to bring to the table. The founding members of the

team are Avelardo Raygoza Villa, Daniel Lopez, and Tyler Spreen, and

eventually we added two more team members to the team.

Avelardo Raygoza Villa- Design and Wiring

Daniel Lopez- Wiring and PowerPoint

Tyler Spreen- PowerPoint and Drafting

Petrie Yang- Bubble Solution and Soldering

Alexis Morales- Bubble Solution and PowerPoint


Identify Constraints and Criteria

Time- This project needed to be completed by April 22, 2015

Aesthetics- Our design should appeal to not only the children

population, but also the adult population.

Performance- Our design must perform at an exceptional level, which

includes blowing bubble machines, and not leaking any bubble

solution while doing so.

Safety- Whenever we turn the switch on their should not be any wires

exposed or even loose to the bubble solution to avoid shocking the

person or avoid short circuiting the battery.

Portability- Our design not only needs to be light enough to be carried

by a child, but also it has to not be too tall.

Availability- The pricing of our project should be kept to a low price

in order to ensure that it sells in the market, but also high enough to

where we make profit out of the project.

Ease of Assembly- If the design hits the assembly line then the

assembly of the project should not take a long time, in order to ensure

that the maximum amount of bubble machines can be made to sell to

big vendors.


Searching for Solutions

When we first started brainstorming on our design we concluded that

we needed to design a case that could hold the battery and motor inside the

case. The problem of our design was that the solution would spill on the

battery compartment, and it would mess up the wiring, which is a crucial

area in our project. We came up with two main designs, which the only

difference was what material it was made of, one was plastic and the other

was wood. We ultimately chose the wooden design because of money

issues, and also the time it would take to print a big case with a 3D printer.


Feasibility Study:

When we began brainstorming possible designs for our bubble

machine, we thought of 5 designs. We noticed, however, that two of our

designs would not work because of the material they were made out of

aluminum. The first design would’ve contained an extruded pipeline for the

release of the bubbles. This design however wouldn’t work because the

bubbles wouldn’t be able to travel through the pipeline. In addition to this,

the material, aluminum, would surpass in weight but not in strength. The

motor and wands could be easily damaged from bending or dropping the

machine. The second design wouldn’t have worked either because this

design required excessive wiring for different speeds. This design was to

have a larger motor, an unreasonable amount of batteries and extra space for

more wires. We recognized that this amount of wiring was too much of an

issue to resolve in the allowed time frame.

Potential Solutions:

Wooden case with a vertical stand for motor.

Plastic case with a horizontal stand for motor.

Wooden case with a horizontal stand for motor.


Preliminary Design:

In order to eliminate our weakest designs until we narrowed it down

to only one, our team used a design evaluation matrix. We graded 9

different areas on a 1-5 grading scale in order to calculate which design had

the most desired qualities. After this step we went into elaborating and

implementing more ideas into the idea that we narrowed down with the

matrix.

Design Evaluation Matrix


Weight Wooden Vertical Plastic Horizontal Wooden Horizontal

Material 4 2 4 2

Size 3 4 4 4

Apperance 4 2 3 3

Power 4 5 4 4

Ease of Use 5 5 3 4

Weight 3 4 5 3

Access 2 5 2 5

Buble Direction 1 5 3 3


Analyzing Solutions

Using the design evaluation matrix numbers, although the numbers

were close, we decided to go with the highest scoring design which was the

wooden case with the vertical stand for the motor. What made us chose this

design specifically was the ease of use section which was our highest

weighed category, and the wooden vertical design scored the highest out of

the other two designs. The team had discussed on probably steering away

from a wooden case, but we figured out that not only would it cost less to

manufacture, but it would also be less difficult to put together, and also it

would be stronger case. Finally, after researching and evaluating we decided

to finally produce a prototype with the wooden case vertical design.

Detail Design

After we had completed the preliminary design we started sketching

possible blueprints for what we wanted the prototype to look like in the end.

We sketched a rectangular prism with the dimensions of 1 ½ feet tall, 6

inches of length, and 6 inches of width. We also decided to make the design

into two separate parts, one was going to be the actual case, and the other

part was going to be part of the drainage system which would be detachable


from the base. We also decided to put a door on the top of the case in order

to be closed whenever the person would be done enjoying seeing bubbles.

We also added another door on the front of the case which would be located

in the second compartment in order to access the batteries, and the drainage

system quickly and efficiently. During this stage we were still were

contemplating on going with the plastic design, but due mainly to cost and

uncertainty, we decided to go with the wooden case, which was going to be

a challenge either way.


Results and Conclusions

After we were done with the designing phase we decided to finally go

ahead and start creating the wooden case with a vertical motor stand

prototype. Our prototype will set itself apart from the competition because

of the strong and sturdy material that the case is made of, which is stronger

than the flimsy plastic that some companies use for their designs. Also since

we made our case bigger than the actual motor, we could easily swap in a

bigger motor to increase the output of bubbles, which can’t be done with

conventional bubble machines. Also the easy access to the batteries and the

wiring is a plus for our design that many designs don’t have, which is crucial

whenever something goes wrong, and the wires need to be disconnected

from the power source immediately.

Appendix A contains matrix we used to help us eliminate from our

original designs, down to our one final design idea. Appendix B on the

other hand contains the financial information, which includes the pie chart,

and the list of everything we used in the design, and how much it cost the

team. Also we can make different models of this product to attract different

income earning families, instead of just one type of financial family.


Appendices

Appendix A: Design Evaluation Matrix


Weight Wooden Vertical Plastic Horizontal Wooden Horizontal

Material 4 2 4 2

Size 3 4 4 4

Apperance 4 2 3 3

Power 4 5 4 4

Ease of Use 5 5 3 4

Weight 3 4 5 3

Access 2 5 2 5

Buble Direction 1 5 3 3

Appendix B: Cost Structure


34%

6%

6%

6%

8%

8%

4%

23%

5%

Manufacturing Cost

Wood Switch Battery Holder Hinges Batteries Motor Funnel Labor Bubble solution

This chart is showing the breakdown of how much percentage of the

total money went to each section. The area that took the most money out of

our pockets was the wood, which was crucial in building the case for the

bubble machine. The cost won’t be so high if the design ever makes it to the

assembly line because mass purchasing of raw materials will be less money.


We researched online for average pay for assembly line workers, and from

that we arrived at the conclusion of paying workers 11 dollars an hour to

produce the bubble machine.

Expenses Cost


12 ft x 1 ft Utility Shelving $13.00

2 ft x 2 ft Lauan Plywood $3.70

Switch $3.00

8 AA Battery Holder $2.70

4 Hinges $2.90

8 AA Batteries $4.00

Motor $4.00

Funnel $2.00

Bubble solution $2.50

Labor $11.00/hr

Total: $37.80

This chart shows specifically what we bought in order to build our

prototype, and it also shows all the prices including total price which is how

much it would cost to manufacture the product excluding the labor cost.

This type of financial organization helped the team find out how we should

administer our budget, and also if we could spend more or less money on

certain items.

Appendix C: Project Pictures


Figure 1: Sketching Design (Wooden Case)

Figure 2: Wiring the motor


Figure 3: Constructing Wooden Case


Figure 4: Finished Product

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