MIAD Industrial Design
P.O.V statement
We Met :
A Teacher at Ronald Reagan High School who teaches the personalized blended learning course
We Were Surprised To Learn That:
In the Teacher's he had a problem with invasive vines growing in his backyard and ruining not only some of the plants in his garden but also messing with his wooden fence. The root of the vines is also out of the Teachers reach.
We Could make a difference if we designed a:
Extendable device that can spray vine killer on the roots that is lightweight and has a low-profile flashlight on the nozzle to help see and guide the device at night time but not so as to disturb others.
A Teacher at Ronald Reagan High School who teaches the personalized blended learning course
We Were Surprised To Learn That:
In the Teacher's he had a problem with invasive vines growing in his backyard and ruining not only some of the plants in his garden but also messing with his wooden fence. The root of the vines is also out of the Teachers reach.
We Could make a difference if we designed a:
Extendable device that can spray vine killer on the roots that is lightweight and has a low-profile flashlight on the nozzle to help see and guide the device at night time but not so as to disturb others.
Empathy Chart
Inspirations
The main inspiration is the man himself Larry Murphy who started the project and consulted everyone on their progress throughout the project. He also gave us a lot of liberties telling us basically make something that will help someone. This sandbox approach really got me excited and it was always something I had in mind. The person I met with was also a big inspiration since they were someone I was trying to help and their needs were very helpful. Lonnie Johnson was also a very big inspiration through the whole project and the super soaker water gun is a base for my design as a whole. Lonnie Johnson was a inventor and entrepreneur looking to sell his idea for the super soaker. His persistence through quiting the air force and putting faith in his product was something I admired heavily through my research. Since I am aiming at making the chore of gardening fun I couldn't think of anything funner to do than squirt weeds away with my vine/weed blaster.
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Planning Sketches
All of these sketches are to show functionality and scale of the product as well as my mind map. The sketch directly to the right is to show the different designs I had in mind for my product.
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After a bit of tweaking to the original design I came up with a small modular system for the Weed/ Vine Blaster. I also tried to make it as compact as possible.
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To make it as accessible as possible I tried to make the way you use it simple and direct with a bolt action type firing mechanism.
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ExperimentationWhen it came to experimentation I ideated about different ways I could go about making this product. With the first concept being that of a almost rifle like squirt gun with a screw on bottle at the end. From there i thought of different variations of this basic model. The first was the same as the original idea but with a shower head barrel to cover a larger area quicker. Another concept I thought about was instead of using a bottle for the container what if i hollowed out the stock and gave it the capacity to be leaned and to carry a multitude of different weed and vine killers as well as even supplements to your plants. This lead me to the modular more compact concept I had in mind for a more reliable and less bulky version of the other two concepts. With this Idea I also welcomed the Idea of using a picatinny rail to add a scope or under barrel attachment to your blaster. This design went very well with the idea of having a diverse set of gardens and being able to use in indoor gardening as well as outside gardening.
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Process
At first I began with meeting with the person I wanted to make the design first and checking out what problems they had. After meeting with them and asking what their problem I asked them what they needed and wrote down the parameters. Then I empathized with them and tried to see the situation through their point of view thinking about what it was that was bothering them. After utilizing the empathy chart I began to draw up concepts and a mind map to think about what I wanted to do to help the person I was empathizing with. The mind map was a tool I used to think about the general idea about the product. From here I began my planning sketches to demonstrate how and when you would use this product as well as it's functionality and scale. After this to present to the Industrial designers I made a poster board in photo shop to summarize all the above. After receiving feedback and tweaking the poster board I printed it out and mounted it on the 76.2 cm * 50.8 cm foam board.
Model Mock ups
The first picture is of a model I made out of sculpy, paper, and aluminum foil. This is a replica of what i envisioned the end product to look like. The picture on the far right is what I would like the internals to look like consisting of tubes and a pump connected to the trigger. The mechanics of the pump consist of a cylander containing a spring and a piston manipulated by the trigger to cause the suction and discharge of water. Another very important piece would be the nozzel of the spray mechanism since it helps increase the velocity of the weed killer.
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Another main feature is the stock being removeable since it also acts as a resovoir. |
Final Board
"Weed Blaster"
Compare & Contrast
Similarities
1. The mechanism is similar 2. both have the stock as the storage 3. They are made of the same material which is plastic 4. both were made to shoot out a liquid Differences 1. My design is more compact and less bulky 2. The super soaker was made only to store water and not chemicals 3. my design in modular and can be highly customize 4. the way you prime is different |
Reflection
The product is everything I wanted it to be without a doubt. Although we are making prototypes next semester I wouldn't have minded making them now. Although It may have some flaws in it's design that is to be expected so early in development. During the whole process of Ideating I always had the mentality of better better better and trying to specialize the product to be the most general and versatile version it could be. Although keeping up with the deadlines was a challenge with everything going on in life right now I pulled through and always was open to feedback and improvements others suggested and just like Lonnie Johnson I focused on the best ways to make this product something fun to use.
ACT Responses
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork:
The Inspiration which was Lonnie Johnson, influenced my work by making me think about how I could make the product more fun overall.
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The video took a more biographical approach to my inspiration which showed how driven Johnson was to sell his product to the public.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I came to the conclusion that I should almost always search for ways to improve my work and be ready to take and accept criticisms.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central Idea around my product is to find a way to make a chore into something enjoyable and fun to do.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
How to make improvements and adjust my product to fit specialized gardening needs.
The Inspiration which was Lonnie Johnson, influenced my work by making me think about how I could make the product more fun overall.
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The video took a more biographical approach to my inspiration which showed how driven Johnson was to sell his product to the public.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I came to the conclusion that I should almost always search for ways to improve my work and be ready to take and accept criticisms.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central Idea around my product is to find a way to make a chore into something enjoyable and fun to do.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
How to make improvements and adjust my product to fit specialized gardening needs.
Bibiliography
Larry Murphy. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.miad.edu/faculty/larry-murphy.
Biography and Reddit Present: Super Soaker inventor Lonnie Johnson | Biography. (2018, August 7). Retrieved December 9, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8uaocyFkIs.
Biography and Reddit Present: Super Soaker inventor Lonnie Johnson | Biography. (2018, August 7). Retrieved December 9, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8uaocyFkIs.