DIY Projects
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"The traditional principles of mass production are being challenged by concepts of highly customized and personalized goods. A growing number of do-it-yourself (DIY) inventors, designers, makers, and entrepreneurs is accelerating this trend. This class offers students hands-on experiences of DIY product design and fabrication processes. Over the course of a semester, students work individually or in small groups to design a customized and personalized product of their own and build it using various DIY fabrication methods, including 3D laser scanning, 3D printing, laser cutting, vacuum forming, etc. Students develop multiple prototypes throughout the semester, iterating and refining their design."
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Project #1 - Coffee Cup Conundrum 11111
pROJECT pROMPT
"Spacebucks, the world’s premier artisan coffee franchise, wishes to replace those pesky paper heat jackets with a sleeker alternative. A Pittsburgh-based design firm, Carnegie Design Inc., has been invited to propose a new design to Spacebucks along with three other competing design firms. Carnegie Design contacted you, a freelance DIY Designer and Fabricator, to assist them in the competition. Spacebucks requires that the new design enable its customers to grab a piping hot coffee or latte without burning themselves. Carnegie Design asked you to design the paper jacket that a customer can assemble easily from a flat piece of paper to a 3D shape without using any glues or staples. They also asked you to make the jacket no bigger than a single piece of 8 ½" x 11" paper."
fINAL dESIGN
pRODUCT fLYER
Design Process
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Project #2 - Coffee Cup Conundrum 222221111
pROJECT pROMPT
"Excited by your paper cup holder from last week, Carnegie Design has been approached by ShiMountain Man, LLC. wishing to commission a sturdier, reusable alternative constructed from 1/8" acrylic. Professor Shimada's wildly successful outdoor supply company, ShiMountain Man Specializes in extreme camping equipment. They have successfully developed a collapsible metal coffee cup that can be heated directly over a campfire for all your morning coffee needs, no kettle necessary. However, they now require a complimentary device with which to grip this cup. Your employee does not care much for looks, but he does want it to be sturdy and reliable. Design for strength. Your employer hates lugging a 325-pound pack every time he hikes Machu Picchu. Your final product should weigh as little as possible. Your employer understands that every camper has limited backpack space, and would like you to keep this in mind during your design process. Design your product for convenient carrying in/on backpack."
fINAL dESIGN
pRODUCT fLYER
dESIGN process
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Project #3 - The Parchment Predicament22221111
pROJECT pROMPT
"Pittsburgh's finest stationary boutique, Memos by Mellon, is looking for a way to maximize promotional space in their store by featuring products on specially magnetized walls. After seeing the beautiful new coffee sleeves at Spacebucks, they've hired Carnegie Design, Inc. to help with the design of magnetic paper holders, clips, or stands as unique as their parchments, pads, and posters. Carnegie Design has tasked you with creating a paper holder that firmly grips at least 3 sheets of standard printer paper and can be easily stuck to a magnetic board. Additionally, the holder will be made from no longer than a 6" x 12" acrylic sheet. It must also be strong enough to withstand 3 seconds of disturbance from a standard hair dryer set on low, but a user removing the paper from the product's grasp should not move the product. Preferably, no glue is to be used in its construction. paper should be able to be inserted and removed using one hand only."
fINAL dESIGN
pRODUCT fLYER
dESIGN process
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Project #4 - Transforming Takeout22221111
pROJECT pROMPT
"After returning home form watching the new transformers movie, the CEO of Carnegie Design, Professor Shimada, decides to stop by Oriental Express for a midnight snack. When he arrives however, he is heartbroken to find that they are near closing time and all the dishes have been put away for the night. Not wanting to disappoint him, the kind people at Orient Express offer to serve his food in a takeout box which they magically transform into a paper plate. Inspired by the movie and amazed by the scene that unfolded before him, Professor Shimada is determined to make Carnegie Design's next product an exceptional one. For this project, you will design a takeout box, or any other container, that can be transformed into another object to create a dual purpose container. Your design can either improve on the existing traditional takeout box or you can create an entirely new container from scratch. The transformation process cannot require the use of additional tools, and once transformed, it does not need to be able to return to its original shape. The container can be made of any kind of thick paper of your choosing but you may not use glue or any other type of adhesive. There are no limitations in the size of your product or how much material you use."
fINAL dESIGN
pRODUCT fLYER
dESIGN process
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Project #5 - Custom Protective Goggle22221111
pROJECT pROMPT
"One of the most common safety inspection violations in Caramel Mango University (CMU) labs is not wearing adequate eye protection. Many of the CMU lab areas contain chemicals which could cause damage to your eyes if they were to come into contact with them. Safety goggles are required in all areas that use hazardous materials. Students often wear safety glasses instead of goggles, but glasses do not provide sufficient protection for chemical splashes. Students are hesitant to wear goggles because they look ugly, they are heavy and bulky, they do not fit the face well, and they are not comfortable to wear. CMU has invited several local firms, including your company, Carnegie Design Inc., to propose a better protective goggle design that encourages the usage of protective goggles. Knowing that CMU has just started Scanning all incoming students' faces in 3D, you have come up with a concept of "Custom Protective Goggle (CPG)," which consists of a base component ans a custom component. The Base component is the standard/non-custom part of the goggle. it will be made available in all the labs on campus. The Custom Component interfaces from the base component to the user's face, and it is custom-made for an individual student based on his/her 3D face scan data. Students need to carry only this component and simply assemble it with the base component when they need to wear a protective goggle."
fINAL dESIGN
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Project #7 - Silicone Situation - Part One22221111
pROJECT pROMPT
"Design and model an object to be molded in silicone using 3D
CAD and then design and model a mold for your object. Design you mold so that
it is 3D printable with one of the polymer fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printers.
One of the most widely used versions of molding is injection molding. Different
types of materials, including plastics, metals, glasses, and rubbers can be
injection molded, and design for manufacture by injection molding is an
essential engineering skill. Your object must have some functional utility. Examples
of acceptable objects might include a piece of jewelry custom-designed for your
wrist, an accessory for your phone, an armband for your iPod, or a holder for a
soft-boiled egg. Your mold must fit within a 4” x 4” x 4” cube and have a
maximum volume of 64 cubic inches."
fINAL dESIGN
dESIGN process
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Project #8 - Silicone Situation - Part Two22221111
pROJECT pROMPT
"3D-print a mold and fabricate your object using 2-part room-temperature vulcanizing (RTV) silicone. Given the high cost of 3D printing, it is essential that your designs be optimized for minimum volume. Be sure to trim all unnecessary positive spaces and excessive thicknesses from your designs. You will be required to submit your mold design/model for review in advance of 3D printing it. "
fINAL dESIGN
pRODUCT fLYER
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Project #9 - Foam and Clay22221111
pROJECT pROMPT
"The goal of this assignment is for you to learn how to make a 3D mockup of a product using expanding foam and modeling clay. You may choose to make a mockup of any hand-held product. Your mockup should consist of two parts, a core and a skin. The core is made of polyurethane expanding foam, and the skin is made of modeling clay. If you like, you may also choose to make a scaled mockup of a larger product and/or use a software product, called "Pepakura" to make a paper shell of the core from a CAD model. You should not use more than 512 cubic inches of polyurethane foam and you should not use more than 2 pounds of modeling clay."
fINAL dESIGN
dESIGN process
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Project #10 - Final Fun22221111
pROJECT pROMPT
"Design and fabricate any product of your choice. This product should be something that makes you or someone else happy. It should be something that you will enjoy using yourself or give to someone else as a gift. The item/product can be a practical one, such as stationery and kitchenware, or aesthetic (ornament, jewelry, etc.). Try to make the product customized and/or personalized to you or your gift recipient. Your item/product should be something a 5-year-old child can easily carry. Try new design/fabrication methods that you are interested in learning. Be creative, and enjoy the process of combining various design ideas, different materials, and hands-on fabrication methods."