Category: Uncategorized

Space S PDS

Sam Walker on

Space S Product Design Specifications.

1 Performance The water rocket is required to perform to a certain level. It is required to fly vertically up at a minimum of 10 meters and reach no more than 8G
2 Environment All materials used are mostly recycled such as the cork, bottle, wooden forks, or are made from spare household items.
3 Life Expectancy The life expectancy depends on level of damage on impacts however, the rocket can usually be fixed with simple equipment but in the testing done a suggested 10-20 uses would be suggested.
4 Maintenance No maintenance is necessary on this product however, if maintenance is needed it will not be difficult. If the rocket becomes dented or damaged, it should be easily repaired.
5 Target product cost The cost of this product will be cheap. Most materials used are recycled or household items so cost will be to a minimum, a guide is provided and can be altered to fit the client’s needs.
6 Availability of components All components are easy to get hold of, we recommend using second-hand bottles and corks. This makes it easy to get and cheap to make.
7 Transportation No transportation is needed, as the products manual can be found online.
8 Quantity The quantity is up to the client as there are simple instructions to create and recreate the product.
9 Size The size of the rocket will be approximately: Height – 500mm x 80mm
10 Weight Without water 160g, with water 660g.
11 Aesthetics and finish The aesthetics and finish are up to the client. Each customer can customize their rocket as they please.
12 Materials The materials advised to be used within the instructions are: Plastic bottles, wooden forks, tape and a cork. The bike valve can be purchased or recycled by cutting the valve out of an old innertube. All the materials we advised to be used are recyclable, and easy and cheap to get hold off.
13 Testing Extensive testing was done and is proven to be safe and reliable.
14 Safety We have carried out testing and found this is safe to use. Additionally, we will put safety warnings on all our products, ensuring everyone uses the product correctly and safely, there has also been a risk assessment carried out.
15 Shelf life This has an unlimited shell life due to the step-by-step guide being available.
16 Disposal We advise the client to dispose of the water rocket by recycling. This is to be more eco-friendly and to encourage recycling.
17 Customer The customer we are aiming our product at are teachers of secondary schools that will create and demonstrate its engineering relevance.
18 Quality The instructions will be on the website giving a step-by-step guide on how it was made, but this can be used as a guideline instead and create a personalised rocket.

 

Gantt Charts- Predicted VS Actual.

Sam Walker on
Original Gantt Chart
Original predicted Gantt chart at the start of the assignment
Actual Gantt Chart
This is the actual outcome of the Gantt Chart at the end of the process

The Main difference between the 2 Gantt charts are the alterations to the time scale, the reason these changed are the development and testing took longer than anticipated as originally I had no microbit for testing. Development took longer than planned as it was a continuous process of trying new ideas and seeing if they are a benefit.

Costing

Sam Walker on

Water Rocket Costing

 

Water Bottle: I used a 1.5L water bottle costing £1.75, I chose the bottom as it was a smooth cylinder shape with no obscurities so its aerodynamically streamlined.

Nose cone: I used the cup part of a plastic wine glass as the nose cone and cut off the base as I found it fitted the bottle well and was itself a smooth design, which is important to the stability of the rocket and is aerodynamically efficient, it can also hold weights in the nose which helps with balance and stability while in the air, the plastic wine glass set cost £2.00 with 4 in the pack.

Bungs: I was able to find some wine corks that I was able to adapt to work as a bung for the rocket, I driller holes and trimmed down the cork so it will fit in the bottle top without it catching, as I already had the cork, I didn’t need to buy them but I would estimate that it would cost £0.75p each.

Valve: The valve I used was originally used for tubeless tyres on mountain and road bikes, I thought this would be a logical thing to use as I had spares and is designed to work with most pumps, I figured it will be perfect for holding pressure in the bottle without leaking as its designed to keep pressure in with rubber seals. The valves themselves are quite expensive at £5-£6 each.

Platform: I used wooden plates for the base as it is sturdy and also economically friendly as it is made from recyclable materials, I cut a circular hole in the middle of the plate so the pump can fit without causing disruptions to the rocket itself as it made it unbalanced at the base. The paper plates came in a pack of 100 with packs of wooden cutlery as well costing £30, these were purchased and used for another matter but a single plate would cost £0.10p

Rocket Legs: The rocket legs was made from Wooden forks from the same package as the platform,  I altered the forks design to create 2 prongs for stability, I used 3 forks as legs and picked the forks as they are light, thin, economically friendly and strong, wooden forks from places like fish and chip shops can be used as legs as an alternative, for costing, the forks came in the same package as the platform for the rocket, and would cost £0.15p-£0.20p each.

Tape: For tape I used Duct tape as it is light, cheap and is very useful to hold the rocket parts together, it holds the nose cone to the rocket and cardboard extension to the bottle. The cost of the tape would be £3.75 per 50m roll.

Release mechanism: The release mechanism I used was a Allen key  that was used to hold the cork in place and hold pressure, I drilled a hole through the lid of the bottle and the cork to create a hole for a pin mechanism that would be able to be pulled out to release the rocket, I connected some string to the end of the Allen key so I can pull the pin from a safe distance, the cost of this is low as I used scrap parts and pieces from around the house, the Allen key can be swapped out for any other material if it fits and is appropriate.

Extension material: I extended the rocket length by 6 Inches so I could be able to make the rocket level, it also made it so I can add reinforcements to the base of my rocket legs, I used some cardboard from a package but other materials can be used, ideally something that can get wet, costings for this will be low at £0.10p worth of materials.

Labour 

-50-hour individual. 

-labour rate = £6.50. 

-Labour = £325

Materials 

-Duct tape = £3.50. 

-1, 1.5L water bottle=£1.75

-2 sheets of card = £0 due to recycled. 

– Cork/Bung = £0 due to recycled. 

– Bicycle pump = £10

– Tubeless bike valve=£5 each

– Microbits = supplied by University. 

 

Total cost = £351.75