EGGP- 101 Introduction to Engineering Design
Fall 2002
Mini-Design I (10/15/2002)
Objective
Consider a parked sedan, which has been exposed fully to the relentless summer sun for a long time. Your team is to conceptually design a kit that when installed on the automobile, can significantly reduce the temperature inside its passenger compartment.
Constraints
The add-on kit should be of low cost, easy to install and to remove, and appealing to the eyes. Furthermore, its operation should require little or no power, and not compromise the safety and security on that of the automobile. No modifications on the automobile itself are allowed.
Background
There exists an opportunity to develop and market an add-on kit to existing passenger cars, which is cost effective in eliminating excessive hotness caused by the radiative heat of the sun in the passenger compartment. Undertaking the present design project by your team marks the first step in the development of the kit.
There are clearly needs for such a kit. Entering the passenger compartment of a parked car, which has been baked under the summer sun is a teeth-clenching, burning experience. The high temperature in the compartment not only causes great discomfort, but can lead to the deaths of infants and pets if left unattended there over an extended period of time.
None of the automobile manufacturers have paid adequate attentions to this particular problem in their products. The meager roof insulation and tinted glass in cars today do not even begin to address the concern here.
Though there are now commercially available a number of low-cost add-ons, they are hardly effective. The most common is the reflective sunshade to be placed across the front windshield on the dashboard of parked cars. Also some motorists deploy transparent curtains attached to side windows with sucking cups. These devices fail to reduce the temperature in the passenger compartment significantly.
For security reasons, leaving windows open is in general not an option for an unattended automobile, though the natural convection of air through the windows can be an efficient mechanism of carrying away heat.
Project Deliverables and Dates
(i) Detail minutes of brainstorm session(s) including descriptions and/or sketches of all designs proposed by team members. (10/15-17/2002)
(ii) Documentation of the selection process/evaluation criteria used by the team in arriving at the final design.(10/17/2002)
(iii) Preliminary Presentation (10/22/2002)
(iv) Presentation (10/24/2002)
(v) Award Presentation for Qualified Designs (10/31/2002)