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Engineering Design Portfolio for Praxis II
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Denys Matvyeyev
Engineering Design Portfolio
Introduction
Perhaps because it is an Engineering Design Portfolio I should have started
with my personal definition of the engineering design. But I am not a
philosophical type of person and can’t encompass immense meaning in
just few words. Therefore, as any other engineer would do, I will break
the problem in smaller sub-problems and deal with them separately.
For me design is a synonym of creating, while engineering is ensuring
that something works the way it supposed to. Combined together,
engineering design is creating something that works the way it supposed
to. Simple as it sounds, it requires tremendous effort to design (create)
something new, unique and simple and build it the way that it is stays this
way for good.
For me design is the most problematic. I am extremely strict towards my
solutions - they must satisfy numerous criteria that I set up for them. For
instance, they should be simple, intuitive, the cheapest possible,
extremely productive and revolutionary. At the same time they should be
well engineered - durable, sustainable and safe.
In this portfolio I will go through some of the projects I participated in. I
will start with two biggest challenges of my first year at the University of
Toronto – bridge designs for Structures and Materials course, where I had
to think as an engineer for the first time in my life. I will then briefly
describe my experience in Bridge Inspection Assignment, where I
practiced analysis of a product of someone else’s design. After this I will
describe engineering process behind the biggest project of my first
semester at university – improvement of the current method of pesticide
removal from fruits and vegetables.
However, the biggest part of this portfolio is dedicated to the second
semester project – improving wayfinding method for visually impaired
customers of TTC (Toronto Transit Commission). The whole process
was so big that I had to divide it into four sub-parts: the main solution, 3D
modeling, prototyping and vector graphics.
Looking back at all of my projects, I realize that the most important
aspects of my life that helped me tremendously in all of them were that I
am open-minded, not afraid to dream, a little bit crazy for ideas and
experienced in different areas. I think after developing a good theoretical
basis in terms of engineering I will be able to become an engineer not only
with sometimes insane ideas, but with some real results.
CIV102 Project – Pedestrian Bridge over St. George
Street between Galbraith Building and Bahen Centre
At my first year Structures and Materials course we were asked to design
a truss bridge with at least one intermediate support. The objective was to
design visually appealing bridge with the lowest possible price tag.
In order to ensure both of objectives our team designed the bridge the
way that the smallest in size and therefore cheaper HSS (Hollow
Structural Section) members were used. Using “Bridge Designer”
software available online our team tried all possible designs for the truss
and discovered that using Pratt type for the East side and Warren type for
the West side will minimize maximum forces in its members and as a
result smaller HSS members can be used.
I was responsible for the calculations and design of the intermediate
support as well as for the engineering drawing. Based on rough
calculations for the support, I decided to use three-section truss as the
most effective and efficient in that case. It was not really challenging
because by that time we practiced similar calculations for quite some
time.
Even though we were expected to deliver hand-drawn sketches or the
engineering drawing, I decided to explore Autodesk AutoCAD, which I
was not familiar with before. It was challenging and interesting at the
same time. The program gives limitless possibilities; however, it took me
nearly 48 hours to discover some of them and eventually finish the
drawing on time.
During this project I improved my skills in calculating and designing truss
structures, as well as familiarized myself with some of the rarest truss
designs and various HHS members. I also learned how to draw 2D models
in AutoCAD, 3D was my next goal.
My Calculations for the Support
Engineering Drawing was Done Using AutoCAD
CIV102 Project – Beam Bridge
As the last challenge at Structures and Materials course we were asked to
design and build a cardboard beam bridge. We were said what kind of
testing it will go through and what are the minimum requirement in order
for it to pass. Furthermore, all groups had the same amount and type of
cardboard.
After discussing some of the possible designs our team decided to take our
chances and go ahead with rather risky design. We wanted to combine
beam and truss designs in one, making structure that we could not find
analogies for. In theory, the structure should have been much stronger
than regular beams. Furthermore, such design sparkled some interest
among other students and TA’s.
In real world this kind of structure is not used for various reasons. As we
were explained both beams and trusses are strong and reliable structures
and there is no need to build truss-like elements inside of beams because
it is a) difficult to manufacture, b) unnecessary, because beam can be
reinforces by simply using better steel or by changing its proportions.
However, in our case we had cardboard of limited amount, and therefore
we were open for an experiment.
Eventually we build pi-beam bridge with truss in its upper half. Truss
acted as diaphragms along the entire length as well as increased its
buckling stress. As a result the maximum weight it could support in
theory was well above a kilo-Newton.
However, due to misunderstanding, members of our team that we
responsible for construction of the bridge did some critical mistakes while
cutting the cardboard. As a result many parts were glued together instead
of being solid pieces. That fact dramatically decreased maximum stress
the bridge could handle and unfortunately it failed at the very first test.
This project was one of the biggest lessons during my first year experience
at University of Toronto. Even though we learned it the hard way, this
project showed how important full understanding between team
members can be. Furthermore, our team still curious whether our
unconventional design would work if built properly; so we are planning
to participate in next year contests with the same design.
3D Model of Our Bridge
Bridge after the Failure under the Load
Praxis I – 30 Bond Street Bridge Inspection
As an assignment in one of our courses we were asked to choose any
pedestrian bridge in City of Toronto and inspect it in accordance with
various provincial codes and standards.
Our team chose a pedestrian bridge between The Li Ka Shing Institute
and St. Michael’s Hospital. It was recently built (2010) 18-meters long
bridge over Bond Street, downtown Toronto. Probably because it was
brand new, bridge met all Ontario provincial standards. Personally, I was
responsible for checking the accessibility code, which our bridge satisfied
on all levels: angle of the ramp was within allowable range, door opening
button was installed on the proper level, walking area was wide enough
for two wheelchairs to pass each other easily, the carpet surface had
proper elevation. Overall, 30 Bond Street was well designed and built.
However, we discovered that the final price of $2,000,000 CAD was
enormous for a bridge of such type and length. For example, bridge
manufacturing company Excel estimates the maximum price for a beam
bridge of such length in $130,000 USD (15 times cheaper). Upon
researching we found out that such a big price tag was caused by
framework, which was designed and built in Germany and then shipped
to Canada, and its external glass panels, which were manufactured in
Italy.
Our team suggested two Canadian companies Price Steel Ltd. and MD
Glass that could be alternative local suppliers. Hiring these companies
could reduce shipping price dramatically. We also wanted to suggest
changing carpet floor surface to vinyl tiles that usually used in hospitals,
however, the day before the presentation flooring in the bridge was
changed to ceramic tiles.
This bridge inspection was beneficial for all of us, as we familiarized
ourselves with local engineering and construction standards. That was also
the first time we did some proper research, identified the problem and
suggested possible solutions. At the same time this assignment showed us
how many various factors an engineer has to account for.
Picture of the Bridge
One of my Slides from the Presentation
Praxis I – Design of Pesticides Removal Method for
Fruits and Vegetables. Part 1 - Participation in the
Main Solution Design
Our team was presented with a design brief, where we were asked to
provide at least 3 possible solutions for a problem of removing pesticides
from the surface of fruits and vegetables. Our main solution was a result
of group brainstorming with further scoping. We all agreed that the price
should be the lowest possible and it should not require any special training
or change in person’s daily routine.
As we started to think about it, analogy with dishes raised and a
dishwasher was a natural consequence. At first we were skeptical, but
then we realized that there is a way to use already popular and widely
available product in slightly different context.
As a main solution we suggested to build a tray for a dishwasher, where
dirty fruits and vegetables will be placed and later washed using Rinse
program. Rinse program (or alternative) is a short option (about 10
minutes long) available on the most of contemporary dishwashers
regardless of their class. During this option only cold or slightly heated
water (up to 35o C) is used in the amount of about 3 gallons per wash.
Our design also included a cartridge with soap that would be attachable to
a water dispenser inside of a dishwasher to increase washing efficiency.
In our opinions that was an elegant and working solution; however,
teaching team expressed their concern about water pressure and high
temperature. In order to support our solution we created an experiment,
where we washed in a dishwasher a carrot, an apple, a tomato, a piece of
broccoli, a banana, a kiwi, an orange and one yellow pepper. The
dishwasher we used was manufactured by Kitchen Aid (Model:
W10084453A). We put vegetables and fruits on the lower level of the
dishwasher in two sieves. Ten minutes later, when it was done we
examined products and tasted them. As we expected none of specimens
were damaged or changed its taste.
This experience was very important in terms of supporting information
and reference for any of my future engineering designs. I learned that I
should be ready to support any of my claims regardless of my personal
opinion and beliefs. Furthermore, I realized that a research of reference
designs can help tremendously.
Praxis I – Design of Pesticides Removal Method for
Fruits and Vegetables. Part 2 – Participation in the
Alternative Solution Design
As an alternative solution I suggested and later designed a device for
cleaning fruits and vegetables off pesticides that could be installed at the
points of purchase (supermarkets, convenient stores, private vendors).
The main advantage of the following method is that required result is
reached before the product gets to the consumer and therefore no effort
or money spending is required from their side.
While working on the problem, our team realized that perfect solution
for our problem would be to emancipate a customer from the problem.
Changing the industry of pest control was out of scope of our brief;
therefore, we focused on the idea of cleaning the food on its way from the
field to consumer. We could not find any reasonable solution to clean
product right after it was harvested or at the intermediate points of
transportation. As a result, supermarkets and other retail locations
became our primary goal. We realized that in case we can come up with
effective and efficient device, retailers would be willing to pay for it and
later use the idea of fruits and vegetables cleaned off pesticides in their
marketing.
Ideally only those vegetables chosen by a customer should be cleaned after
their permission. Cash register is the perfect place for such device. Apart
from its main purpose it should be cheap, easy to use by unfamiliar with it
personnel and applicable to current structure of the cash register.
Eventually, our solution was a modified plastic bag stand. This devise is to
be installed at the place of current stands; therefore its dimensions at the
base are 13” x 13”.
The lower part of our stand looks exactly the same as current stands with
hooks for the bags. However, the top part of it has cleaning part. It
consists of two inclined surfaces that are covered with spongy material
impregnated with cleaning chemical. This part of the device is responsible
for cleaning a bottom part of a vegetable. The tilted surfaces are attached
to the walls of the bag holder by two rails each. At the same time, each
rail is inside of a spring, which pushes the inclined surface away from the
walls of the holder. At the point where both surfaces connect, there are
coarse strings covered with the same chemical as spongy areas.
Whenever the customer want to purchase a vegetable or a fruit, the
cashier pushes it through the device. The spongy part cleans the bottom
part of the fruit. As it gets to the very bottom of the tilted surfaces, the
rails start to move through the holes in the walls and surfaces spread apart
letting the fruit continue going down. As it goes further down, strings
clean the sides and the top part of the fruit. Then the fruit falls directly to
the bag, and strings return tilted surfaces back to their initial position.
That was a good solution in general; however upon further investigation
we realized that spongy surfaces and strings would get dirty rather quickly
and they also can be hazardous because some fruits can leave their
particles on the strings. If a
customer is allergic to the
fruit, whose particle left
on the strings from the
previous customer, it can
cause severe seizure and
possible death. For these
reasons Cash Register
Cleaning Device was
mentioned in the report
only as a possible
alternative.
Praxis II – Navigation for the Blind within TTC
Our team was assigned to design a better wayfinding method for visually
impaired customers of TTC (Toronto Transit Commission). In particular
RFP was focused on subway stations, which in some cases have extremely
complicated layout. According to the RFP, solution should not cause
inconvenience to other commuters, should avoid any additional undesired
attention, take user a short amount of time to learn how to get from point
A to B and also should minimize cost for implementer and blind people.
Our team had many various ideas, but solution that I suggested was
eventually chosen as our final.
When I was thinking about the problem, I wanted it to be more or less
personalized. Ideally, the system should provide unique directions to
every blind individual and at the same time stay applicable to the third
largest transportation system in North America. Personally I did not want
to rely on any kind of electronic guiding device, because of a big number
of potential problems (batteries, controls and technophobia in general). I
also wanted my solution to work for all king of customers, including new
to the city and tourists. As a result I scoped it to the solution within the
station.
I didn’t want my solution to require any special training; therefore, I
decided to research the ways blind people interact with the world and the
ways they navigate. Upon research I found out that cane is the most
common tool used by visually impaired people to walk. As a result I
considered tactile surfaces as a solution rather naturally. Furthermore, I
found out that it is really hard for the blind to walk straight and tactile
surfaces are extremely helpful in this case. Hence, I decided to improve
current tactile surfaces system in TTC the way that it will guide users to
the destination of their choice.
I remembered the way of navigation I saw in Sunnybrook Hospital. There
they had a board with a list of departments in the hospital. Each
department was assigned a certain color, which was mapped by the line of
the same color on the walls. Instructions suggested following the line of
respective department. I found it fascinating, as there is no need to
remember complicated layout of the floor, directions are quick and
simple and chances for mistake are minimized. By this point I already had
an idea of combining this idea and tactile surfaces – different tactile
surfaces represent different directions. The same way as in Sunnybrook, a
person identifies their final destination at some initial point and follows
respective tactile surface to their final destination.
Then I thought about the information stand, where customers will obtain
directions to the point of their interest. Following the same concept that I
saw in the hospital, information stand did not have to provide complicated
step by step directions, it only have to introduce the customer to the
system, give a choice of possible directions and describe type of the line to
follow. After summarizing all my ideas, I realized that it should be simply
a board with “you are here” identifier and different lines going from there
towards different directions.
When I discussed it with my partners, in order to make the method easier
and faster, we decided to make some pre-choices for users. When we
were working on designing the patterns and info stand we realized that
giving the user a choice whether to use an elevator, escalator or stairs
overcomplicates the system. Furthermore, we wanted the system to be as
fast as possible, and we believe giving a customer multiple choices might
take much more time for relatively nonessential convenience. Therefore,
considering that elevators and escalators can be out of order or on
maintenance, stairs was the only option left. In case there are more than
one entrance to the platform, our solution would not provide them with
an option that will lead them to the one we consider the most efficient.
Putting such restrictions made our final solution much simpler – we
needed only one patter leading to one side of the platform. Taking into
account the layout of the whole subway system we decided to have only 5
patterns, which represent South, North, East and West directions as well
as Exit. We agreed that the same pattern would lead to towards the same
direction at all subway stations. As a result experienced visually impaired
person would be able to identify their direction by simply recognizing the
pattern. In addition to this we suggested to each pattern have its own
color so regular TTC users will know that in order to get, for example, to
the Northbound trains they just have to follow blue line. Therefore, our
solution also improves navigation in TTC for regular people too. We
suggested the following colors for 5 directions: North (cold) – blue,
South (hot) – red, East (sun rises) – yellow, West (associated with
money) – green, and black for Exit, as a neutral color.
With regards to info stand we wanted it to be as simple as possible. We
decided to install an elevated button in the middle of the surface, with
“You Are Here” written on it in both regular text and Braille. We expect
the person to push it intuitively, and it will initialize quick verbal
instruction and directions. However, even if the person did not press the
button, they still will be able to obtain all necessary information from the
instructions written in Braille.
On the sides of the button the info stand will have minimized copies of the
patterns leading to different directions. At the same time if the pattern is
to right from the button, the actual pattern can be found to the right from
the stand. All the instructions will be in both English and Braille, so that
regular people can use it for themselves or to assist blind.
As for the patterns, we combined all our research and decided to make all
of them 57 cm wide (shoulder width), which is exactly the space a person
need to walk comfortably. So the person will be actually walking on it and
will be able to feel it with both a cane and their feet. That gave us some
space for experimenting and by testing we identified the following 5
pattern as the most distinctive from each other:
The material we suggested for such patterns was thermoplastic or cold
plastic. Both materials are very durable and easy to apply. Thermoplastic,
for instance, is used for road marking in Europe and proved to last at least
8 times longer than regular materials used. Furthermore, its height can be
increased to a desired level –this option frequently used in road marking
to warn drivers.
Information Stand and Tactile Surfaces
Praxis II– 3D Model of the Subway Station for Blind
People Navigation Project
Another subpart for this project was to design a 3D model of the Queen’s
Park Subway Station. We decided that having a 3D model of the subway
station at our poster during the showcase will highly increase the
comprehension of the concept. However, because nobody in our team
knew how to make it, my partner Denis Burkov and I decided to attempt
to draw it using textbooks and YouTube tutorials.
We started by rather simple 2D plan of the main platform. Due to
security concerns we were neither able to obtain blueprints, nor to take
measurements on site. Therefore, Denis went to the station and measured
it with his steps, which allowed us to have more or less realistic
proportions.
As soon as we were done with 2D layout, we used Extrude function to
make 3D objects out of 2D shapes. That was the way we started to work
in 3D; however, later we discovered easier ways to accomplish the same
results by switching to 3D modeling mode and using preset objects such
as box, cylinder, cone and etcetera.
While working on the model we learned how to work with various 3D
objects, such as those mentioned above and planes; we also mastered in
texture application and later rendering of the model. We attempted to
explore lightening, but we did not have enough time to finish it.
Even though each of us was involved in absolutely all parts of the drawing,
Denis was focused the most on the platform and upper level and I was
responsible for creation of the information stand and tactile surfaces.
Tactile surfaces were rather simple: I drew auxiliary borders for patterns
and then drew Plane Surfaces within these borders. We later combined all
the planes in unions, as Denis discovered that AutoCAD works faster
when big objects are in unions.
It was much harder to create an information stand. At first, I created a
plane with a map and extruded required parts of it. Then it took a lot of
time to recline this plane in proper way. Eventually I used 3D Align tool,
with allowed to rotate in desired direction. However, during Alignment
some of the parts of the plane changed their location with respect to the
other parts of the plane. It took us a few hours before we discovered the
option of changing the orientation of the coordinate system. Only by
changing the orientation, we were able to make proper modification to
our tilted info plane. After that we uses curved planes and modified boxes
to crease the body of the stand.
This experience was particularly interesting and useful, as I obtained
experience in 3D modeling. We used it for illustrations on our poster and
for walk through experience on the large screen during our final
presentation. I am planning to continue working in AutoCAD and
therefore, I have plans to learn it properly during the summer break.
View of the 3D Model Used in Poster Design
3D Model of the Information Stand
Poster for Blind People Navigation Project
For the presentation of our solution during the showcase we were
supposed to have a large poster to illustrate the main aspects of our
solution. In order to accomplish it, we were supposed to use vector
graphics software, which none of us was familiar with. As a result, the
same way as with 3D model, my partner Denis Burkov and I spent some
time learning the basics of Adobe Illustrator.
At first, I watched numerous tutorial videos on YouTube and then spent
couple hours experimenting with various tools and options. Some of the
most useful tools were basic shapes, pen, grid and layers. The second step
was to create the layout of the poster. We wanted the heading to standout
and ensure that person will understand the topic of the poster right away.
For that reason we dedicated nearly 1/5 at the top of the poster to the
heading and added TTC logo and Blind Person sign next to it.
We then wanted to ensure some kind of natural flow of reading. So we
divided the rest of the poster in four even parts and made the leftmost top
sector dedicated to wayfinding process. We used triangular shapes
pointing down between the points in order to ensure correct reading
direction. Intuitively it should lead them towards information stand
section, continued by Tactile Surfaces part.
As for information on the poster, we wanted to have just the most
essential points of the design. For the info stand we briefly described the
function of three main elements, while for Tactile Surfaces section we
simply provided the patters we are suggesting to use. As it was suggested
in “Slide:ology” by Nancy Duarte for the color scheme we decided to use
colors from the field. We decided to go with grey (subway cars) and blue
(color associated with accessibility). Bright blue was later changed to baby
blue in order to harmonize the color scheme.
As for the pictures we had to save some of the AutoCAD views as PDF,
and then insert it in our poster in order to ensure vector format of the
picture.
Overall, I think that this poster was a successful project as it was covering
the most important aspects of our solution, while being concise and
simple.
Direction We Expected People to Read the Poster
The Final Version of the Poster
Praxis II – Prototypes for Blind People Navigation
Project
Another important part of that project was to create prototypes of the
tactile patterns.
At first we wanted to build them purely for the critique assignment as a
demonstration of our idea. However, later we realized that we will need t
do some testing and therefore, we decided to build full-size prototypes.
For our first version, we found 3mm thick cardboard plates at arts supply
shop. We used 5 of these plates as a base, and used the rest to make the
actual pattern. As a result we got one-meter-long, full-scale testing
prototypes. These patterns were later used by our team member who did
testing.
However, for the final showcase we decided to make better prototypes
that would be made of tougher material, so that people could actually
walk on them without breaking. At the same art supply store we found
the same kind of plates, but made of plastic. In order to minimize the
price we did our base 60 cm (3 cm larger than the width of a tactile
surface), and glued different patterns to both sides of the base. As a result
we used 3 plates of plastic, instead of 7, as we did for cardboard
prototypes.
Overall, both prototypes performed well and accomplished the mission
they were created for. I am fully satisfied with both materials and willing
to use them in the future for the similar projects.
Working on the Plastic Prototypes
Working on the Cardboard
Prototypes
Testing out Designs