Purpose: In this activity, students will be introduced to best practices of initial sketching and ideation within their final groups.

Description: Students will work in their project groups to generate initial ideas about their concept in the form of sketches.

Instructions

Part 1: In your group, begin discussing your possible concepts. Each group member should participate to get their ideas heard. Settle on an overall concept that encompasses the project criteria.

Part 2: Next, students should begin to develop initial sketches. Each group member should do their own sketch to communicate how they picture the concept. These initial sketches should be used to record initial ideas, gain consensus within your group, and demonstrate specific aspects of an idea. 

Part 3: Once each sketch is complete, share your sketches with your instructor.

DELIVERABLES:

Upload your sketches to the Responses tab above. 

Cardboard lends itself to different mechanisms compared to wood and acrylic. This mechanism combines aspects of the parallel linkage and eccentric cam. It also uses the springiness of cardboard as the returning force to bring the flag back down.

Learning Goals: 

1. Understand the basics of the cam and linkage mechanism. 
2. Apply your understanding of the mechanism to create a unique prototype. 

Part I: Template model

Using the template file (attached to this post), you will recreate the cam and linkage cardboard model. To complete the activity, you will need cardboard, scissors or exacto, a dowel, or a pencil. 

Part II: Build your own version

Once you’ve completed the model, prototype at least 2 different ways to modify the pre-existing elements to -

a) change the movement of the mechanism, 

b) customize components, 

c) introduce a new add-on feature, 

d) propose a novel application.

Part III: Document

Take photos of all your work. In the caption, make sure to describe the prototypes and explain your work process. Post your answers to the following reflection questions:

1. Did you find having a demo template useful? 
2. If you were to repeat this exercise, what would you do differently vs. the same?
3. Describe the parts you've modified from the original template. 
4. Are there other mechanisms you'd like to learn how to make?

Presentations are the story of your project - from early sketches and inspiration, through prototypes and more developed ideas, presentations highlight the pieces of the process that led each student to their latest project.

Prompt

In this assignment, you will compile and create your final presentation, which will become part of your online portfolio of work, able to be shared with the public.

Instructions

In this activity, you will create your final presentation using the template below.

Create a post in the Responses tab above. This post has two components: the visual presentation and the written project description. Each component is outlined below and should be included in the same post.

Deliverable 1: Visual Presentation

Slide 1: Final Photograph with Project title and Team member names 

Slide 2: Evocative Image (an image that highlights the kind of experience you want your project to provide viewers)

Slide 3: Thesis Statement (1-2 sentence project statement that explains the overall idea of your project)

Slides 4: Green Energy Research 

Slide 5: Precedent Image(s) that inspired your project

Slide 6: Initial 2-3 Sketch Models (shared in your midterm presentation)

Slides 7-9: Final Diagrams (Use, and Technical)

Slide 10: 3 Final Project Photographs

Slide 11:  1 gif or video of your final project in motion

Slide 12: "Thank You" slide.

Deliverable 2: Project Statement

The Project Statement is a 1-2 paragraph project description that explains the overall idea of your project to someone who is unfamiliar with the topic. Below is a series of key points to consider as you write this final project description. Keep in mind that you should not simply put all of the answers together -- you must weave it together into a clear story. Add this to your final presentation in the Responses tab.

Things to consider:

1. The what is a clear statement of the overall idea/thesis.
2. The why explains how your project changes the world. It is the reason your project exists – what social issue is it engaging, who is your project helping, how does the project change the world, and what important social, intellectual, or technical questions does it raise? The scope of the why can vary widely.
3. The how briefly explains what technical prowess, innovative methods, or cool materials you used in your solution.
4. The who explains who will use your design, why they will use it, and in what context.
5. Think of the reader - it is good to imagine that a university admissions officer AND a potential employer in the field of your design should both be able to understand and be excited by the project based on your writing.

Prompt

Designers represent their ideas through many different means: drawings, photographs, renderings, scale models, prototypes, and more. Each method presents specific advantages for highlighting different aspects of the concept and proposed execution.

Instructions

In this assignment, we will learn about different types of diagrams, and how we can use each one to further communicate the ideas of your project. 

Review the presentation above to learn about the types of diagrams used by designers to communicate their ideas. Then each project team needs to create a Use diagram and technical diagram. As you create your diagrams, consider how each one will highlight a different aspect of your idea. These diagrams should be useful tools for others to understand your idea.

Keep in mind that these diagrams will be shared in your final presentation, so take care to make them clean and easily understandable. 

Draw a Use Diagram

1. Look back at examples of this type of diagram in the slides above. 
2. Depict who is interacting with your project as well as how they are utilizing it.
3. Using arrows, color coding, and/or labels, point out the components of your project in your Use Diagram. 

Draw a Technical Diagram

1. Look back at examples in the slides above. Notice how these examples deconstruct the object to show the individual elements.
2. Deconstruct or take apart your final project into multiple components. Try to highlight visually, how the project is put together to perform its functions.

Deliverables

Submit your Use Diagram/s or Technical Diagram/s in the Responses tab above.

Prompt

Now that we've brainstormed and sketched and prototyped and FINALLY landed on a solid idea, it's time to delve into the realm of iterative design.

Iterative design is when you take your initial idea, get feedback, and improve upon that idea and your prototype in a cycle that can happen an infinite number of times (until you hit your deadline, of course!)

For this project, we will be doing two iterations that focus on FORM and FUNCTION. 

Part One: Form

Discuss the following questions with your partner:

How can you improve the FORM of your design?

• Can you add another level of elegance, refinement, or more creativity to your design?
• Does the shape of each component of your design have anything to do with its function or use?
• If your object is interactive, how can you invite users in using only the visual nature of your design?

In design, there should be a clear progression from one set of prototypes to the next as you make design decisions. 

Important: Make sure you really examine the full range of materials available to you in this studio and make thoughtful choices about which materials you're using and why.

Part 2: Function 

Discuss the following questions with your partner: 

How can you improve the FUNCTION of your design?

• Does it move in the way you want it to?
• Does your prototype work the way you want it to? What are some mechanical kinks that you need to work out?
• Can you find additional precedents* for the type of mechanisms and functionality that you are incorporating into your design? Do a quick search to see if there is a project like yours out there. What inspiration can you gather from it? 

Note: It is okay if your project does not feature interactive elements. However, if you're skipping this step, you must invest more energy in the visual design. 

About interactivity...

The key element of interactivity is taking an input and converting it to an output. Luckily, there are a lot of simple ways to add interactivity to projects. Now that you've learned some Arduino basics, think about how the inputs and outputs of the Arduino could be added to your project, if applicable.

Deliverable

1. Improve the form and function of your project through iterative design 
2. Take high-quality pictures of the finished prototype being worn and used.

Then create a post in the Responses tab that includes the following:

1. 3 photographs of your final prototype 
2. 3 close-up photographs of your final prototype that show the quality of the design 
3. 3 photographs of your final prototype that clearly communicate how people engage with it 
4. If you added interactivity, write 1-2 sentences describing the interactive elements you added to your project

Description 

A concept thesis is an important step in starting a collaborative partner project. We will use this time to combine ideas and arrive at the conceptual directions of our project.

Instructions 

Start by looking at your sketches from Part 1 with your partner/ in your group. Together, decide on the main idea and form of your project.

Deliverables

At the end of this activity, each partnership should have a draft of a project name and a draft of a project concept thesis sentence. Combine these into a single post and add it to the Responses tab above. 

Congratulations, you've completed a NuVu Studio! 

At this stage, you should make sure your final presentations are uploaded on the platform. If you used Google Slides, make sure you clicked the "anyone with this link can view" link-sharing option, so others can see your presentation. 

Now it's time to reflect and share your thoughts on the studio experience. Fill out the post-studio survey here: https://forms.gle/5eZk2LGw5p4C5vUb9

Batteries made from an electrically conductive mixture the consistency of molasses could help solve a critical piece of the decarbonization puzzle. An interdisciplinary team from MIT has found that an electrochemical technology called a semisolid flow battery can be a cost-competitive form of energy storage and backup for variable renewable energy (VRE) sources such as wind and solar.

https://news.mit.edu/2021/energy-storage-solution-soft-serve-ice-cream-1130

Imagine a day without vehicles. No cars, buses, trucks, rideshares.

It's almost impossible to imagine, right? Transportation is an integral part of our everyday lives. The average American drives more than 15,000 miles and spends 54 hours stuck in traffic every year. Ouch.

Today, transportation makes up nearly 30% of our energy use in the United States and most of our oil consumption.

We're thinking differently about how to travel in a sustainable way. Introducing the latest in mobility innovation!

https://www.nrel.gov/news/video/transportation-energy-basics-text.html

At the occasion of #COP26, the UIC presents this Vision 2030, painting the picture of how, given the right action and investment, we can design a better future where rail is the backbone of a sustainable mobility system. 

This inspiring vision, created by UIC Global Rail Sustainability Taskforce, describes a future where we are on track to decarbonise transport and a thriving railway has unleashed many benefits for society. The vision includes a call for action to help design this better future.

https://www.alstom.com/