Power Saw

Team LEADER

The challenge was set.

In a team of 5, a design project for a given brief: to cut wood of a certain size, the saw must cut on its own and stop once the cut is completed, etc. The project ends with CAD models and engineering drawings of all parts and components.

On track

Gantt chart along with regular meetings kept everything on track.

Initial ideas

Examples of initial ideas

Evaluate and select

An idea was chosen for development following discussion and evaluation.

Development

Iterative process developing the chosen concept. 

The main priority in development is to simplify the design for ease of manufacturing.

Completion

Push button start and auto-stop

Push button to start and automatically stops when the cut is complete

Crank and slider mechanism

Converts rotaty motion of the motor to the linear motion of the saw

Engineering drawings

Full set of engineering drawings of parts and assemblies following BS8888 standard

Reflection

In addition to the challenge of working as a team, there were two new main hurdles in this project to overcome. These were the switch in CAD package to Siemens NX (from Fusion 360 which I am accustomed to) and the creation of engineering drawings following the BS8888 standard.

This project was one of a few in a series which help to create a more realistic picture of working in industry as a team and to test the basic application of principles.