Design Ideation
Idea Generation
The team worked on a Jamboard in order to figure out and throw ideas at the wall to see what would stick. It was over the course of a week, but the majority of the ideas came in near the end. Many different ideas were thrown out, though some show more promise than others.
Figure 1: Jamboard of 100+ Ideas
Sort/Rank/Group Design Concepts
The team then sorted each idea into the following categories: Device Features, Mobility, User Friendly, and Environmental Awareness. Instead of 3, we decided to split it into 4 categories in order to better group each idea into a specific category. Rather than making each one sorted by a set idea at this point, the group decided to organize them in a way to make it a bit more manageable and free-flowing in terms of ideas.
Figure 2: Jamboard of Sorted Ideas
The team then split off to develop their own ideas from the ones brainstormed, using the sorted ideas as a set of bins to look into every now and then. As each idea has it’s own merit, it didn’t feel good to think of a ranking at this point.
Product Concept Sketches
Fishing Box + Weather Balloon
The Fishing Box Plus Weather Balloon (Name Subject to Change) is a set of sensors tied to a weather balloon suspended in the air, where it’ll get and store data. Once it reaches certain thresholds of data, it will transfer data to a device on the ground, which will have stakes to keep it (and the sensors) in place. The box will have an LCD screen with buttons to flip through data and do other functions, such as exporting data onto an SD card for emergencies. When necessary, the box can either take down the weather balloon by clicking on a button, or the user can manually use a crank on the side to manually take it down.
Figure 3: Visual Representation of the Fishing Box Plus Weather Balloon
Figure 3a: .svg Version of a Visual Representation
GPS + Cat Collar
The GPS Plus Cat Collar (Name Subject to Change) is a cat collar with sensors for humidity and temperature installed onto it, as well as a location tracker. The purpose of the device is to see where feral/outdoor cats go in order to keep warm and dry/comfy. How it works is you capture a feral/outdoor cat, put the collar on, and then let them free. It will then begin autonomously tracking the cat and where it goes, namely it’s most common hideouts are. Then, when the cat gets near ‘homebase’ (as in, when the collar can connect to a server through Wifi), it will then transmit what data it stored onto the server in a readable format, by parsing through the sensor/tracking data. If in the event where the user doesn’t want the cat to wear the device any more, and its in the area, they can put out a radio/Wifi signal that will unlock the collar through a motorized locking system.
Figure 4: Visual Representation of GPS Plus Cat Collar
Figure 4a: .svg Version of a Visual Representation
Optimal Sunlight for a Plant
This device would feature a sensor that is able to detect temperature and humidity levels which would then send data over to the stand, the stand, which is controlled by a motor mechanism would then move the plant sitting inside the pot to the optimal position to either increase or decrease the received sunlight by the plant. The device could also send over data via wifi and alert the user with weather conditions such as temperature and humidity and update the user on the life of their plant.
Figure 5: Solidworks Drawing of a Temperature Sensor for Optimal Sunlight