The purpose of the Concept Screening and Scoring lab was to familiarize the group with techniques used to evaluate the pros and cons of different designs. It also gave students an opportunity to brainstorm the components of the AEV they felt were most important to the success of its run. The procedure first required the group to test their created AEV. Similar to Lab 2, pre-built Arduino functions were required to execute the given scenario. In this lab however, the commands were coded by the students, loaded onto the Arduino, and the AEV was placed onto the the actual track in order to get an initial test of the first build of the vehicle. Upon finishing the run, concept screening and scoring tables dictating success criteria were created based on aspects of the vehicle that were considered the most crucial in completing the Mission Concept Review (14). These criteria included form factor, mass, aerodynamics, durability, center-of-gravity, payload towing capacity, and aesthetic appeal. The motivation behind performing this lab was to give the group members experience in choosing the most efficient design or method using quantitative, unbiased methods. In the engineering world, tough design decisions must be made all of the time, therefore this lab is excellent practice for future workplace dilemmas. See full executive summary attached below for more information.
Concept Screening Scoresheet
Concept Scoring Matrix