Week 4

During this week the Design Team received feedback on comments regarding what they should improve with their Design Proposal. The Design Team went over their proposal and reviewed what needed to be corrected.

Below are some of the major changes done to the Design Proposal.

The abstract did not have a concrete reference to where the team got most of their information from, that is why references from the national weather channel were added.

• "According to thewheatherchannel.com during the time of flash floods a car can easily be carried away by just two feet of water."

It was noted that in the introduction the Design Team did not clarify why they decided to use certain materials and why these materials would be essential to the project. To clarify the project the Design Team added a basic framework of the steps that it will take to create the device.

• "The project will comprise of three distinct areas; frame, sensor, and flotation. The frame will serve to house the method of floatation, likely vinyl bags, attache to a 1/10th model car, and anchor the car to the ground keeping it from floating uncontrolled and possibly causing damage. A sensor will be used to detect a damaging water level and activate a regulator attached to CO2 cartridge(s) filling the floatation bags allowing the car to remain above a damaging water level. Each area provides its own set of distinct challenges including sensor placement, frame design and keeping the car balanced while floating."

Since it was unclear whether the team was going to build the device to real size or just a to scale prototype they clarified it in their edited proposal.

• "The goal of the Design Project is to create a 1/10 scale size device that could then be applied to a real life scenario." 

In order to give a better idea of the type of sensor that the Design Team will be building they added a basic Water Level Diagram Circuit that can detect when there is an overflow in water. The Design Team will incorporate the concepts of this sensor into their device in order to activate the flotation devices for the mechanism.

                                                                           

The Design Team also added an image of a possible frame that they could use for the foundation of the floatation device. 

                                                                                     

During this week the Design Team was also able to create a to scale model of the car that they will be using through Solid Works.