Part F.) Consideration of Design Viability
1.) Product Viability-
Part 1:
Part 3:
Part 1:
- Load: The chord should be flexible but still sturdy enough to hold its original shape without bending/ crimping. The earbud should maintain shape but will not be able to withstand too heavy of a load without breaking. Earbud should hold at least 2.227 kg (5 lbs) of static load to meet the demands of daily life. Reasoning for the 5 lbs is because we thought it should be able to withstand the weight of a large textbook. Chord should withstand tensile strength more than the phone itself. The weight of a standard phone today is .3 kgs (roughly .5 lbs) of dynamic load. The reasoning behind this is because often phones will drop out of pockets while moving and are saved by earbuds in the wearers ear "catching" the phone.
- Materials: We are using many different materials for the Earbuds. First on the list is insulated speaker (copper) wire. this wire will be able to bend and not lose its shape. Also, the copper conducts electricity well and will be vital to the transfer of energy from the device to the earbud speaker and the insulation prevents electrical shock and burns. We plan on using a silicone material to wrap around the wiring of the headphone, the silicone should prevent any type of electrical shock, while still maintaining flexibility. We plan on using some type of plastic to create the ear fittings, the hard plastic should be safe for animals since the product is being placed directly in the ear.
- Mechanical Engineering: Our Product will not produce mass amounts of heat, but may experience certain environments where heat may be a problem. For example the chord itself may get slightly warm but the inside of a phone or the inside of a electronic device may get very very hot. In fact most commercial products may heat up to at least 70*C or 158*F. The metal we are using to plug the chord into the device will have to be able to withstand these higher temperatures.
- Energy: Yes, the energy is transferred from audio output in your phone or electronic device, the electricity creates vibrations in the copper wiring running up the chord and produces sound waves that are amplified into your ears.
- Chemical/Bio Engineering: Headphones have a multitude of raw materials scattered throughout them. The copper wiring is a mix of copper and sulfur. The silicone wrap is made out of sand and silicone metal. The audio-jack is made from gold, brass(copper and zinc), and nickel. The speaker frame is usually produced from aluminum or iron. The magnet is a ceramic ferrite material consisting of iron oxide, strontium, and a ceramic binder. The cone, surround, and spider are made of treated paper coated with an adhesive glue. The voice coil contains plastic as well as a fine copper wiring running through it.
- Electrical Engineering: Electricity runs through the audio jack and into copper wires, the wires carry this signal through the chord and up to the speaker. From the speaker the wiring runs back down to a ground connection. This process occurs for both speakers. When the electricity reaches the speaker it is amplified by an electromagnetic field produced by the magnets in the speaker and the electricity running through the copper. This electromagnet moves up and down depending on the vibration of the electric current. The vibrations are sent through a diaphragm where they are then heard as sounds and words to human ears.
Part 3:
Part 4:
Part 5: Music is never going to go away, as long as people have been on this earth there have been songs and music. The music industry is a 47.4 Billion dollar industry, i do not see it going away anytime soon. As long as music exists people will look for different ways to listen to their favorite artist, or song. Music is the one thing that can affect your mood at any time, it can bring instant happiness or remind you of a darker time. Music is a universal language that everyone can understand and relate to.
Conclusion:
- Silicone, when compared to other products that produce greenhouse gases emit a significantly smaller amount of CO2. This means that by using silicone we are able to limit our emissions. For every ton of CO2 emitted, the use of silicone allows for savings 9x greater. Most silicone is produced outside of the U.S. meaning that no ugly factories would appear in our country.
- Plastic used for the actual earbud may be the most harmful product in our design. Plastic is a huge factor when it comes to greenhouse gasses, but plastic can also prove to be harmful for humans. Improper treatment of plastic can lead to exposure of toxins, not only when you're grabbing your water bottle, but also when your food is packaged. Food can possibly be made toxic if stored in improperly treated plastic material. Some chemicals released during plastic production include;
- trichloroethane
- acetone
- methylene chloride
- methyl ethyl ketone
- styrene
- toluene
- benzene
- 1,1,1 trichloroethane
- Magnets themselves are not very harmful to animals, especially since we live on a big round magnet. The production of magnets do not harm the environment in a way of greenhouse emissions, but we are depleting the resources of ferromagnetic metals melted to create these magnets.
- Copper ,when treated will not affect human health. The main concern when it comes to emissions and health is the mining and treatment of copper. Copper mines may hold extremely toxic or radioactive metal ore, this could prove deadly to all miners. The melting of the metals to produce and treat the copper gives off a deadly amount of sulfur dioxide, however regulations have been put in place to protect workers and the environment from these deadly materials.
Part 5: Music is never going to go away, as long as people have been on this earth there have been songs and music. The music industry is a 47.4 Billion dollar industry, i do not see it going away anytime soon. As long as music exists people will look for different ways to listen to their favorite artist, or song. Music is the one thing that can affect your mood at any time, it can bring instant happiness or remind you of a darker time. Music is a universal language that everyone can understand and relate to.
Conclusion:
- 1- Our product has many opportunities for failure.
- Tangling of headphones
- Short circuit in the wiring
- Faulty wiring/ Speaker
- Overheating/ Melting
- Ripping of silicon exposing live wires
- Unclear sound quality
- We plan to combat these chances of failure by testing each set of headphones to ensure proper functioning . Any faulty headphones will be reconstructed. We plan to use insulated wiring with a silicon casing to prevent overheating or tearing in the chord.
- 2- In this case yes, the product itself should not harm the user. But a user may experience hearing problems if they turn the volume up too loud. The main cause of harm (Volume) can be controlled by the user.
2.) Product Lifecycle flowchart & matrix-
3.) Summary-
For Part F of this project we discussed product viability and product life cycle. To show the products life cycle, we had to create five different flow charts to show the different stages of the products life. For those we had to show all the inputs and all of the outputs of a certain stage. We also had to show the different hazardous and non hazardous outputs. When we talk about product viability, we are showing all of the different specifications for the design such as load, materials, and energy. In this part we also talked about the different types of engineering used to create the design such as mechanical, chemical/bio, and electrical engineering. We also showed different restrictions and safety concerns to keep our design as safe as possible.
For Part F of this project we discussed product viability and product life cycle. To show the products life cycle, we had to create five different flow charts to show the different stages of the products life. For those we had to show all the inputs and all of the outputs of a certain stage. We also had to show the different hazardous and non hazardous outputs. When we talk about product viability, we are showing all of the different specifications for the design such as load, materials, and energy. In this part we also talked about the different types of engineering used to create the design such as mechanical, chemical/bio, and electrical engineering. We also showed different restrictions and safety concerns to keep our design as safe as possible.