Nathan S's Senior Project Blog
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Project Title: What Goes Into Engineering A Product BASIS Advisor: Miles Hansen Internship Location: Bent River Machine Onsite Mentor: Jessica Eckman |
Project Abstract
The cost of manufacturing a product is one of the largest limiting factors when it comes to product design. Because of this, product design can greatly benefit from understanding the manufacturing process and considering it from the start of development. This can improve products in all fields. To better understand designing for cost, I am interning at Bent River Machine, where they are capable of completing products in house, from design and engineering to manufacturing and assembly. At Bent River, I am following a part of a larger project through the whole process, starting with computer-assisted designing of a part, then converting that design into blueprints to be read and machined, and then machining the part. While my part will not need electronics, I am also shadowing both the electrical and controls engineers in order to understand other processes that a part might need to go through. By following one part along the entire path, I will foster an understanding of manufacturing and how to design parts of a project from the start to finish with that in mind. What are the most important considerations to take into account when designing a product? What limitations might the manufacturing process have on designing? How can one effectively bridge the gap between the most effective design and the most practical piece to manufacture? By the end of my project, I hope to be able to answer these questions.
Week 10: To Wrap it All Up
Welcome to my last senior project blog! This week I shadowed an electrical engineer. I watched him mostly do some housekeeping work like editing schematics and updating part numbers. As this is my last blog, I would like to give a broader overview of some takeaways from this experience. When something in my life does... Read More
Week 9: Back to the Beginning
Welcome back! This week I assembled some more control panels, although instead of wiring them I actually built them. I started off with a blank slate, like this. I first put on din rails and wire channels, which are used to mount the necessary components and to consolidate all the wires respectively. Then I started... Read More
Week 8: Goodbye Amazon!
Unfortunately I was not able to be on site this week, which means I missed the last of the Amazon project. I heard all went well though! I was excited to see how they packaged the machinery for shipping, and I was curious how they would keep these large pieces safe. I know they put... Read More
Week 7: The Machine Behind the Machine
This week, I got to watch a programmer design programs for the CNC machines. In order to create a program, you have to pick the drill bits, lateral speed, and rotation of the bit. While the machine always has certain drill bits, some need to be changed out for every part, and there were so... Read More
Week 6: Ta-Daa!
This week, I made the second projector bracket that I designed last week. Even though I knew how to use the machines this time, it still took me a similar amount of time to make the part as it did last time. I was expecting to be done quickly, but I was a little disappointed... Read More
Week 5: Trial And…More Error
This Week, I attempted to make the overhead projector bracket. A machinist helped teach me about the different machines and ways to make different parts, and it was pretty cool to see how the things people take for granted are actually made. To make the bracket, we started off by shearing a sheet of aluminum... Read More
Week 4: CAD Workshop
Hello everyone! This week was the Amazon test. It was exciting at first to be able to see what they do to check that their project is going how they want, but after a while it became a little bit monotonous. Each person had a really long checklist that had every little thing get checked.... Read More
Week 3: Earth’s Biggest Bookstore
This week I finished up the control panels. Wiring them was difficult and tedious at first, but I was able to work much more quickly this week, and only made one mistake on the last panel, which is a large improvement. I felt like I learned a lot from them. I am a little sad... Read More
Week 2: Never Ending Wires
This week I started in-person work at Bent River Machine. I spent most of my time running wires for a controller for one of their projects with a solar cell laminator for Amazon. It was surprisingly really fun to figure out where they all go from just the schematics, although I did encounter some tedium.... Read More
Week 1: Early Roadblocks
To kick off my project, I started with trying to learn to use CAD, or computer aided design. These programs are normally pretty expensive, but there are opportunities to get them for free for educational purposes. The only problem is that it is almost as hard to get educational access to them as it is... Read More
INTRO: Starting from Scratch
Hi! My name is Nathan, and I am a senior at BASIS Prescott. I am going to be interning at Bent River Machine to learn how to create a product from scratch. I have always been interested in the way things like this work, so I am very excited to have this opportunity to create... Read More