ENGR 131 Fall 2019 Assignment A10 Airplane Rodeo Engineering Journal Individual Solution Purpose of this assignment This assignment introduces the engineering design process and mathematical modeling Engineers face multiple open ended problems that are not well defined and require extensive information gathering Engineers keep engineering notebooks which are often used as part of the patenting process Your engineering notebook will serve as a wellorganized individual record of ideas and information that you collect on the Airplane Rodeo Modelling project Relevant Course Resources Assignment resources Lecture Slides You have been provided with a technical memo describing the needs of the client Introduction to modelling Submission Save this answer sheet with the name A10 yourlogin docx where yourlogin is your Purdue career account login Complete this assignment on your own This assignment is worth 10 points Submit this assignment in Blackboard to A10 Modeling Airplane Rodeo Drop Box Page 1 of 6 ENGR 131 Fall 2019 Goal Read and understand the client s memo Write a problem statement based on the client s memo Ask questions for the purpose of information gathering Perform ideation and assess each idea using pros and cons Section 1 Problem Scoping Round 1 Answer these foundational questions a b c d e f g Who is the client What is the client s problem that needs a solution Why is the problem important to solve Who are the end users Who are other stakeholders What will make your solution effective criteria What are the constraints to this problem a The client is Amelia Wright b The client is having problem in deciding the winner for each of the two awards for the Twin Cities Balsa Airplane Rodeo c The problem is important to be solved as different judges use different information or different formulas to calculate score which is unfair to the students And in recent competitions there has only been a small difference between the best Balsa Wood Airplane d The end users of the model are the Judges e The stakeholders are the contestants taking part in the competition and the audience f To develop an appropriate model with objectives to determine the winner g All the judges should follow specific set of objectives and be fair while they calculate the score Section 2 Individual Problem Statement A good problem statement Explains the problem based on synthesis of client end user and other stakeholder needs Explains key specifications in terms of criteria and constraints that address what the client wants and what the user needs Amelia Wright the client needs a model to fairly judge the winner of the two awards for the Balsa Wood Airplane Rodeo contest without considering many subjective factors in the process of making decision Section 3 Problem Scoping Round 2 Page 2 of 6 ENGR 131 Fall 2019 Ask questions to gather the information you will need to solve the problem Think about these points What has already been done to solve the problem What products fill a similar need How will we test our procedure How should we measure success What kind of background knowledge is needed to solve the problem What science math knowledge will be needed My Questions Answers a What external conditions should be considered for the competition a It is held indoors so external conditions won t be a factor b Are the throwers using different throwing methods Are the results effectively the same b c Will the test trial be as similar as possible to the actual contest d Do the judges have any experience with working of planes or aerodynamics The results are supposed to be as similar as possible through the three throws c Yes the test trial should be similar to the actual contest d The judges are chosen from the panel of TCAA Page 3 of 6 ENGR 131 Fall 2019 Section 4 Problem Scoping Round 3 Operationalizing definitions h What does accuracy mean in this context Define accuracy in words What are some mathematical ideas that might help turn your definition of accuracy into a model Accuracy can be defined as the closeness of an airplane throw from a specific target A model can be created which would calculate the mean closeness distance from target of cumulative throws to obtain the highest accuracy i What does floater mean in this context Define floater in words What are some mathematical ideas that might help turn your definition of floater into a model The air time of an airplane A model can be designed which calculates the time difference when the airplane is thrown and when it comes to rest The higher the airtime of the airplane the better floater it is j For this contest what does it mean to be fair Define fairness in words What are some mathematical ideas that might help turn your definition of fairness into a model In this contest being fair means similar method of evaluation of parameters by different judges during the decision making process By creating a model which would define a specific grading scale for each of the data collected by different judges The final score then should be determined from the cumulative of the different judges Page 4 of 6 ENGR 131 Fall 2019 Section 5 Individual Ideation Best Floater Idea 2 Best Floater Idea 1 Most Accurate Idea 2 Most Accurate Idea 1 Pros and Cons refer to the criteria in your problem statement and definitions Description of Idea After the three throws calculate the average distance of the plane from the target The plane with the least average distance from the target would be chosen to be the most accurate one Pros One faulty bad throw would not restrict the plane from getting the most accurate award Cons Even one two good throws out of three can help reduce the average distance After three throws the throw that has the least angle from the target will be chosen to be the most accurate one Even if the plane is slightly far away from the target than another one if the angle from the target is less it would show that the plane was flying in the correct line of target and hence is more accurate than the other The plane which is the most consistent during the three throws will be chosen A plane might have an angle of zero from the target i e be in the line of the target but may be very far away from the target at the same point The farther the plane is from the start line the more the plane would ve flown A plane might travel in air for long but might come to rest near the start after travelling in a circular closed loop After three throws the plane which has the longest