16.810 (16.682 in 2004) Course Syllabus Teaching and Education Enhancement Program Engineering Design and Rapid Prototyping A Rewarding CAD/CAE/CAM Experience for Undergraduates Olivier de Weck, David Wallace, Peter Young, Il Yong Kim Department of Aeronautics & AstronauticsDepartment of Mechanical EngineeringEngineering Systems DivisionMassachusetts Institute of Technology Summary Undergraduate students are yearning for educational activities that combine theory and practice in the context of a real engineering challenge. We have developed an intense 6-unit IAP course that will take students through the conception, design and implementation of a single, complex structural component. This activity supports the learning objectives of the Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate (CDIO) initiative and leverages the latest technologies in computer-assisted design, analysis, optimization and rapid prototyping. This will provide a satisfactory end-to-end learning experience, meeting an existing need and resulting in a deeper understanding of the interplay between the creative human mind and modern computer aided design processes. The novelty in this proposal is to combine rapid prototyping with optimization in order to demonstrate the complementary capabilities of humans and computers during the design process. 1. Course Description a. Motivation (why are we offering this course?) A recent survey of undergraduate students in the Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics (in conjunction with the search for a new Department Head) has shown that there is a need for improved understanding and training in modern design methods using state-of-the-art CAD/CAE/CAM technology and design optimization. The specific reference from the search committee’s presentations is as follows: "CDIO has been well received by undergraduates, who have thoughtful suggestions for improvements. Some feeling of imbalance between fundamentals and other skills. Offerings in CAD/CAM, machining, fabrication desired." Individual students have suggested the addition of a short and intense course in rapid prototyping, combined with design optimization. The intent of this project is to respond to this perceived gap, while exploiting synergies with other engineering departments that have articulated similar needs. 1b. Educational Objectives (what are we trying to accomplish?) The overall learning objective of this activity is for students to develop a holistic view of and initial competency in engineering design by applying a combination of human creativity and modern computational methods and tools to the synthesis of a complex structural component. This goal can be mapped into the following learning objectives of the CDIO syllabus [1]: 1.2.2 Core Engineering Fundamental Knowledge: Solid Mechanics & Materials1.3.6 Advanced Engineering Fundamental Knowledge: Computational Techniques2.1.2 Engineering Reasoning and Problem Solving: Modeling2.4.3 Personal Skills and Attitudes: Creative Thinking4.3.3 Conceiving and Engineering Systems: Modeling of System and Ensuring Goals can be met 4.4.1 The Design Process: Execute appropriate optimization in the presence of constraints4.5.2 Implementing: Hardware Manufacturing Process1 4.5.5 Implementing: Test, Verification, Validation and Certificationc. Pedagogy (how do we plan on achieving the objectives?) The goal of the class is to provide the students with an opportunity to conceive, design and implement products quickly as a single component, using the latest rapid prototyping methods and CAD/CAE/CAM technology. This is meant to be an intense and satisfying experience, emphasizing the chain of design steps as shown in Figure 1. Fig.1: 16.810 Course Pedagogy 1 Using mainly the CNC water jet cutter available in the Dept. of Aeronautics & Astronautics 2The idea of decomposing the course into two phases is rooted in the following cognitive progression. In the first phase the students are presented with solution neutral requirements and constraints for a structural component. A creative process of hand sketching is followed by computer assisted design (CAD) and analysis (CAE). This will help the students ascertain that their initial design will theoretically meet the requirements. After some manual iteration the part specification will be implemented on water jet cutting equipment2. The prototype is subjected to some simple testing in the lab to verify the validity of the student predictions. (The first offering of the course will focus on a 2D component to reduce part complexity). The second phase takes the initial manual design as an input and improves the solution via design optimization. The students will conduct design optimization using either commercial or faculty-provided software. The optimum solution obtained is modeled as a CAD model, and again the CNC equipment is used to fabricate the improved component. The optimized component is compared with the hand-designed one and conclusions are drawn. The course will conclude as a small “competition” with actual load-to-failure testing of the initial and optimized designs. This side by side comparison helps produce several educational insights: - understand predictive accuracy of CAE modeling versus actual test results - understand relative improvement that computer optimization can yield relative to an initial, manual solution - illustrate the capabilities and limitations of the human mind and digital computer We will give a limited set of lectures on fundamental design theory and design optimization in parallel to the design development of the real artifact (hands-on activities) as described in the above schedule (page 2). d. Detailed Plan See schedule on page 2. This plan starts by exposing the students to the design process, its phases and the importance of properly formulated requirements. An introduction to state-of-the-art CAD/CAE/CAM environments will be given during the first week. Initial hands-on activities include hand sketching, engineering drawings and CAD Modeling. Due to the time limitations of this IAP course, compromises have to be made in terms of the breadth and depth of some of the topics that are covered. Emphasis is on successfully completing the various steps of the design process, rather than understanding all the details of the methods and tools used along the way. Two assumptions will deliberately limit the 2 The exact part requirements and tasks for each team will be assigned during the first lecture.