Doncha just love anachronism? Forgot to post this one:
We met at our earliest convenience (Wednesday, due to people's being away for fall break) to write our contract for the Team Design assignment. Here are the highlights:
Missions
- functional (duh)
- well-designed (sleek and elegant)
- uses element of surprise (for users as well as for us, i.e. we don't know how it will evolve)
- function informs form (i.e. we won't make the same mistake as with the visor- we don't want to constrain our design to too narrow a situation/problem)
Vision (of a team that is/will . . .)
- Efficient
- Maximize efforts and skill sets of all members
- Communicate well
- Allow for ideas to flow naturally
Values
- Democratic, consensus-based decision making
- Communication
- Maintained Inspiration
- Respect for other obligations: Studio, Senior Design, Exams
Goals
- Communicate well
- Substantial weekly improvements
- Component testing (NOTE: this was misunderstood in the final critique. "Component" here refers to smaller subsystems of our larger project, such as testing the motion sensors on a standard circuit. This does not refer to buying electrical components and playing around with them, which we did in a limited manner.
- Research precedents throroughly
- Learn new skills
And here's our SWOT analysis:
"We are a unified and dedicated group: we are cooperative and respond well to constructive criticism, and are resourceful with what materials are available to us. We brainstorm well, and as a result we often undertake imaginative projects with a high level of conceptual development and pursue these projects with a fearless attitude and a committed work ethic. We are able to self-motivate as a group; we respond well to the encouragements of other team members.
Our group’s most notable weaknesses all relate to timing. We often attempt to do more than is possible in the given amount of time, and if not we budget the time we do have poorly. Our process for assembly has been inefficient, as we put each entire model together at once, as opposed to testing before interfacing with other components. We are also occasionally prone to poor communication skills, as some team members are often uninformed of progress by the remainder of the team after having missed a meeting. Other issues we have had arise from lack of experience in Digital Project and biomimcry research.
Opportunities for our group consist mainly of as-yet untapped resources: we can take fuller advantage of our access to the metals studio and the tools therein, as well as relying even more on renderings, drawings, and other media of communicating our ideas and models to the class in critique. We also are fortunate to have a team member who works in the patent industry, should we invent a new mechanism or device.
External threats that could impact this team’s performance will consist mainly of scheduling constraints as other classes become more demanding and exams approach, so we will need to plan our time very efficiently. Acquisition of parts and components for the construction of our surface could also slow down our progress in making this project a success if they do not proceed in a timely manner, meaning that the sooner we can determine what we need the less likely the purchase and delivery of these items will impede the development of our finished surface."
We also agreed on a decentralized team structure that enabled everyone to work in different capacities and contribute to all portions of the project, knowing of course that some peoples' past experience and skills would to some extent determine the way in which we would choose to utilize them. For example, Chris would be in charge of Arduino-related aspects of the project, and Diana would be in charge of documenting the group's progress from day to day. This would leave the rest of us to take charge of mechanization and anything else that would need doing.
