The project started in first week when we were handed the brief, followed by an presentation from people who encounter disaster situations on an occasion basis. Hearing first hand information from the rescue workers and experts really gave me and in-depth idea of what kind of equipment I would have to design to make an impact in saving lives in a disaster scenario. Gathering into groups, we choose the topic of earthquakes with the idea that an earthquake can lead to other disasters with its chain effect, such as tsunami and floods.
Developing concepts for a earthquake situation involved a lot of research to what has worked in the past opposed to what hasn’t really worked out in a disaster situation. The concepts I posted up on previous posts consisted of a newly designed jack, a shelter for earthquakes, and a pry bar.
The intention of pushing me to the limits with my design was one of my main focuses. Creating the drive for a project that will have to last 8 weeks was also one of my key points in which I wanted to concentrate on. In the final decisions broke down the concepts to believe the jack would create more interest for me and most important the brief as well. I wanted to design a device which would save lives in the mass hundreds to thousands after a earthquake situation. This then became the vision of the project and the primary goal.
On the market there are currently very few devices designed for earthquake situations, this is where current existing products are used to save and rescue people. In my research I also found that the first 24hours of a earthquake was most important because of food and water. Whilst after an earthquake there are in some cases hundreds to thousands of people trapped in heavy rubble, current machinery and devices like I explained above are not fit for the job at all times.
Building from my concept the Hy-Jack was then designed. The design process for this jack was long and involved a lot of involvement with professionals in different fields. Contacts of interest consisted of Hydraulic experts, hydraulic cylinder design experts, engineers, lecturers, and also civil engineers. All these contacts were relevant in creating my design, as they helped me shape and create understanding to how this product could work.
In the development process I encountered many complications with respect to many different areas of the product. Areas in which I struggled for was when I had to determine what parts needed to be refined and what parts needed to go. Working towards the vision of the product I wanted the device to carry out it’s prime functions with justification. The hardest part understood and designing how the product will work, this was mainly because the telescopic system I applied was a completely new technology.
The problems with the telescopic systems was the most time consuming with the whole project, because I had to model up parts for the device as well with no technical background information online or from current companies, I has to consult professionals in the field to validate my concept. Talking and working with a few engineers I over came my major problem of clocking. Clocking is where there is a load on the hydraulic jack and its not displaced evenly which will cause uneven wear on the seals. Having uneven wear on the seals is one of prime problems I wanted to avoid, because hydraulic pressure reach very high, if they burst it can cause a lot of damage.
After the whole product was designed, I had to move on to the boards and storyline on how the product will be used in a real life scenario. In the boards I wanted to convey the information in a sense so everyone can understand it. Explosion and section views were used to my advantage to demonstrate and validate this system will work. I learnt new techniques as well as CAD skills when completing the final part of the project which I’m pretty satisfied with.
Over all I really enjoyed this project, the time frame given for this project was pretty fair to gather information from professionals in industry. Throughout this project I have also meet a few people in industry whom I have built a report with. Please check out the other images of my Hy-Jack design.
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