Viability of the Proposed Solution

Introduction
Develop a product is financial based on a thorough analysis, it is determined that the
anticipated income from the product cannot support the anticipated cost of development.
However, if a financial analysis indicates that the sales of a new product (when compared to the
cost of development) could potentially produce an acceptable profit, you must ask, Should the
product be developed? But this is not always an easy question to answer.
A designer or engineer has an ethical responsibility to his client, his profession, and to society. In
light of these responsibilities, the designer should consider all potential consequences, good and
bad, resulting from development of a product and then compare the benefits of product
development to potential negative impacts. Do the benefits outweigh the risks? Is continuing with
product development the right thing to do?
The design, manufacture, packaging, distribution, and use of any new product will result in
consequences, both positive and negative. These consequences are far reaching and wide
ranging. For example, will the manufacture and distribution of the product consume
nonrenewable natural resources or produce pollution? How will the development of the product
affect the workers that will help produce, transport, and sell the product? What effect (intended or
not) will the use of the product have on the consumer, the environment, and society? On the
other hand, development of the product may create jobs, use abandoned facilities or discarded
waste materials, and improve the lives of people. To develop or not to develop the product that
is the question. Often, the decision not to
The considerations mentioned above assume that the product is well designed and functions as
intended. However, another important ethical responsibility of the designer is to ensure that the
product is well designed and does not suffer unintended failure. What will happen if your product
does not work as intended or suffers a catastrophic failure? Will the failure cause harm? It is
important that the designer has the knowledge and expertise, or seeks out people with that
knowledge and expertise, to properly design the product in order to minimize the risks of failure.
In this activity you will consider the consequences of your product design, compare the positive
and negative impacts, and assess the ethical implication of continuing to develop your product.

Equipment

Engineering notebook
Internet access
Access to trade journals, magazines, newspaper, and other printed material
Product Lifecycle handout (from Lesson 1.1)
Product working drawings

Procedure
Work together as a team to complete the following.
1. Revisit the Project Proposal that you created and your design specifications. Consider the
technical expertise and knowledge that is required to properly design your product. Has your
team acquired the math, science, and engineering knowledge necessary to properly design your
product? Have you contacted experts in order to gain the necessary knowledge or obtain
assistance with the parts of the design that your team is not well equipped to perform? It is
impossible to include an exhaustive list of math, science, and engineering principles that you

should incorporate into the design of your product because each product design will require
consideration of different concepts. The following list is intended only to get you thinking about
concepts that you may need to investigate further.
Loads. How will loads be transferred from the environment to your product, and how will loads be
transferred within your product? Will the loads be static (unchanging) or dynamic (changing)?
How can you calculate the loads? Will the components of your product be able to withstand the
magnitude of these loads?
There are no loads on our product.

Materials. Will your choice of materials withstand the test of time? Will the density/weight of the
materials adversely affect your design? Will mechanical properties of your materials provide
sufficient strength, stiffness, and abrasion resistance? Will the material be able to withstand
repetitive loading without premature failure? Will the material operate well within the range of
temperatures to which the product will be subjected? How will the material react to sunlight,
temperature variations, chemicals to which it will be exposed?
The materials for the exoskeleton of the display and transmitters/receivers will consist of
polypropylene and an Acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber coating. These materials where both
researched and we have concluded that they are the best candidates for durability and
lifespan. Polyester is very durable and has been proven to withstand the grind of the
construction environment. The feel and durability of Acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber, based
on our research, fits our design specifications.

Mechanical Engineering. Does your design require an input of heat or mechanical power? Are
there moving parts in your design? What simple machines interact effectively? Will the loads be
es are employed in the design? Will all the components of your product efficiently transferred
from part to part? Do all the parts move at an ideal speed?
Our prototype will have very little need for mechanical engineering. All of the operations
will be done with electrical components.

Energy. Does your product require an input of energy? In what form is the energy supplied? How
is it converted by your product to produce the desired output?
The batteries in the display will be 2 AA batteries an in the transmitter/receiver there will
be coin cell batteries. This stored energy is converted into electrical energy to power the
sensors and display.

Chemical/Bio Engineering. Does your design involve conversion of raw materials to another form
during manufacture or use? What chemical or biological transformations are involved in the
process(es)?
The manufacturing process of our materials is the only method that requires chemical and
bioengineering. Besides these, the use and distribution of this product we will not need to
use any chemicals.

Electrical Engineering. Will your design involve electricity, electronics, control systems,
telecommunications, or computers? How will these systems be integrated into your design?
Most of our design uses electrical components. This is the main focus in our design. We
will use parts from the Arduino set, mostly the parts involving radio sensors and
transmitter as well as timers. This will also call for a need for programming. We will tell
our product to measure the time it takes for the waves to go from one T/R to the other and
back, divide that time by two and divide it once again by the speed of the waves we are
using.

2. Have you researched laws, codes, and regulations that could potentially impact your design? Do
you feel that your team has met its ethical responsibility for technical expertise related to the
design of your product? If not, perform additional research at this time. Revise your product
design as necessary.
Yes.
3. Create a graphic to document your products anticipated lifecycle. Research the efforts necessary
to take your product from raw materials to the end of its lifecycle (and potentially be reused or
recycled into new products). Detail each phase of the cycle with information specific to your
product. For example, in the Raw Material Extraction phase, indicate the raw materials that must
be obtained in order to create your product. In the Material Processing phase, detail the
processes necessary to convert the raw materials to usable substances in your product. In the
Assembly and Packaging phase, detail the anticipated method of assembly (one-off, hand
assembled, human assembly line in a large manufacturing facility, fully automated robotic
assembly, etc.) and the anticipated type of packaging that will be used.
4. Consider the consequences of the development of your product at each phase in its lifecycle to
people (designers, users, nonusers, employees of the manufacturers, distributors, sellers, etc.),
the environment (including the use of nonrenewable natural resources; the potential release of
toxins, waste, or pollution; the creation of visually unappealing facilities or noise pollution; the
effect (on animal and plant species, etc.), and society.
5. Compose an ethical justification for further development of your product by describing why and
how the benefits of your product outweigh the negative impacts.

Conclusion
1. What are some potential ways in which your product could fail? What design features have you
included to minimize the chance of failure?
Our product could fail in the very task it was designed to do. After we have found the
percent error with our 3-D printed object, with our different measuring apparati (Laser device,
tape measure, ruler, etc.) we will compare it to our prototypes accuracy. If the percent error is
higher, that could invalidate our prototype. That is why we must implement a very precise
timer that can keep up with the speed of radio waves.
2. Is development of a product that knowingly causes harm to people ever ethically justifiable? Why
or why not? Give examples to support your position.
When designing and manufacturing, a company must weigh harm versus reward of their
product. In some occasions, having an initial high rate of harm can be beneficial. For
example, carbon dioxide, when emitted from cars, can be harmful to the environment, but its
use in transportation is highly effective. As of now, the reward for society is much greater
than the environmental harms. In the near future, there must be another solution to take its
present place.