User:REisemann3937/ENES-100/Project 0/CDIO

Problem Statement
Build a Fin Ray using the most inexpensive and readably accessible materials.

Designing the Implementation Process
Beginning with the prerequisites of low cost and readably accessible materials, a search began for a suitable starting point. For the walls of the Fin Ray a dense foam yoga mat was selected. It was rigid enough hold its shape yet flexible enough to be easily manipulated. For the inner ribs, soft packing foam was used, but this material was quickly abandoned due to its ineffective performance. After this first attempt card board from a box of Pabst Blue Ribbon was substituted for the soft packing foam. This allowed for not only more ribs, but a much more functional product. To fasten the two fin walls at the closed end, a cloths hanger was used. Though a bit heavy, it did perform its task and was absolutely free of cost. The ribs were attached using electrical tape. This was a temporary solution at best, but needed the materials to be readably accessible made it a necessary sacrifice.

Work flow
The first step was to prep the materials. This included cutting the yoga mat to appropriate sizes to be used as walls for the Fin Ray, and cutting the cardboard box into ribs, each slightly taller than the previous, giving shape to the Fin Ray. After this was done, the two pieces of yoga mat were put together and held with the cloths pin. The next step was to install the ribs. This was done by first installing the widest rib at the end opposite of the cloths pin, using two 2" pieces of electrical tape on either side of the rib, four pieces per rib in total. Once the first rib was secure, the process was repeated for each rib in descending order, from largest to smallest.

Test, and Verification
Testing of the Fin Ray was simple, "does it curl towards you when pressure is applied?" To test this the Fin Ray was simply held at arms length by the side opposite the cloths hanger and a force was applied to the center of the wall using one finger. This one simple test showed that the Fin Ray did indeed act as was expected, though there was much room for improvement.

Quality assurance
This product is no where near deliverable quality, however given the prerequisites of using the most inexpensive and readably accessible materials, it was a very productive study, showing promise for future revisions and revealing needed improvements.

Possible implementation process improvements
The first and most needed improvement is in the connection of the ribs to the walls of the Fin Ray. Electrical tape, though quick and inexpensive, is an ineffective fastener for this application. Another needed improvement is in the ribs themselves. Again, cardboard was a quick and readably accessible material, but a superior and still inexpensive replacement might be the clear plastic out of a plastic storage bin.

Next Steps
Though this was a good experiment, it left much room for improvement. More suitable materials could be used for every part of the Fin Ray. It may even be possible to use the 3D Printer in in the Engineering Lab to fabricate a mechanism to attach the ribs to the walls, including some sort of a joint or hinge. Rather than using a cloths hanger, which adds unnecessary weight, to connect the two fin walls at the closed end, the two walls could be sewn together using a heavy gauge thread or even stapled. The side opposite this could be improved by using a more solid means of attachment, perhaps even building the Fin Ray onto a board. This could help not only in the performance of the Fin Ray, but in displaying it as well.