Engineering Design; Airplane

As an introduction for this lab, we were tasked with analyzing factors of design on paper airplanes. Our goal was to create an airplane that could travel the maximum horizontal distance. We collected data on the travel distance of an initial design, and then proceeded to follow the DMAIC/Six Sigma process to improve and redesign the paper airplane to best achieve our goal. The first step in the process was to create a project charter worksheet to define our goals and constraints.     Define DMAIC PROJECT CHARTER WORKSHEET Project Title: Paper Airplane Design Analysis Project Leader: HSHI, Team leader Team Members: Hassan Alnasser, Jad Atwi, Bassam Matouq, Chris Odell, Matt Swick Problem Statement: Paper airplanes are not maximizing their travel distance due to poor design. This results in a greater number of inefficient and less successful planes being built. Goal Statement: To maximize the horizontal distance of a paper airplane when thrown by hand Project Scope, Constraints, Assumptions: Team can make any modification to the plane that they see fit, however: Planes must be made of paper only, and their dimensions cannot exceed 12” in any direction. Stakeholders: Cross, Jenifer -Vermont, Kathryn     Measure Operational Definition Element Measures What do you trying to measure Maximum horizontal distance traveled by paper plane What the measures is not Distance that the plane moves vertically Basic definition of measure The horizontal distance measured from where the plane is initially released to the front of the plane when it comes to rest. How to take measurement Measure horizontally from the starting launch point to the landing point of the plane using a tape measure.   - 1. What are we trying to learn, track, or evaluate? We are trying to evaluate variations of paper airplanes to identity defects in our original paper airplane model and improve it to maximize horizontal distance and consistency. 2. a) What will we count or measure (Unit)? Distance in feet (ft) b) How will the measurement be expressed? In numbers c)Is the measurement continuous or discreate? The measurement is discrete 3. What is the operational definition for the measurement? To identify the design defect that reduce the distance covered by the plane 4. Will new data need to be collected for this measure? Yes 5. In gathering data, will you be tracking changes over time? Yes 6. How do you plan to use/display the measure or data? Gathered data will be display in a form of table that shows the effect of design improvement or techniques used 7. What is the plan for ensuring the measure’s accuracy, repeatability, and reproducibility? Accuracy of the system will be measure in terms of distance variation in process and the technique used to fly   That is the initial design for our plane. We chose to use it as base because it was a simple and effective design. Even though this design was not necessarily the one that traveled the farthest, we believed it had the best potential to reach the max distance possible with the most consistency. Using a slightly smaller piece of notebook paper, we created the plane above, which measured in at an 8-inch length from tip to tail, with a 3-inch wingspan.           Analyze In the table below are the results from our first 10 trial launches of our initial airplane design. We calculated the average distance traveled and the standard deviation from the average, as well as the average standard deviation for the 10 trials.     Trial Distance Covered (ft) Standard Deviation 1 15 -3.9 2 18.5 -7.4 3 8 3.1 4 5 6.1 5 12 -0.9 6 17 -5.9 7 6.5 4.6 8 12 -0.9 9 10 1.1 10 7 4.1 Average: 11.1 4.386               Looking at the Cause-and-Effect Diagram, the factors that relate most to the design of the plane are in the machine and material sections of the diagram. Thus, the picks to choose from would be the quality of the paper and the plane size. We believe the biggest difference is found in paper quality due to the fact it is a factor in material but could also be argued for the plane being too air resistant as well. Therefore, our first test is difference in paper quality. \                 Single Factor Experiment Our first experiment compared notebook paper and printer paper. Analysis:   Two Factor Experiment In this experiment we furthered our investigation of the paper used and decided to also test how changing the size of the paper affected each. In this case L = Large (8x10.5), M = Medium (6 x 7.625), S = (4 x 5.25).   Analysis: Improve   Based on the results shown in the impact/effort matrix, the two alternatives that stand out as high impact and low effort are changing the type of paper and cutting the tip of the nose off the plane. We did not test cutting the nose off the plane, however for the week two discussion team member Chris Odell found that cutting the nose off was impactful towards how his plane flew. Proposed Changes from Original: • Large Printer Paper, nose cut off tip • Large Printer Paper, nose on We found that the first alternative was the best one, so our final design will be the large printer paper with the nose cut off. Results of Final Design Trial Distance Covered (ft) Standard Deviation 1.00 38.26 3.24 2.00 38.02 3.00 3.00 30.17 -4.85 4.00 28.75 -6.27 5.00 35.06 0.04 6.00 36.27 1.25 7.00 31.62 -3.40 8.00 40.16 5.14 9.00 34.52 -0.50 10.00 37.36 2.34 Average 35.02 3.77   We are satisfied with the results, as all of the trials were consistently going the further than the farthest distance measured in the experiments ran. Even though we were satisfied, from just doing the last 10 trials we believe some further slight modifications could be made to even more increase our horizontal distance. This could be increasing the size past the limit of 12 inches, adjusting the shape of the wings to maximize the air flow while flying, and maybe manipulating the bottom to also increase air flow. Control To monitor and manage the quality of our final design • Improve – In the improve phase, based on the previous phases, your team should propose changes to the plane design and test their impact on the horizontal distance traveled. In proposing changes, your team should use an impact/effort matrix or decision matrix to analyze at least two alternatives. Conduct 10 more trials (launches) using your final design and report the results using appropriate tables and graphs. Describe how satisfied your team was with the results and why you were/were not satisfied. If you were not very satisfied, describe what other modifications you think might be necessary – or what investigations you might undertake next to identify additional possible modifications. (1.5% of course grade, 1.05% = technical accuracy/logical coherence, 0.45% = writing/presentation quality). • Control – In the control phase, your team should describe what monitoring steps you would propose to use to manage the quality of your final design on an ongoing basis. Develop and describe at least 3 monitoring strategies (e.g., measures to be tracked including frequency, etc.). (0.5% of course grade, 0.35% = technical accuracy/logical coherence, 0.15% = writing/presentation quality). Conclusion: In conclusion, Appendix (Table 1) Single Factor Raw Data Conditions y(ft) Random Number PP 25.04 0.03028282 PP 23.42 0.05476965 NB 22.71 0.09912484 PP 26.33 0.11798912 NB 15.79 0.12946606 NB 25 0.22349764 PP 27.79 0.23171583 PP 27.42 0.2818564 NB 18.79 0.4146102 PP 27.21 0.49442188 NB 22.54 0.59343572 NB 15.54 0.66224897 PP 25.83 0.80165741 NB 22.42 0.83169892 NB 17.08 0.84616058 PP 26.58 0.89010031 PP 29.67 0.90557185 PP 26.13 0.92421305 NB 20.42 0.92886638 NB 19.38 0.94029428 (Table 2) Two Factor Raw Data Conditions y (ft) Random Number NB M 21.29 0.000251153 NB M 20.88 0.001244148 PP L 22.54 0.069712713 PP M 13.75 0.07479425 NB L 20.00 0.090332749 PP L 32.33 0.092871924 NB S 24.71 0.115402496 PP M 24.88 0.127636275 PP M 23.17 0.132353543 NB L 21.75 0.138338804 PP L 24.92 0.150546854 NB S 23.71 0.206693557 PP M 24.96 0.207850467 NB L 24.96 0.222311387 PP S 25.04 0.245262237 NB M 25.00 0.254105742 NB M 27.08 0.342487719 PP L 34.33 0.357136908 NB S 20.88 0.379100789 NB S 26.67 0.392797468 PP L 22.96 0.414010092 PP S 4.38 0.440975072 PP S 23.83 0.463622959 NB L 19.63 0.465722614 PP M 24.92 0.466876063 PP M 27.04 0.480771761 PP S 22.17 0.491122413 PP L 33.13 0.498681386 NB L 23.21 0.502300752 NB M 24.00 0.518710286 PP S 25.71 0.520542066 NB L 24.92 0.538554239 NB S 18.13 0.539978795 PP S 27.88 0.548305922 PP L 33.38 0.549555495 PP L 28.13 0.55103378 PP M 27.79 0.562612445 NB M 15.88 0.621052056 NB M 22.50 0.626844664 NB M 19.21 0.637696654 NB L 19.17 0.654261278 PP M 28.50 0.660877781 PP L 30.17 0.696770102 PP S 24.42 0.703592736 NB M 13.13 0.708160373 PP S 23.33 0.737843397 NB S 23.21 0.755497808 PP S 24.92 0.799789247 NB S 17.54 0.805357212 NB S 13.71 0.811998217 PP L 34.71 0.824542993 NB M 26.29 0.841469899 PP S 23.21 0.869017847 PP M 23.46 0.873175199 NB L 22.67 0.901911343 NB L 20.42 0.907186193 NB S 19.83 0.911161478 PP M 25.04 0.968847707 NB S 28.88 0.972433152 NB L 18.04 0.975503321