Scribd
Upload
158 views

Puzzle Design Challenge: Define The Problem

The document describes a puzzle design challenge where students are tasked with creating a puzzle using 27 3/4" hardwood cubes that must meet specific criteria. The criteria include having 5 unique puzzle parts that each contain 4-6 cubes and assemble into a 2 1/4" cube, with some parts interlocking. Students must develop their design, justify their solution, construct and test their puzzle prototype, then evaluate how well it meets the criteria. The purpose is to apply design skills to a creative problem and gain experience in effectively communicating and documenting a design process.

Uploaded by

api-306079911
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
158 views

Puzzle Design Challenge: Define The Problem

The document describes a puzzle design challenge where students are tasked with creating a puzzle using 27 3/4" hardwood cubes that must meet specific criteria. The criteria include having 5 unique puzzle parts that each contain 4-6 cubes and assemble into a 2 1/4" cube, with some parts interlocking. Students must develop their design, justify their solution, construct and test their puzzle prototype, then evaluate how well it meets the criteria. The purpose is to apply design skills to a creative problem and gain experience in effectively communicating and documenting a design process.

Uploaded by

api-306079911
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 12

Puzzle Design Challenge

Have you ever looked at a product that has been well-designed? Do you find
yourself asking questions such as, How did the designer think of that idea? or
What is involved in the creation of that product? The more you study and learn
about design and how designers create items, you begin to learn certain skills and
knowledge that you can only acquire through experience. Design challenges provide
opportunities to apply skills and knowledge in unique and creative ways.
Taking an idea you have and transferring it from a concept to a sketch, to working
drawings, to models, and then to a working prototype is exciting and fun. It also
entails several steps. When you are a one-person design and build team, the task of
effective communication is rather simple. However, what happens when you must
communicate your ideas to others, or when the responsibility for building a teams
solution falls on someone elses shoulders? This increases the level of responsibility
significantly and requires the development of a complete set of design
documentation in order to communicate effectively.

Define the
Problem:

A company threw away a bunch of expensive cubes. Our job is


to create a product that will bring in more profit for the company.
Criteria:

1. Puzzle must be fabricated from 27 hardwood cubes


2. The puzzle system must contain exactly 5 parts
3. Each individual puzzle part must consist of at least 4 but no
more than 6 hardwood cubes that are attached
4. No two puzzle parts are the same
5. The 5 parts must assemble to form a 2 cube
6. Some puzzle parts should interlock
7. The puzzle should require high school students an average
of 4 minutes to solve
Constraints:
1. Time
2. CAD software
3. Materials (hardwood cubes)
Is the Problem
valid or
justifiable?

Generate
Concepts:

I do believe its a problem because the company has a lot of


these small expensive blocks and they need to find something
to do with them so its not a waste of money. The company
believes its a big problem because they dont want to be losing
this money by just throwing out these expensive blocks. They
asked us to make challenging puzzle cubes to get rid of the
problem.
How many different puzzle part combinations are there?

Based on
your data,
create
different

puzzles

Decision Matrix
Idea
Cube 1
Cube 2

1
2
3

2
3
3

3
3
3

One number per dimension.

4
3
2

5
3
2

Develop a
Solution:

Justificatio
n of your
chosen
Puzzle
Cube
design
solution:

More cubes in puzzle cube one had more dimensions, making


it greater in value.

Joe: Madisons cube was not too difficult, but it was still
challenging to solve and entertaining at the same time.

Construct and
Test:

Times:
1. 10:00
2. 4:20
3. 9:03
4. 7:16
5. 5:46
6. 10:00
7. 7:16
8. 10:00
9. 10:00
10. 3:54
Mean: 7:55
Mode: 10:00
Standard Deviation: 2.54001
Median: 7:16

Maximum: 10:00
Minimum: 3:54
My puzzle design exceeded the criteria. The average time to
solve the cube was 7:55 minutes. The design was supposed to
be solved in about 4 minutes.
Testing the
Solution:
If I made the design more simplistic then the average would
meet the criteria. Using more basic parts may solve my
problem.
Evaluate the
Design:

Why is it
important to
model an idea
before making a
final prototype?

Its important to model an idea before making a final prototype


so you dont
waste materials and so you can be positive that your product
work.

Which assembly
constraint(s) did
you use to
constrain each
piece of the
puzzle to the
assembly such
that it did not
move? Describe
each constraint
used and explain
the degrees of
freedom that are
removed when
each is applied
between two
parts. You may
wish to create a
sketch to help
explain your
description

I used mate constraints from edge to edge so that the pieces


wouldnt move. I found this process to be simple and easy. If
you remove the constraint, you get a new axis from X, Y, and Z
depending on the side you remove the constraint.

Based on your
experiences
during the
completion of the

The design process is when someone goes through a list of


questions about their design to make sure that their product is
accurate and that it meets the criteria. The design process is a
very useful tool during the process of modeling something. We

Puzzle Design
Challenge, what is
meant when
someone says, I
used a design
process to solve
the problem at
hand? Explain
your answer using
examples from
the work that you
completed.

used the design process to make sure that our puzzle cubes
met the criteria that was given to us by the business.

What else could


the furniture
company do or
make with the
scrap used to
make your puzzle
cube?

The furniture company couldve just made building blocks out


of them for small children. They could create large blocks of
different shapes out of the small cubes so they arent a choking
hazard.

You might also like