Dissect
Design
Project
This project required that a team of 3 take apart any device of their choosing (as long as it had more than 30 unique parts), model the device’s parts in SolidWorks, and finally, create a video of the assembly and disassembly of the model.
A Snapshot Of The Project
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Lead a team of 2 engineers to complete this modelling project.
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Allocated work, kept track of assignment deadlines, and monitored project progress for the month long project.
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Took ownership of modelling the most difficult subassemblies and modeled 55 out of the 97 unique parts.
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Edited and created a video to showcase our work.
The Mission
Take apart a device and remodel each part in SolidWorks and create a video to showcase the assembly and disassembly of the device.
Skills Used
Project Management, Design, Communication, Project scheduling, SolidWorks, Time Management, Team Leadership
Journey to Success
At the time of the project I only had a month and a half of experience with SolidWorks under my belt, so the task certainly felt daunting. The thing that made this task so difficult at the time was the sheer number of unique parts that my group and I had to model. The device had nearly 100 unique parts, numerous assemblies, and many complex, organic shapes that were particularly difficult to recreate.
We split the responsibility of the parts by subassemblies. The hardest subassemblies would be handled first, and the easier ones would be left for later. I decided to take the hardest part and subassembly. I was not sure how to tackle it at first, but as I started experimenting in the software, slowly but surely, I was able to figure it out. In the end, I completed it along with the rest of my originally assigned parts. I began to reallocate work and took on more pieces driving my team to the finish line. By the end of the project, I modeled approximately 60% of the unique parts.
Results
We successfully were able to model all the parts and turn in and showcase our work through a well put together video.
The Tasks That I Undertook
I took the time to merge our subassemblies into the product we took apart and crafted our final assembly-disassembly video. We received an A+ for the assignment due to the sheer amount of unique parts and the detail we put into creating each of the pieces.
Lessons Learned Along The Way
Although the project was rife with challenges, it allowed me to grow my SolidWorks skills significantly. I volunteered to take the most difficult shapes to model, and it was this decision that cultivated an exponential increase in my comfort with 3D modeling, and SolidWorks.
This project gave me the opportunity to test my leadership skills as I worked to organize the team, ensure that the intermittent deadlines were being met, reallocate work as we finished major parts and subassemblies, and communicate our progress to the teaching staff.