Wisdom Ejuetami
Product Designer and Engineer
Water Timer
Background
Project Brief
Create a prototype for a fun design object which uses mechanisms and the flow of water to move a ping pong ball to show the passing of 15 seconds in an interesting way
Design Requirements
Solution must be portable and fit in 400mm x 400mm x 200 mm dimensions
Solution must use 500ml of water max
Timing process must be repeatable
Solution must use only potential energy of water to move ping pong ball (no heating / freezing)
Solution must look visually interesting with parts made to a high standard
Solution must be made from reused / recycled materials (Initial Prototype)
Development Process
Engineering Design Process
1. Planning
Analysing initial brief, conducting background technical and market research to understand the project requirements and create a refined design brief.
2. Development
Brainstorming ideas for solutions meeting the requirements of the refined design brief.
Working out design dimensions, researching specific materials and components to use to prototype design ideas.
3. Production
Creating prototypes of design ideas from different materials to test and refine them.
Creating CAD Models, Engineering Drawings and Bill of Materials documentation for final design idea to be produced.
Design Inspiration
Primary and secondary research carried out by team members to understand mechanisms to potentially use in water timer design and get inspiration for aesthetics of water timer design
Water Powered Machines
Water Flow Direction Methods
Gumball Machines
Pinball Machines
Initial Concept
Arcade style water timer which uses a trapdoor driven by a water wheel and gears to indicate the passing of 15 seconds by releasing a ping pong ball into a cup
Concept Sketch
Engineering Drawing
Prototyping Developments
Developing functionality of water timer concept through Lo-Fi prototype created using recycled materials
Water Wheel
Testing water wheel for driving trapdoor via gears system
Gears
Refining positioning of gears to drive trapdoor using 2D layouts created using AutoDesk AutoCAD
Trapdoor
Testing gears with trapdoor for releasing ping pong ball
Initial Prototype
Arcade style water timer made from recycled materials. Water released from entry point flows through water wheel mechanism to drive gears which release ping pong ball into a cup via a trapdoor after 15 seconds
Refinements
Improvements made to initial design based on evaluation of Lo-Fi prototype made from scrap materials to create Hi-Fi prototype from better quality materials
Multicoloured Acrylic Panels
Updated design to be made from laser cut acrylic panels in different colours as opposed to plywood to improve aesthetics and durability
Overshot Water Flow
Changed arrangement of gears and water entry point to use bridges to direct the flow of water through the water wheel in overshot arrangement to provide greater resulting force to drive the gears and trapdoor
Water Wheel
Refined water wheel design to feature more blades at slanted angle to more effectively collect water to drive the gears
Final Outcome
Arcade style water timer made from laser cut acrylic which uses the flow of water through an overshot water wheel to drive gears to drive a trapdoor to release a ping pong ball to indicate the passing of 15 seconds
