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Department or Office name goes here School, College or Division name goes here

buffalo.edu

Device for Enabling Smooth Lateral Motion of Video Recording Devices

Mechanical Monsters

Kirunda Kunyiha, Alex Pajor, Avinaash Nitheyan, Thomas McClure

ME 263, School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN

Problem Statement

Financial Analysis

Designs and CAD Drawings

Engineering Models

Conclusions

Acknowledgements

The team went on to perform an economic analysis of the project. It was assumed that the low and high production runs would be 20,000 and 30,000 units respectively.

Low Production: BEP in 8th quarter, ROR of 35%, ROI of 48.20%

High Production: BEP in 6th quarter, ROR of 62.6%, ROI of 85.63%

Conclusion: This investment would only be wise if there was a high production run (between 20 and 30 thousand units), lower costs, or both.

The team went then tested the model for failures using engineering models. A key test was how the pins that held the bearings would behave when supporting a camera device, and how this would vary with material:

The team managed to create a working device that matched majority of the customer requirements, particularly in terms of functionality and innovation (no other sliders utilise angle brackets for movement). That said, the affordability was affected greatly.

Nevertheless, with access to better resources, the team firmly believes this could be a successful and innovative product.

Special thank you to Claire and Reece for help and guidance during lab, and Morgan Murphy for ensuring we did the best we could.

To begin with, the team brainstormed different problems to tackle, and eventually decided to find if there was a way to make a cheaper, simpler camera sliding device for amateur photographers.

Customer Research and Personas

Customer research was conducted through a survey sent primarily to amateur photographers, and the problem was validated:

HOQ Results (Problem Definition)

In order to get engineering requirements, similar products and customer requirements were analysed using a HOQ:

Is affordable ($25 - $50)

Is lightweight (<6lbs)

Can carry up to 3lbs

The results suggested that customer want a device that:

Is transportable (31 inches)

Has adjustable feet

Is durable (sturdy feet)

References

B&H. (2015). Kamerar Fluid Motion Slider (31") [Product]. Retrieved from https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1320641-REG/omega_kamfms_kamerar_ fluid_motion_slider.html

Kamerar Camera Slider, similar product

A Bill of Materials was then created, but it was discovered that the costs were too high, hence the design was modified to include L bars rather than rods. Such a design has never been used before:

Some concepts generated for the leg part

Before

One of the final designs generated

After

Total Cost: $56.96

Total Cost: $49.28

In order to generate concepts, a functional decomposition was performed to generate concepts to match the product function, with a total of 51 concepts being created. These were combined using a morphological chart, with 16 designs being created and a final design being chosen: