Urban Agriculture Product Design
Here is a snapshot of personal and school projects I've worked on.
Tools & Techniques Used:
- SolidWorks
- Lifecycle analysis
- Fault tree analysis
- Hierarchical task analysis
Problem:
My first year design course was dedicated to learning about the iterative design process. The problem given for the term project was to design and build a consumer product to assist people in the North American market to create their own sustainable local food resources. Each group was responsible for defining the problem, user needs, and engineering requirements before identifying potential functions for their product.
Solution:
A product designed to enable residents living in high-rise buildings to grow their own sustainable food products. The user would be able to vary the environmental conditions in each module, such as sunlight and moisture, in order to grow different types of produce in one unit. The conical footprint was selected with the intent of occupying the least amount of space.
Implementation:
Many different designs were generated before we had to evaluate which one was the best option using a computational decision matrix. Once a design was selected, CAD models were made using SolidWorks before building low and medium fidelity prototypes. The final prototype was constructed using ABS pipes, metal bowls, and an aquarium water pump.
User testing was completed during each iteration, enabling us to incorporate feedback and modify the design as necessary. During early stages of user testing, we found that aesthetics and functionality were important to users. We also discovered that most of the users surveyed had minimal gardening knowledge. When we performed user testing with the final prototype, users noted that they liked the convenient height of the product and minimal steps required for assembly.
We are taught to strive towards cradle-to-cradle design. As such, we performed a life cycle assessment for our designed product which can be seen below.
