Air Conditioning Laboratory Project 99. 10
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- Appendix A
Suggested Modifications:We feel that, at this point, the lab manual that we have put together is truly an optimization given the input that we have received from lab experts, educational experts, and especially undergraduate students. However we also realize that we have never participated a lab course in which we didn’t have suggestions for improvement. Therefore we propose that, after each semester, the students should be asked for their input and the lab manual should be modified accordingly. It will be known that he modifications have been beneficial as long as the same criticisms do not continue to be voiced. Also, we feel that it would be beneficial to have a larger pool of experiments to choose from. For instance, out of eleven total experiments, every semester four or five will be chosen. Not only will this provide an option for the professor to choose labs based on the specific needs of the class; but also it will help prevent the passing down of experiments from older engineers. We realize that it is not uncommon for students to obtain lab reports from older students and use them to aid in their own reports. By simply re-using old reports the student will lose the benefits of putting their own independent thought into the writing of the lab reports and especially the technical paper. As for hardware modifications we suggest that the mechanical engineering department purchase an entirely new apparatus. This includes: a new air conditioner, specifically a different brand; and new sensors, specifically different types of the same kind of sensor. By having an entirely new apparatus the students will be able to investigate how different air conditioners look and operate, as well as differences in accuracy’s between different types of sensors. Both of these are important real-life skills for an engineer. This should not be a monetary problem given the fact that we completed the entire design project for approximately half of our expected budget, although this could possibly turn out to be a problem in terms of actually finding someone to spend the time doing this.
In conclusion it can be seen that through our surveys we have satisfied our wants of ‘educational effectiveness’ and ‘self evident’. Since the components of the air conditioner are both visible and accessible the want of ‘easy to use’ is satisfied. Our experiments can be set-up in less than 15 minutes and all of the parts fit on our cart, thus we conclude that our experiment is ‘easy to set-up’. Our experiments successfully demonstrate the desired thermodynamic and heat-transfer concepts (as set-forth) by Dr. Advani and Dr. Wexler, therefore we have demonstrated ‘multiple purposes’. Our apparatus is LabVIEW compatible, and is thus ‘compatible with a data acquisition program’. The air conditioner operates under 60dB and can thusly be considered ‘quiet’. And finally the experiments were completed in 20min, well under the desired 2 hours, and are therefore ‘quick’.  It needs to be made clear, if not already done so, that the wants of ‘educational effectiveness’ and ‘self evident’ truly drove our project. While ‘easy to use’ was the second most important want that, along with most of the other wants were both very easily measurable and easily obtainable using our metrics and target values. Consequently, nearly all of our time was spent meeting the two aforementioned wants. This table includes the metrics we feel drove our project. A table including the rest of wants can be found in Appendix K. Through benchmarking and evaluation of our customers’ wants and constraints, we determined our metrics as well as target values for each metric. Benchmarking and input from our customer provided the necessary information for brainstorming concepts and determining the optimal solution. We tested our prototype, including a lab-manual and apparatus, and made modifications where necessary. The final product consists of a window air conditioning unit, fully instrumented and labeled without redundancy, a lab manual consisting of four component-based labs, and a recommendation for short lab reports with a technical paper. We completed our project within the given time constraint and well under budget. Our customers are thoroughly satisfied with the final product. We have successfully completed the project. Appendix A: The SSD Chart. See file Appendix A_Team 10.xls
Table: Wants – Metrics – Target Values (Prioritized) See file Appendix B_Team 10.xls
The evaluation chart. See file Appendix C_Team 10.xls
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