TABLE OF CONTENTS If you can talk brilliantly about a problem it can create the consoling illusion that it has been mastered.
Stanley Kubrick, movie director.
Consider designing a simple device such as a can opener. Its overall function is to open a can. Although this is a relatively well-known artefact, it has considerable design complexity. Some of the questions facing the designer include:
Size and shape of cans to be opened Cans of circular cylindrical section are somewhat more common than other shapes, but there are some almost rectangular cans with rounded corners(sardine cans, for example), and even completely rectangular cans with sharper corners (fetta cheese containers, for example),
Range of can material thicknesses likely to be encountered This aspect of the design influences the type of can-piercing method used as well as the forces needed to pierce the can in the first place,
Materials and manufacturing processes to be used If the opener is to be of limited life and cost to the consumer, corrosion avoidance and mechanical robustness may not be very important subsidiary functions of the design,
Energy source Is it to be human powered or is it to be power-driven by some other form of energy source?
User demography Is the can opener to be equally easy to use by both right and left-handed people (approximately 20% of the population are left-handed), or ageing arthritic people, or indeed people with a wide range of disabilities? These issues speak to the ultimate...
