Industry Study - "The TrenchMaster"
... Rob also investigated these possibilities:- · Being able to be raised and lowered · Being able to change the widths of the trenches · Having the Archimedes screw in sectors so that it is easier and cheaper to change blades · Having a self cleaning system on it to rid the screw of all dirt Rob investigated these using his experience and knowledge of tractors and how they work and researching other types of trench diggers. Normally in designing a project like this the designer would investigate market opportunities to broaden the product across Australia and even the world. In Rob’s case however there was not need for this as he was only designing the project for one reason, his benefit. One thing that Rob had to look into however is patenting his idea; he went to the national patience office in Sydney and enquired about how much it would cost him to protect his idea. It work out to be $1200 to protect his idea for one year in Australia, he paid the money and got the patient. Later on he then paid the international patience fee to protect his idea even further in most countries in the world. Project Management In designing and construction Rob didn’t really have any type of time/action or finance plan. The reason for this is that he is making the project for him self and there are no deadlines or budgets that he has to consider. Rob designs and creates all his ideas using the one tool, AutoCAD on his computer. He has extensive knowledge and experience with the program and he able to draw very detailed and accurate plans with it. It is the only method he uses to design and document the work that he does. He uses his Engineering workshop and his tools to do all of the physical construction such as welding, painting, cutting etc. He has one employee being his dad, he helps him with all the needs they have. Project Development Rob and his father began work on the TrenchMaster, first by making the prototype in his workshop out of scrap pieces of metal welded together. While working with the prototype Rob was getting more and more ideas on how to make the machine even more efficient. During the design of the TrenchMaster Rob though of a few clever and creative methods to over come problems. The first one being the segmented screw design. After testing the prototype Rob realised that if the screw blade hit rock and blunted it would have to be changed, the only way to do this was to replace the whole screw. Rob came up with an idea of segmenting the screws so when they were beginning to wear out they could be replaced in sections saving money and time. This proved to be highly successful when tested. Another creative aspect of the TrenchMaster is the combining of tungsta carbine granules into the blade to carve through rock and other hard materials while digging. Rob first designed the blades with small pieces of sharp tungsta carbine welded all up the spiral, this idea worked to grind through rock but what Rob found is that once in a while these pieces of metal were ripping off due to the force of the rocks. Rob started thinking and came up with a clever idea. Instead of using small pieces of the carbine, Rob used even smaller granules and sprinkled them into the weld he made all up the blade. This idea proved to be successful, grinding and carving through rocks without ripping the carbine off. Throughout the construction Rob had to undergo various experiments to ensure that the TrenchMaster was the best it could be. One of the major experiments he conducted was the angling of the blade. He realised that there had to be a certain angle of the screw, which would rip the dirt quicker and have the least strain on the machine. To find this angle Rob...