Final Thoughts
As someone who has been inspecting and contemplating the design of anything and everything around me for most of my life, this course has provided a valuable context and procedural and scientific base for my thought process with respect to product design. Additionally, the more in-depth exploration of various manufacturing methods we have discussed this semester will serve as a valuable set of tools and a knowledge base on which I can base my designs in the future.
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In fact, many of the tools and concepts in this class I have been able to put into practice immediately in working as a very active member of Illinois Robotics in Space (IRIS), preparing for the NASA Robotic Mining Competition (a picture of our robot under construction can be seen below). In working with IRIS I have been able to take a large part in the majority of the design work in fabricating two new robots from scratch this year. This has given me immediate practice in implementing concepts learned in class as well as first-hand experience in several of the manufacturing methods discussed.
I would like to consider myself a perfectionist as I often value highest quality, unfortunately sometimes at the expense of most else. This course has introduced me to a useful methodology with which to balance all aspects of design which I hope to implement in my future projects.
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This semester I have found myself struggling the most with the ability to budget my time properly. I have many times grossly underestimated the amount of time required to complete tasks, falsely assuming knowing how to complete a task means I will be able to do so quickly leading to putting it off too much. This has at times been further compounded by my desire for perfection leading me to spend time I don’t have perfecting pieces of assignments before the full task is completed.
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On top of this, I have ambitiously taken on a large amount of work with IRIS as one of only 3 main mechanical engineers and sole machinist which has further packed my time schedule. This has been especially big the past couple weeks as we are in a rush to complete everything before our competition starting on the 6th of May. However I believe the work I have put into this has been well worth it in giving me practical experience in the field of robotics which I plan to peruse as my career. I simply need to learn to manage my time better to allow for such projects.