Week 1 (Outside Lab) - Preliminary Brainstorming

Figure 1. Some brainstorming drawings.

The design team got together before the first lab in order to choose a product design after assessing personal skills, personal preferences, and available resources. Several original ideas were evaluated and eventually set aside for various reasons, including a toothpaste-generating toothbrush, transition windows (self-tinting), and a solar-powered portable phone charger (some of these can be seen in Figure 1). The team then decided to choose from one of the preset options, which are listed below:

• An automatic pet feeder
• This option was dismissed due to its simplicity, since the team desired a challenge.
• A cordless hair dryer
• This option was dismissed due to its complexity (as none of the team members are familiar enough with mechanical and electrical parts to be able to reasonably tackle this project).
• An ice-cube maker that delivers 1-2 extra cold, extra clear ice cubes every fifteen minutes
• This option was also dismissed due to its complexity. 
• An automatic plant watering system
• The team chose this option, which appeared to be the one most suited to all individual members, being both a challenge and a reasonable possibility.