PART I Define, Conceive, Prove, Document
Chapter 8 Documentation
8.1 Engineering Design Documentation
Documentation is a critical element of the engineering design process Because engi- neering design is a complex process and involves many analysis and decision-making points based on data and evidence, all aspects must be captured and documented so that others can clearly follow and understand the basis for the design decisions and final results
Documentation comes into play at each step in the engineering design process Communication of ideas, progress, problems, unresolved issues, and solutions is essential to keep all stakeholders informed and sponsors appraised of the status of the design project One of the tools for documentation is an engineering logbook The logbook is a personally written recording of the evolution of ideas, problems noted, drawings, schematics, analysis, data, and calculations, similar to a project’s diary
Meeting minutes are another form of documentation, as discussed previously Meeting minutes should capture design discussions and incremental work performed on the design project In addition, meeting minutes should document design steps and critical decisions
During the capstone design cycle, the design team will collect and generate a sig- nificant amount of information This information must be cataloged and organized A proven way to keep the information organized is in a design binder Alternatively, DOI: 10.1201/9781003108214-9
114 Engineering Capstone Design the same information can be kept in electronic form Any paper documents should be scanned and included in the design binder folder hierarchy
Design presentation slides are another form of documentation The presentations include critical information on the critical design review, proof of concept, and build- ing and testing the design
The first comprehensive document is a preliminary design report (PDR) The PDR captures the details of the design process leading to proof of concept and a prototype It serves as a significant milestone in the project to communicate infor- mation to the sponsor, and it also serves as a culmination of the first phase of the design project
A brochure and poster can also serve as an excellent method for communicating a summary of the project with a broader audience, including a conference or a design showcase
Finally, the final design report (FDR) serves as the complete documentation of the entire design work of the team Therefore, the FDR must capture all essential aspects of the design work of the team
8.1.1 engineeRing logBook
Each design team member should maintain an activity journal of their design work and project contributions in an engineering logbook In the engineering profession, a logbook is necessary to document the personal and intellectual work of the engineer in a way that it can clearly demonstrate their contributions and possible inventions In addition, the engineer’s logbook may be utilized in legal cases of proving intellectual property origins on patent cases
The logbook should be a stitch-bound notebook (see Figure 81) with each page sequentially numbered so that pages cannot be added or removed after the logbook was bound Logbooks can be purchased with pages formatted with entry fields for dating the page and signature box (Figure 82)
Each entry in the logbook should be dated and signed by the engineer No pages should be left blank so that it is possible to clearly see the timeline evolution of ideas and progression of the design solution Figure 83 shows sample pages from an actual logbook
Effective engineers use the logbook as a way of documenting their ideas, writing down creative thoughts and ideas, sketching thoughts and concepts, mind mapping, and documenting successes and failures As such, the engineering logbook becomes a learning workbook
The engineer should record the date on each page and start a new page for a new date Each entry should be labeled with a title and included in a Table of Contents for the logbook A permanent ink pen should be used for the logbook entries Entries should not be erased Instead, an incorrect entry can be crossed out with a single line and initialed by the engineer Pages in the logbook should not be left blank, skipped, or removed If necessary to record an entry that was not included previously, it can be added with a date and reference to the page number where it is related All activi- ties, including successes and failures, should be included in the logbook Sometimes failures are more informative than successes
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As a minimum, the design engineer should regularly enter the following into their logbook:
• Personal and team activity on the design project
• Summary of communications regarding the design project with team mem- bers, sponsors, mentors, and other stakeholders
FIGURE 8.1 Engineering logbook styles
FIGURE 8.2 Engineering logbook blank page
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• Sketches of design concepts or ideas
• Engineering analysis of concepts and ideas, calculations, and formulations
• Questions, answers, and other ideas on the design project
• Summary of key decisions as a result of meetings or communications
• Sponsor needs/requirements
• Engineering criteria
• Design specifications
• Problem definition
• Design objectives
• Meeting notes, outcomes, and action items
• Brainstorming, results, and action Items
• Work-in-progress
• Keywords for gathering information, literature search, and patent search
• Sources of ideas
• Test engineering plans, parameters, and methods
• Evaluation of data and results
• Critical design review notes
• Decision matrix and criteria
• Design process steps and actions
• Project reflections
• Team performance 8.1.2 design BindeR
A design binder is an efficient way for the project team to collect and organize their project materials For example, a typical engineering capstone project conducted over two terms would require a 3 or 4-in three-ring binder to collect and store the relevant documents
FIGURE 8.3 Engineering logbook sample page
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The design team should take their design binder to all critical meetings with the sponsors, mentors, and capstone professors Having the design binder during project review meetings allows the reviewers to see an immediate snapshot of the entire project
As a practical style guide for preparing the design binder, materials for inclusion in your design binder can be grouped under the following tabs:
• Index and Table of Contents – Provide a Table of Contents or index that includes the heading for each section
• Problem Definition – Include problem definition and supporting materials for the problem being addressed as created by the team
• Team Work – Include team meeting minutes, weekly progress reports, and e-mail correspondence with the sponsor
• Engineering Analysis – Include notes, sketches, engineering analyses/cal- culations, drawings, charts, figures, and schematics
• Project Plan – Include the project plan with baseline and updates, Gantt chart, and calendar of team tasks/schedule/deadlines with milestones of your project The project plan must include resources allocated to each task, including people and equipment
• Presentations – Include any PowerPoint presentations created by the team during the project duration
• Literature and Patent Searches – Include results of literature and patent search exercises collected by all team members In addition, include copies of all articles, sections of books, journal articles, and complete patent documents
• Design Approaches
• Include description and details of any design methods applied to your project (from this textbook)
• QFD – Include the Quality Function Deployment analysis of your concepts and your evaluation of competition
• CAD or hand-drawn sketches, blueprints, or plans of your design
• Design Specifications – Include team’s work on creating design specifica- tions and include revision history of design specifications with dates for each revision
• Bill of Materials (BOM) – Include BOM cross-referenced to drawings, supplier lists, and contact lists
• Systems Analysis – Include relevant analyses of systems and computational analysis (such as the load-bearing capacity of something, strength, heat transfer analysis, materials behavior, process layout)
• References – Include competition rules, industry material or specifications, articles, secondary research, applicable standards (MILSPECs, ASTM, ASME, etc) Include
• Papers, journal articles, patents, reports, manuals, industry materials, etc
• Any other documents generated or used in the project
• References to engineering standards (MILSPECS, ASTM, ASME, ISO, etc)
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• Modeling – Include any models, simulations such as CFD, dynamics, kine- matics, stress-strain fields, using computer codes such as CAD, Abaqus, Fluent, and Comsol
• Trade-Off Analysis – Include radar/spider charts, QFD models, or formal models for comparing alternatives and decision-making
• Financial Analysis – Include
• Cost analysis of the design (one copy versus many)
• Personnel level of effort and cost estimation
• Analysis of manufacturing costs and mass production
• Use of facilities such as 3D printing or laboratories
• Consultation time with professors and other consultants
• Critical Thinking and Analysis – Include analysis results concerning economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, manu- facturability, and sustainability
• Administrative – Include administrative paperwork, including purchase orders, bid sheets, quotations, competition registration, and conference registration
• Resumes – Include the most recent copy of resumes for all team members 8.1.3 eleCtRoniC filesand pRojeCt aRChive
Electronic files created during the design project are an essential part of the docu- mentation of the design work The electronic files for the design project should be organized and be available to all team members (including professors and teaching assistants) and possibly mentors and sponsors A suggested organization of informa- tion is presented in the following list of folder names:
• Additional considerations
• Administrative
• Assessment
• Brochures
• CAD files
• Concepts
• Cost analysis
• Critical design review
• Design for X
• Design specifications
• Final design report
• Manuals
• Meeting minutes and notes
• Paper
• Patent search
• Photos
• Poster
• Preliminary design report
• Presentations
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• Previous project information
• Problem definition
• Project management
• QFD analysis
• References
• Resumes
• Testing
• Videos
• Weekly progress reports
The electronic files can be shared with cloud sharing file systems such as Google Drive or DropBox In addition, many universities have standardized on the Google application suite (G Suite)