What is the Engineering Process?
Simply defined, the engineering process, also known as the design process, is the formula every great an engineer, designer, maker, or DIY-hobbyist uses in order to complete their objective - often times, with the intention of creating a final working product. VEX Robotics allows us to teach this unique and exceptional process to all the members of our program. They can apply this process to their VEX projects and all projects they have in the future.
The following are the integral steps of the engineering process:
Be happy with what you have accomplished. There is always room for improvement, but there is
always room for something bigger and better than what you are doing now.
The following are the integral steps of the engineering process:
- Define the problem or objective
- Do Research that helps further develop your understanding of the problem
- Specify Requirements for the final product
- Brainstorm solutions - all ideas are great ideas, never say "never" during brainstorming
- Select the best possible solution from the brainstorming sessions
- Do Development Work - figure out the science behind the design; CAD softwares are often used
- Build a Prototype of your design
- Test your design (prototype or version 191.5x) - make note of the successes and failures of each piece individually and the whole product overall
- Redesign your product based on notes from testing
- And repeat as many times as allowed
Be happy with what you have accomplished. There is always room for improvement, but there is
always room for something bigger and better than what you are doing now.