ELEMENT K
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GIO DE GUZMAN
This project exceeded my expectations. Benji would love our wheelchair prototype. Personally, the concept of creating a better dog wheelchair has been an idea and itch in my brain alongside my memory of Benji. When first presenting the idea in class, I thought there would be little interest or improvements that could be made for dog paralysis devices. After going through the design process and brainstorming with the group, I was pleasantly surprised. All three group members brought fantastic ideas to the table and a great product emerged through our work. Ethan’s building expertise brought the prototype to reality and Auston provided his dog and some car machinery knowledge. Ethan’s handling of the machinery and building of the prototype was brilliant and something I could not do on my own. Auston’s brainstorming and knowledge of car parts provided excellent and unique ideas. Personally, I handled the majority of documentation and presentation content, including the portfolio, brochure and website. As a team, I felt we did a good job balancing fun and work. However, there were definitely some times I felt more work could’ve been done. Regardless, I believe the good times will be what we will remember and cherish at the end of the day.
AUSTON CHUNG
With the conclusion of the project, I can finally reflect back on the journey and say that the project was above my expectations. As I reflect on the journey, the beginning was a little rough, with not much progress, but once we started to get along with the designing, the project took off. While planning testing days in my garage with Luna was hectic due to our very busy schedules, we still managed to finish a majority of the build and the testing inside my garage. Furthermore, the inclusion of the 3D printed wing was last minute, I feel that the process of designing and printing the wing and its supports has not only widened my horizons about 3D printing, but it also allowed me to be taught valuable lessons in the field of printing and designing using both the Inventor and Apex softwares. Although the assembly and testing of the prototype took longer than expected, the process of testing with my team was a success. We were not only able to test the functionality of the suspension parts, but also the durability of the material. Personally, as I look back at the operation, Ethan and I handled a majority of the building and the testing of the prototype, it was a success, and as a result, the process of Benji’s Wheels was a project that the group will cherish.
ETHAN VALENTINE
I feel proud of this entire project. In the beginning, the group felt a bit unbalanced to me, but I can recognize now that it was due more to a lack of communication on my part. With a background in building personal projects out of many different materials from wood to plastic, as well as with more experience in our machinery, I found myself constructing a majority of the prototype. Throughout our construction, there were a lot of mishaps due to my busy schedule and rushing as a result, so our prototype was finished later than expected. In addition, there are numerous flaws with our prototype, but they can be easily fixed and explained for the presentation. Our team members’ schedules also conflicted with the fact that we physically cannot test at school. By the end though, we found better communication and better cohesion to work together to each of our strengths (to be explicit, with much more Gio) and put together a project I am very proud of on nearly all fronts (except for the prototype in minor ways).