Autobiography
Hi! My name is Christopher Hoang.
Christopher Hoang ♠ CADD 141 ♥ Design ♣ Cube Project ♦ Evergreen Valley College
Hi! My name is Christopher Hoang.
Fine Office Furniture Inc. generates a significant amount of ¾” scrap hardwood cubes as a byproduct of their furniture manufacturing. This waste is not only a sustainability concern but also represents lost profit due to the valuable material.
Design and develop a captivating 3D puzzle system made entirely from these scrap hardwood cubes. This system should not only be a fun and engaging desktop novelty item but also serve as a way to showcase the beauty and quality of the company's wood.
The puzzle system should be accessible to a broad audience, with a difficulty level suitable for ages 3 and above. This means the design needs to be visually appealing, intuitive, and offer a satisfying sense of accomplishment upon completion.
The puzzle system should be challenging yet solvable within a reasonable timeframe. Consider incorporating spatial reasoning, manipulation skills, and color recognition into the puzzle design.
Leverage the natural beauty of the wood. Explore options like staining or painting specific cubes to enhance the visual appeal.
Ensure the design minimizes waste and utilizes all available scrap wood cubes effectively.
Develop a design that can be efficiently produced using the available scrap wood and minimal additional materials.
The puzzle system should act as a conversation starter, highlighting Fine Office Furniture's commitment to sustainability and high-quality materials.
The puzzle must be constructed entirely from 27 individual ¾-inch wooden cubes.
The puzzle should consist of exactly five distinct puzzle pieces.
Each individual puzzle piece must be comprised of precisely four to six of the ¾-inch wooden cubes.
All puzzle pieces must be three-dimensional (3D), meaning they must have a minimum size of two cubes along each axis (x, y, and z).
No two puzzle pieces should be identical in design or layout. Each piece should be visually and structurally distinct.
When correctly assembled, the five puzzle pieces must combine to form a perfect 2 ¼-inch cube, which translates to a 3x3x3 configuration using individual cubes.
To enhance the complexity, some puzzle pieces should incorporate interlocking mechanisms that could initially mislead or confuse users attempting to solve the puzzle.
Through classmate feedback, design #2 emerged as the more challenging option based on sketches alone. As the target audience is ages 3 and above, the puzzle needs to be manageable for toddlers. Therefore, design #1, with its simpler pieces, is the clear winner for ease of use.
Before creating a prototype with a 3D printer using PLA or PETG filament, we need to account for extra material extruded during printing. Due to this, a 0.01mm tolerance was incorporated into the models created in Solidworks to ensure proper fit for printing on a MakerBot Sketch 3D printer.
Created in SolidWorks.
We utilized six MakerBot Sketch printers in class to create puzzle piece prototypes.
*Orange color filament was not available. Subsituted with Purple.*
*Participant names blurred for privacy*
The testing results allowed me to create a scatterplot and identify the forcast trendline. This trendline allows me to calculate, or predict, a future value by using existing values.
Using the forcast line we can predict the following:
y = -0.0554(x) + 3.7122
y = -0.0554(5) + 3.7122
y = 3.4352
The estimated average solution time on the fifth attempt is 3.4352 minutes.
23 seconds / 60 seconds per minute = 0.38 minutes
y = 0.38 minutes
y = -0.0554(x) + 3.7122
x = (y - 3.7122) / -0.0554
x = (0.38 minutes - 3.7122) / -0.0554
x ≈ 60.09 attempts
It will take approximately 60.09 attempts to achieve a time of 0.38 minutes (23 seconds).
While my data shows solving time is improving, the puzzle might still be too challenging for young children. Most testers were adults (youngest was 11). I may need to consider a wider range of ages in future tests. Involving younger testers is important, but finding them can be a challenge!
Modeling an idea first may help discover any flaws or weaknesses, explore different options, and communicate your thoughts effectively. The result is a smoother design process and a better final product.
Solidworks' Mate constraint is what I used when assembling my puzzle cube prototype. It holds components together, kind of like glue, however it only restricts movement along one axis (x, y, or z) depending on its application. The mate constraint was utilized three times per piece to complete a cube assembly.
Saying "I used a design process" means tackling a problem in a logical, step-by-step way. This involves exploring ideas and refining them based on what works and what doesn't until you reach a solution. The Puzzle Design Challenge allowed me to put the 6-stage design process I learned in class into action. Following this structured approach, I developed and improved my puzzle cube idea.
This meant understanding the problem. The creation of the puzzle cube originated from solving a waste problem of a furniture company which had specific requirement criteria I had to follow, like age demographic of 3+, overall size of the cube, exactly 5 puzzle parts, etc.
While this was a solo project, collaboration played a role. I sought feedback on my puzzle piece sketches from classmates, asking which design they thought offered the most challenge. I also provided input on their designs in return.
By analyzing existing puzzle cube designs, parts, and difficulty levels online, I gained valuable insights into how people approach solving puzzles. These ideas then helped me refine my own puzzle pieces.
Using 3D printers, I brought my puzzle cube design to life, transforming notebook sketches and SolidWorks models into a physical prototype for testing.
I found some classmates and volunteers from Evergreen Valley College to participate in a "time to complete" experiment with my 3D-printed puzzle prototype.
By carefully recording test results, I could analyze the data and make predictions. This allowed me to assess the difficulty of my puzzle cube design, estimating the number of attempts needed to solve it within a specific time frame.