Improving the Design Project
I'm writing this post after receiving my peer evaluations so perhaps I have a bit of an edge over those who wrote their reflections prior to receiving their peer reviews. Peer review are so helpful in a design project because they are the great equalizer that brings all of our lofty ambitions back down to earth. This reflection is essentially more intentional as I now have some valuable feedback to help refine the design ideas before we move into the collaboration phase.
Organisms in my natural spot:
Spring is in full swing in Northern California and that means things are buzzing and chirping and crawling. I see a lot of movement, and this movement can inspire my design project. The project as it stands is primarily centered on an airtight, protective enclosure for genetic information (seeds in this case but could be human or other DNA in another story). This enclosure needs to be able to disperse genetic information, to reproduce if you will, but exactly how does it move? I have discussed it attaching to people and animals like a burr, but what if it moved all on its own? What would that look like? As I write this reflection it is dark outside, but there is still movement from what I imagine must be bugs and rodents.
How they can help me:
Looking at how some organisms perform their functions at night, while other organisms are at rest, forces me to look at how my project or product might perform when it is not being used.
What other functions could it perform while it hibernates, while it sleeps, while it stores seeds at sea?
What other passive or secondary functions could my product perform while not in use?
Could it tie into the projects of my classmates? If so, how?
I think the most strategic passive or secondary function would be to provide energy for other systems, and that is a topic I'd like to explore immediately. It was something I researched and talked about previously, but it has not been fully developed.
What other handheld energy harnessing devices are out there? What are they best used to power? How could they be improved? Developing the solar cells in the underbelly (or hat) of my pod would be the quickest way to explore this idea.
