Problem 3.3.

1 Design Problem
Joe Garcia
Juhan Suh
Axel Adair
Ahnika Thornhill
POE
Westwood High School
3/27/15

Design Diameters: NRPA has asked my team to develop a solution to a problem in

their parks. Instead of having a sorting facility, they need a device that will sort the
recyclable material. My team must design, model and test a device that will separate
recyclable materials into their own individual bins. the device must separate the material
automatically. The recyclable materials are four different material spheres totaling 20.

the spheres could include wood, opaque plastic,aluminum, steel, and clear plastic. Our
device must be efficient by completing the sorting process in two minutes.
Brainstorm:

Decision Process: We first decided our group norms and then we used a design matrix
to decide which idea we would use.

Design Matrix
Reliability

Simplicity of
design

Difficulty of
Program

Time on
building

Total

Axel

2-2-2-2

4-4-4-4

3-3-3-2

3-3-4-4

49

Ahnika

3-2-2-3

3-3-2-4

3-3-3-3

3-3-3-4

47

JuHan

4-4-3-3

2-2-2-1

1-2-1-2

2 - 1 - 2- 1

33

Joe

2 - 3 - 2- 3

3-3-3-3

1-2-1-2

2-2-3-3

38

1 (worst) - 2 - 3 - 4 (best)
With Axels idea coming out on top, we all added our own touch to the marble sorter.

Final Proposal:

Design Modifications: We had a few difficulties while coding the aluminum marble so
we had to take it out leaving us with three types of marbles. Using foil to cover the line
follower so that it could accurately read the marbles.

Final design Image:

Design Process: We first built the top of the marble sorter by a spinning mechanism
using a servo motor to funnel out the marbles. The marbles would then be stopped by a
line follower, depending on the color of the marble the servo would then direct the
marble into one of the cups. We had a few technical difficulties with the aluminum
marble so we had to take it out leaving us with three types of marbles. We each added
our own unique ideas into the marble sorter.

Team Evaluation: Axel- Axel was very efficient while building the marble sorter. Axel
never complained and always expressed his ideas.
JuHan - He was the complete package, not only did he help build but he also did the
code.
Ahnika - Ahnika was the mother of this whole operation, she made sure everyone was
on task, and also helped build the marble sorter.
Reflection: a. How well did you accomplish your objectives?
Our marble sorter was a success. The sorter fluently sorted the three different types of
marbles into their own bucket. Our marble sorter was the only one that worked correctly
in the entire fourth block period which was quite amazing.
b. What would your team do differently with your design solution and why?
I believe if we had more time we would have been able to code the fourth marble.
c. Do the results fulfill the problem statement? Explain.
Yes, our marble sorter successfully sorted the marbles into their own individual buckets.
d. What was the most challenging aspect of this design problem?
The most difficult aspect of the design problem was the coding, thankfully JuHan is a
great coder.
References: No References were used.