Working on this project during these last two semesters has brought both heartache and elation. Through it all, we feel that we've learned at little more about what it would be like working on projects in the engineering world. We can see that there's a lot of hard work which isn't always fun, but there's nothing like that feeling of having succeded in creating something new that's all your own. Our jobs might not always be the funnest, but we wouldn't be engineers if the rewards weren't worth the hard work.
Through this experience we also got to see a little of what an actual
project like this might cost. We figured the actual cost of the robot
itself is as follows:
| Item | Cost |
| Handy Board | $300 |
| Linx Communication System | $300 |
| Motors | $100 |
| 9 V Batteries | $5 |
| Wheels | $6 |
| Aluminum | $5 (estimate) |
| Vel-cro | $4 |
| Misc. (nut, bolts, washers, wire, etc.) | $10 |
| Total | $430 |
Now to figure out the total cost of a project like this we do the following:
| Student Hours | Comments | ||
| Design Phase | 150 | *First Semester | |
| Development Phase | 100 | *Up to a complete prototype | |
| Prototype Phase | 500 | *Testing and Refining | |
| Total Hours | 750 | ||
| Average Cost/hour | $30 | *Assumes salary of $60K/year | |
| Labor Expenses | $22,500 | ||
| Labor Overhead Factor | 45% | *Benifits, Vacations, FICA, etc. | |
| Total Labor Expenses | $32,625 | ||
| Material Purchases | $430 | *Actual Cost | |
| Material Overhead Factor | 15% | *Shipping, Handling, etc. | |
| Total Material Costs | $494.50 | ||
| Department Allocations | 35% | $11,419 | *Secretaries, managers, quality assurance, etc. |
| Total R&D Expenses | $44,538 | *True Cost Of Project |
As can be seen by this table, much more money and many more resources go into a project like this. It's understandable why there would be a lot of pressure to get something out to market so the company can recoup its costs.
Requirements and Specifications
Design Criteria
Body-Of-Knowledge
Evaluating Alternatives
Selected Design
Schedule
Building and Programming
The Competition
Conclusion
Meet the Team
Images
Links
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