Designing a safe electric Kettle

The brief for this group project was to create a kettle that responded to the ever increasing burns and scalds that are becoming ever to common with the very young and old persons.  Below are extracts from the design brief that we were given for the project. And give a detailed outline of what is expected in the final design and how the designers (us) should address the problem.


The Monash Injury Research Institute is an umbrella organization for a range of
associated research groups that cover transport, workplaces, homes, sport, etc.
Within the group that addresses home and sports safety is the Victorian Injury
Surveillance Unit (VISU) which publishes Hazard, a bi-annual journal which examines
injuries due to hazards in everyday life.

Reference: Hazard no. 57 Unintentional burns and scalds in vulnerable populations:
the very young and the very old, Victoria July 2001 to June 2003. These injuries are
common and although they occur through a range of causes, the problem age
groups are at both ends of the life spectrum.

Electric kettles are only one source of hazard and although they are not a major
agency for burns and scalds, they are still an inherently hazardous product and a
designer would not want to overlook the potential for these hazards if ever they were
to design a portable, electric, boiling water appliance.


What should be the design for a kettle for people who, across the population of the
very elderly can be generalized as having…?

- limited grip and arm strength
- poor co-ordination
- limited fine motor movements
- unsteady limbs and poor
- accuracy in targeting
- poor vision
- slow reactions
- reduced sensory response
- poor hearing
- lapses of attention and memory
- erratic and inconsistent decision
making processes

Below is some pages from the folio for the design. Enjoy!

This was a design by Kirby Masterman, Aileen Ng & Rowan Turnham.

Monash Industrial Design 2013.

Plastic Extruder - 3D print

For our studio class we had to make an plastic extruder from off the shelf parts and materials. The aim of the class project was to make a extruder that is cheap to manufacture with simple tools and machines that people can access in one way or another.

With one class making 3D printers and the other coding the software for Rhino. These studios were very interesting. I wish I saw more of the other classes work though.

The idea that a person can walk down their own street. And pick up plastic bottles (something that is sadly prevalent in all suburbia and cities) and shred the thermo-plastic. Any plastic bottle that has a recycle symbol with the numbers 1-7 will do. And then feed it through the extruder producing a filament which is dictated by the die head on the end of the tube. Its just amazing to think that methods like these are now easily available to just about anyone.

I also just want to state that this design is not ours. It was a project by our teacher Robert Eales, he did it for his PHD research project.  And he was just allowing us to make it for our class.

Porcelain heat plates for the extruder!

Spinning the die........for the 2nd time!

Had to mill out a pocket to allow the heat plate to set flat

Assembly of the extruder in workshop

Aluminium Filament Die to the left, Brass Nut to the Right.

Die head is spun Aluminium, 2.5mm filament hole, inset Brass threaded nut.

This is Engineering guys extruder!

They got theirs hooked up to the electronics

In the end it did push through some fragmented Filament

Final product!

We didn't actually get to see the extruder we made in action. But hopefully it does get used in the studio at uni. Big shout out to Taylor Zhou, Caitlin Wood, Aileen Ng and Jon Wee! Good work guys!

Maya - Objects in Space Project

So its been a very testing semester at university, but I managed to pull through. As I haven't done any posts in a while I thought I would share with you my 3D modelling project. 

The aim of the brief was to create a scene which we had to construct in real life with real objects. In doing this we can study how light reflects and reacts with certain materials. And also study the forms and shapes that make up each object.

Below is the final renders for the project. And then following are some pictures from the photo shoot that I did initially to get an idea for the scene. Enjoy!

After countless hours using Maya, I am going to say its a very good program. But at the same time I feel it has so many settings and adjustments that it just takes forever to get something right. 

Now that you can see the real deal. You can easily tell the difference. There are aspects of the scene that aren't perfect but I am pretty happy with what I produced.

Design Weekend - Semi Permanent & Grand Designs live Australia

So this weekend in Melbourne is full of things to do. Especially these two events.

So below I've just got the descriptions of the events from their corresponding websites. Or written it myself because Grand Designs Live doesn't even have a "about" mission statement on their website.

Semi Permanent: "11 YEARS / 40 EVENTS / 11 CITIES / 5 COUNTRIES / 350+ SPEAKERS / 300,000+ ATTENDEES / 46 EXHIBITIONS / 40 AFTER PARTIES / 19 EVENT BOOKS"

So its a creative event that brings together all designers, creatives and artists into one platform. This is done through workshops, presentations and parties!

Grand Designs Live: Is a home show which is for the exhibiting of home improvement and interior design products and ideas.
 

I haven't been to either shows in the past. They both are relatively new shows in Australia. And it will be good to check out whats going on in the world! Also I shouldn't be doing this as end of semester is nearing and there is so much work to do. But hey you only live once right?

 


 

SOYA 365 - Object & Craft Design

SOYA (Spirit of Youth Awards) is a platform for all designers/artists of all disciplines to submit their work via the website, creating a profile with information, pictures and anything that describes their work. The catch is that you have to be aged between 18-30years of age. Each section has a different deadline date. And Object & Craft Design section just closed on the 8th of the October. Which means that SOYA365 2013 is finished for another year!

Now its just time to play the waiting game and see who wins! I entered for the second year in a row. So fingers crossed I get somewhere this time!



Please have a look at my work - http://www.soya.com.au/entrant/rowan-turnham/




Here are the details from the website. Just incase you are interested for next year.

Related fields/disciplines

All styles welcome. Functional. Experimental. Manufactured. Handcrafted. Conceptual. Furniture. Appliances. Accessories. Objects. Ideas. Innovations.

Mentor

Marc Newson

SOYA Craft & Object Design Award

The Qantas Spirit of Youth Awards offers object designers and craftspeople aged 30 and under the chance to accelerate their creative careers with a ticket to anywhere in 2013 – $5,000 in Qantas flights to see you jet away to where inspiration and opportunity dictate. You’ll also be offered a professional mentorship with iconic Australian Designer Marc Newson, and did we mention $5,000 cash?!

Entry information

Images should be high quality and may be in JPEG, GIF or PNG format. Moving images may be in MOV, MP4, WMV or 3GP format.
Please be sure to check the upload instructions and help notes for maximum file sizes to avoid problems with your entry.

Entry tips

Make sure you spend a little bit of time uploading clear, good quality images of your work and telling us about your background, goals and point of difference: it could make a big difference to your entry!

Entry criteria

Please refer to the SOYA Terms and Conditions.

Consumer waste - Nespresso Capsules

 

Nespresso Citiz - Image : www.nespresso.com

So I'm not going to lie and say I do not use the DeLonghi Citiz Nespresso coffee machine. We have one at home and its quite a useful machine. Before we had this we found that the grounded coffee we used went off quite quickly as you would open a bag and then use a sufficient amount for that session, the rest would be static until the next coffee. 

Now each coffee has a dedicated capsule, developed by Nestle. The capsules come in many different aromas. For each coffee, the chromed lid is opened and a capsule is placed inside. The lid is then pushed down which in the same action the capsule is pierced ready for water to flow through from the water reservoir. 

Once the combined water and coffee has stopped pouring. The capsule can now be dropped into the capsule bay below. I must reinforce that the capsule is still intact, but just with holes on the top foil head and 4 main holes on the end. There is one massive downside to this, that is the used coffee is still confined to the capsule. What is the user going to do? Put it in the rubbish bin onwards to the landfill or individually cut each one open and scrape the coffee out for the organic waste bin in the backyard (Which I did do, see below for pictures)......We all know that answer, rubbish bin sadly. A lot of these capsules around the world would end up in the landfill. Where the coffee will enter the stream of toxic, contaminated waste.

Where as it could be waste that equals food. Food for the environment. What ones waste should equals another food. The coffee could be put in with the organic waste bin and degrade with other food waste and then be cycled through out the garden. Cradle to Cradle, Remaking the way we make things by William McDonough & Michael Braungart highlights the need for this sort of thinking.

I understand why the capsule was developed. It keeps the machine clean and mess free. It also makes the process of making a coffee very efficient. But for the sake of convenience it fulfills one need and creates two problems on the other end.

The worms are going to love this, coffee overload

It took a while to cut every single one open!