A look into the Roomba Automatic Vacuum Cleaner

Check out my video explaining how it works here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUqGRORw1CI

Enjoy,

Maurilio

A look into Asprial Clocks

So I was struggling to find another cool design to talk about for this week's blog post and funny enough, Jisi and I found it at the same time (I was on the same website just at the top of the screen). Luckily, he chose to talk about something else (I'll read yours later Jisi...). This device may be something Dr. Don Norman will love, or hate considering on how you present it. Its a new way of designing clocks that looks cool and is (actually) functional! Check it out below:


Really cool huh? The ball in the middle is held down by gravity and the clock spins slowly in the clockwise direction. So after a 12 hour period the ball falls through the hole and it's 12 o'clock (PM/AM) again! You may be worried about getting dizzy, but lets be realistic and know that it goes full circle in 12 hours.

So lets look at the design of this thing. When first looking at it you may notice that its hard to tell what time it is. The makers, Aspiralclocks.com, have recognized this as well, and have given customers the options of ordering clocks with several hashes that help indicate the time (like the picture over on the right). The addition of hash marks take away from the nice looks of the product as they become a bit overwhelming. Next, lets look at the mental model of this device. When reading time we expect the numbers to stand still and the hands to move. This is opposite as the numbers spin round and round. Next, we expect the numbers to the right to be greater to the ones on the left (in the clockwise direction). This is also opposite. So if it is 5:30, you'd expect the ball to be in between the 5 and the 6, with the 6 being on your left side. Nope, not on this clock...I find this a bit confusing. I guess this messes with the natural mapping of traditional clocks.

I wonder what Dr. Norman would say about this time-telling product, we all know he loves that beautifully designed watch...

A Look Into Nerf Guns (or our office downstairs)

So everyone knows about the arsenal of Nerf guns that we have downstairs. But has anyone ever taken a good,long look at one? I guess, analyzed it for its design and function? Well after messing around and throwing darts at the wall for a study break, I decided to sit down and actually learn how to operate one of those things downstairs. I was actually throwing the darts because I find it more accurate to do so, and I don't really know how to use the actual gun.

Take a look at the pictures on the right. I have included one that is fully assembled and then taken apart. There are a lot of parts! Five parts are included when assembling the gun, AND you are supposed to load tons of arrows into the magazine chamber. When I look at this, I think it has been designed this way for 2 reasons. 1) This is the actual mental model and design for real guns and 2) kids love things that can be assembled together, so why not make it fun in more ways than one? The fact that these things are made to fit the actual mental models of real guns is actually pretty scary.

Anyway, let us move onto the actual assembly of the gun. I actually like the gun a lot more now that I know how to use it. After taking it apart, putting it back together, taking it apart, putting it back together, and messing with it, I found a lot of interesting functions of the gun. They are all mechanical functions running the operation of the gun. I think my favorite is the ability to use the gun without the front ends (4&5) . It still functions perfectly well with just the magazine and the integral part of the gun. This is extremely useful in the toy market being that kids tend to lose everything they own. Next, I love the forcing functions you encounter when inserting any of the detachable parts. The scope on top (1) slides in the matching rails that force it in in the correct direction. Same with the bottom scope (4). The additional gun chamber located at the front of the gun (5) locks in beautifully by means of a match, twist, lock function. The magazine is actually a little tricky. If you were to look at it individually, it would be hard to decipher if it is perfectly symmetrical. It isn't. As you can see in the picture below, Nerf has marked the magazine with an arrow indicating which way the bullets have to face and how the magazine should be entered.

Now that we have learned how to assemble the gun, lets learn how to use it. This was an even trickier task for me. Once the gun is fully assembled you have to perform certain tasks to get it armed and ready to fire. Looking at the first picture above, you must pull the gray slider shell toward the back of the gun. This then gives a great confirmation that the gun is armed. See next picture on the right. It shoots out an orange tube with the word "ARMED" embedded in it. Excellent way to notify the user that its armed. Okay, so now you think you're ready for an intense foam arrow shootout. Not quite. As you attempt to pull the trigger, you feel that it is locked in place. This would put you in a really sticky situation if in the middle of a battle. I played and played around with the gun to try to figure it out. Finally, I found that you have to push the gray slider back into its original position to begin firing. Ahhh, now we're in business. BUT, there's one more thing. You have to repeat the pumping of the gray slider every time you want to fire a bullet, if not, you're left to a one shot miracle.

So that's it for the Nerf gun. I believe its the RS-C50 model for those of you who are curious. Hope the next time you're down in the office and want to have some Nerf battles, you'll remember this article and get a heads up on your opponent. Happy foam arrow shooting!

A Look Into Fountain Drink Lid Dispensers

Think back to the last time you went to dine at a restaurant that had free refills, aka exposed fountain drinks for your drinking pleasure. Have you ever taken a look at the dispensers? If you remember back to the beginning of the year, I brought this issue up during class. THERE ARE NO GOOD DISPENSERS OUT THERE. Every time I go to a restaurant I get really frustrated and irritated by the fact there are wasted lids everywhere.

Take a look at the picture below. I took this tonight while on my dinner run to Chipotle. This is what you normally see for dispensers. Unfortunately this picture does not have the lids laying around everywhere like they normally are, but an employee had just cleaned up the area. Anyway, there are several problems with these sorts of lid dispenser models.


First, the plastic that is used is extremely thin. Every time you try to pick one up, you get 2 or 3 or 18. However, I do not believe the plastic is the biggest problem with the design. It should be relatively thin so that material costs are minimized and there is not much waste.

Secondly, ALL of the lids are exposed! That means that people have free reign over all of the lids and can contaminate them as they please. Granted, people normally don't sabotage your lid just to sabotage your lid. But how about normal airborne contaminants? What if they happen to sneeze on your soon to be lid?? Gross.

Lastly, there is no way of determining what lid is meant to fit your size cup. "Is this the Large or the Extra Large??" That is normally the thought that goes through my head, but usually I find out that my size is the medium...womp.

What if there was a great mechanical device, free of any sort of electronics that could be sold at a cheap price to restaurants that can help you rid yourself of these common lid problems? This device would need to enclose the rest of the lids, dispense one at a time, and have a visual aid to help you choose the appropriate size with no confusion. I can see McDonald's and Chipotle buying these for every one of their locations. You heard it here (or in class) first. Sketches and patent to come soon...hopefully.