Design

Brainstorm Design Ideas

Time allocated 30 minutes

The next step was for me to brainstorm design ideas onto paper. The design ideas needed to include the essential design elements.

During this process I had the opportunity to apply knowledge and understandings.
I was successfully able to:
– Make design decisions based on the needs of a possum
– Explore and critique my ideas
– Record my design with labels that describe my design ideas and
– Evaluate my final design

Design Brief

Goal –
Provide an alternative home for the possum by constructing a sturdy ‘weatherproof’ model of a possum house.

Design Requirements –
Safe from: predators and weather elements
A dark space
Have room for 2 possums
Easily accessible for the possum
Be placed 4 meters about the ground

First Design Ideas:
At first I went with a cylinder shape, mounted to a tree via a backboard
However, reflecting on this design I noted:
The opening was to wide and the possum would not be safe from predators or weather elements.

Reassessing the design I created a rectangle shape, mounted to a tree via a backboard.
Again, I reflected on the design and noted:
It was too shallow, there was still an issue with weather elements, and still other animals may make this their home. However, I had created a safe way for the possum to enter and had reduced the amount of light that would get into the box.

Evaluating each design helped in the development process and worked towards creating the best possible solution. More questions were generated. I then followed up with completing more research to answer these questions.
This helped me to develop more ideas for advanced features for the final design. Such as:
Having a lid on the box that can be opened
An angled lid for water run off
Holes at the bottom of the box for liquid to run out
‘Steps’ inside the box for the possum to exit
A flap to stop birds and sunlight

Final Design:

• 

It was not until I had completed my model that I realised how stiff the backboard was. Therefore, this will require further investigation.