Super Pickaxe

In the first unit of the course Design and Engineering, we learned lots of math. For example we learned the rates equation and formulas for volume and area. We learned about what is a lever, a wedge and an inclined plane and their purpose, as well as vectors, Trigonometry and the equation for work. Leading towards our action project we interviewed a gardener and I interviewed my dad. We interviewed them to see which tools they like, which ones they don't like and which ones they prefer. We also went to a Home Depot for an FE and there we learned about gardening tools, how they have improved over time and what they are used for. For our action project we picked a tool from Home Depot and our challenge was to modify it for the elderly to use. I chose the pickaxe because it was interesting and no one else seemed to notice it. It was a big challenge to figure out how to make the pickaxe lighter, but that still had the same effect to break things and I am proud of my final design.

KIS&WV(2015)Storyboard 1.

KIS&WV(2015)Storyboard 2.

The purpose of this assignment is to modify a gardening tool for the elderly. My tool is a pickaxe and I brainstormed ideas for the elderly to use without getting hurt. For this project empathy played a huge part in designing for someone else. My definition for empathy is understanding someone else's feelings like if you are in their shoes and empathy relates to the project by taking into consideration the elderly and their needs. From the interviews I have conducted I learned that tools help and can have many uses even if one doesn't like the tool. I also learned that gardening is never over. My interviewee said “A tool I find helpful is the shovel because it can move the dirt around and dig holes for the plants.” This helped me in the design process by showing me what tool is a necessity. Besides my interview I did research on my tool, the pickaxe. There haven't been many variations, it's meant for heavy duty work and it's not a common gardening tool. The difference between the original pickaxe and the improved one in stores is just the size, handle material and weight. The way I modified to tool was that I kept the same basic idea of a pickaxe, but it has a telescope-like handle, it has a shovel at the top and the weight can be adjusted by putting water in the head. The way the new tool works is by using the pick to break something and use the shovel to move it. Depending on the object you want to break the weight on the head can be adjustable. Focusing on the parts of the tool, the pickaxe splits things apart and breaks them. To clean the mess the shovel comes in handy. To adjust the weight the person can add different amounts of water into the head and to store it in small places or make it take up less space the handles can get smaller (when needed it gets big). Our tool uses wedges a lot because the pickaxe has one pointy side and the other is flat, but still has the triangle form. The shovel has a point and it also moves things around. With that our tool is great because it can adjust to however the person wants it, it is two tools in one and it looks cooler and occupies less space.

                                           

KIS(2015)Super Pickaxe.