What is Designing: Definition and 614 Discussions

A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process, or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product or process. The verb to design expresses the process of developing a design. In some cases, the direct construction of an object without an explicit prior plan (such as in craftwork, some engineering, coding, and graphic design) may also be considered to be a design activity. The design usually has to satisfy certain goals and constraints, may take into account aesthetic, functional, economic, or socio-political considerations, and is expected to interact with a certain environment. Major examples of designs include architectural blueprints, engineering drawings, business processes, circuit diagrams, and sewing patterns.The person who produces a design is called a designer, which is a term generally used for people who work professionally in one of the various design areas—usually specifying which area is being dealt with (such as a fashion designer, product designer, web designer or interior designer), but also others such as architects and engineers. A designer's sequence of activities is called a design process, possibly using design methods. The process of creating a design can be brief (a quick sketch) or lengthy and complicated, involving considerable research, negotiation, reflection, modeling, interactive adjustment and re-design.

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  1. jjrocks

    Designing ATV Rear Wheel Solid Axle: Considerations

    I m considering to design a solid axle ATV for rear wheel drive without differential...so I want to know about what design considerations I have to consider while its designing.(like track width...suspension linkage position)
  2. A

    Designing a far flying catapult launched model glider

    Many of you are familiar with the catapult launched profile fuselage gliders that are sold in hobby stores. Since these tend to rather fragile, I am designing gliders with better durability out of card, and also with a full fuselage. These will have a 20 cm wingspan typically. Given that low...
  3. B

    Designing an environment inside the ice crust of an exomoon

    Hello. My name is Brian McKinley. I beginning work on a hard(ish) science fiction comic titled Verdant Spiral. I thought this would be a good place to get feedback to make sure my ideas are plausible. All feedback is welcomed, and thank you all in advance. The first story takes place on an...
  4. G

    Designing Nut and Orifice fittings (brass)

    Hi, I get parts made in China, and I need to make a full CNC drawing. It is a modified 1/4" BSP nut and orifice fitting. I cannot find anywhere how to draw the nut and orifice so they work correctly. This is the part they make the most mistakes with, as the tolerances are small. It is not...
  5. K

    Designing Lag or Lead Compensators with 3rd order systems

    For a 3rd order system, can I use 2nd order approximation (granted dominant pole is ≈5 Tau away from third pole), when designing a Lead or Lag compensator? Can this OLTF = K/{s(0.1s+1)(s+1)} be approximated to 10K/{s(s+1) which ultimately gives CLTF=10K/{s(s+1)+ K} ? and then design...
  6. J

    Designing a Boost Converter: Finding L for CCM Operation

    Homework Statement I have some very big difficulties with this assignment, hope someone can give me some clue in the right direction Design the boost converter represented in and operating in continuous conduction mode (CCM). The usual hypotheses apply: the output voltage is considered to...
  7. T

    Stargazing Designing a Telescope: What Equations Do I Need?

    I would like to design a telescope from the ground up, the only parts that I will not be making myself will be the mirrors and eyepieces. I've already decided I needed focal length equations, what others will I need to build it? I'm going to go for a truss tube dobsonian, (I've seen some ideas...
  8. G

    Designing physics experiment (vibration)

    Hello all, I'll start by explaining that this is my first post, and I have very little engineering and mechanical knowledge. I am currently completing my phd in neuroscience so the purpose of this post is to seek information to indulge in some of my hobbies :) I am designing a machine...
  9. T

    Designing a homemade electric lighter

    I'm trying to make an electric lighter ( like this http://imgur.com/a/wg8q7) using the framework of this guide. http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-battery-powered-soldering-iron/?ALLSTEPS except mine will have a few more feature and the soldering tip will be replaced with nichrome most...
  10. gfd43tg

    Designing Tuner: LRC Circuit w/377Ω Impedance @1MHz

    Homework Statement Using the circuit layout shown in Fig. 9-15 (Standard LRC circuit), design a tuner that uses a variable inductor, a capacitor, and a resistor. The input impedance of the tuner should be 377 Ω at 1 MHz an its bandwidth should be 2%.Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution...
  11. G

    Designing DC motor with 8051 and transisors

    I want to design a bidirectional DC motor , so use four transistors in the H bridge circuit. I can understand the first circuit, but for the second, I can't understand why input signal , eg: A, is connected to the same side of transistors? What is the differences, which one I should...
  12. srfriggen

    Help designing fun lesson plan with permutations, combinations, etc

    Hello everyone, I am an aspiring math teacher taking a workshop type class and in two weeks my group will be teaching the other students various topics on probability. We are trying to come up with a fun and interactive way to teach the counting principle, permutations, and combinations. To...
  13. D

    Designing a Foster 1 Network for Impedance Testing

    Homework Statement Design and show a foster 1 network z=(x^2+4)/(x(x^2+2))Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution So first I did the partial fraction expansion and I got (2/x)-(x/(x^2+2)). Next I got everything in the denominator so (1/x/2)-(1/(x+(2/x)) when I do this though I get all...
  14. C

    Designing a Gearbox for Lifting an Object of 2kg

    hey guys, new here. need some kind of help im required to design a gearbox which will be used to life an object of 2kg. details of the motor used are as follows: http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=YM2712 have been trying to calc the number of gears needed, number of teeth on each...
  15. J

    Need help designing an algorithm for similarities between words

    For fun, I'm trying to make a C++ program that takes a word from the user and comes up with an ordered list of suggested words, similar to the kind of thing you have on your cell phone when sending SMS messages. So far I have: An std::vector<std::string> of the 5000 most common English...
  16. M

    Designing a Pneumatic Arm to Lift 5kg Load 10m

    Hey I want to build a pneumatic arm that can throw stuff around (see attachment image). Before actually ordering the stuff i want help with some calculations. i want the arm to be able to push 5kg load (rectangular shaped) straight up into air. the arm/plunger area that makes contact with...
  17. P

    Designing Ailerons for School Project Wing

    Good day everyone, I was designning the wing for a school project and I wonder if there is any equation for defining the aileron size. I am designing a straight rectangular wing. I just found on other forums that the aileron's length should be 0.25 of the wingspan and the aileron chord should be...
  18. B

    Designing a display for Watts, Volts and Ohms.

    I am working on a small project and having those values shown in real time on the device will be helpful. I don't have much room as it is. I currently have one of those little 1s-6s volt meters used by RC hobbyist and use my multimeter to check resistance. My goal is to have something around...
  19. C

    What software is recommended for designing microwave cavities?

    Hi all, I need a proper software for designing microwave cavities. I intend to use simple base geometries (e.g. closed box) with some modifications, like holes for optical access or for feeding the MW. These modifications however may seriously affect the Q factor, the frequency or might...
  20. V

    Designing a headphone with customizable functions

    Hey guys, I have a question I am currently doing a project, which pretty much I've wanted to design a headphone with some customizable functions. I've posted a picture, just to help you guys picture more or less what I wanted to do (but it's not the actual design at all) What I wanted to do is...
  21. A

    Engineering [Circuits] Designing a simple voltage-divider

    Homework Statement Design a voltage divider to provide a voltage of about 5V (±10%) across the variable load. The load-current demand varies in the range of 0 to 5 mA and the available dc-supply voltage is 15V. Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution Here is the circuit...
  22. U

    Designing a crystal decanter cleaning apparatus

    I need to create a machine that'll help me clean out my crystal decanters. Brown rice and soap work great, just shake and viola...however some decanters need a bit more shaking, or 'spinning' of the rice and soap than I can provide so I've devised a plan with a box fan motor that would create a...
  23. C

    Designing a biomechanical device

    First of all, if this post is inappropriate in any way or located in the wrong sub-forum please just let me know and I will correct it (or delete it). I am a long time reader of this forum but I have never posted before this. I really appreciate all of the people that contribute to this forum...
  24. C

    Designing a hydraulic servo system

    Dear all, For a project I'm going to design a servo system that will output an amplified hydraulic pressure, whereas the input is a force or pressure as well (not per se hydraulic). Output and input must directly connected due to the force feedback. I don't have a lot of experience with...
  25. A

    Designing a Uniformly Most Powerful Test

    Homework Statement Let ##X_1, ... , X_n## be iid normally distributed random variables ##N(\mu, \sigma^2)##, ##\mu \in \Bbb{R}##, ## \sigma^2 > 0##. a) Design a uniformly most powerful test with significance level ##\alpha## for testing ##H_0: \sigma^2 = \sigma^2_0## vs ##H_1: \sigma^2 >...
  26. K

    Designing pressure vessel

    Hi I was wondering how to design the horizontal pressure vessel on twin saddle that is not a symmetric shape using PD 5500 code. For example, Annex G of the code shows how to design with twin saddle, but it is only approach with the symmetric pressure vessel. Anyone has an idea or any...
  27. D

    Designing a 4-Bit Multiplier using Basic Digital Logic Components

    Homework Statement Begin the design of the multiplier by adding more detail to the block diagram. The parts available for your design are • D Flip-flops (74LS74A) • 1 4-bit Up/Down Counter (74LS169) • 1 4-to-1 MUX • 1 4-bit Adder (74LS283) • 2 4-bit Parallel Shift Registers (74LS194A)...
  28. 462chevelle

    Designing a Space Rover for Mars: A Rookie's Challenge

    I have to design a space rover for Mars that has to have quite a few operating gadgets on it. Without giving a lot of details I am using sketch up and needless to say it sucks. I can't even figure out how to make a wheel. and I can't make objects at angles, like shafts or motors or anything...
  29. B

    Designing Motorbike Frame: Researching Forces & CAD Design

    Hi, Firstly i just want to apologise if this is in the incorrect part of the forum. I'm designing and building a motorbike frame for my 3rd year project in Mechanical Engineering. I've started my research into finding the optimal geometry for the purpose of the frame, however I'm...
  30. Y

    Designing a Plinko-Style Can Crusher Game

    Me and my group for our class are planning on making a can crusher for our project. What makes ours so unique is the ending, Plinko game. We are trying to make a Plinko game out of the can after its ejected from the crusher. My part of the project is the Plinko game. My group suggested that we...
  31. S

    Designing a Twin Screw Pump - Why the Pressure Loss?

    I'm having to design a screw pump and I'm a bit confused about things, I've never really seen a screw pump before. I've decided upon a twin screw - screw pump and my first question is why do most examples have an outlet at a higher level than the input, surely that just leads to a pressure loss...
  32. V

    Where Should I Start In Designing A 3D Printer?

    I would like to design a 3D printer. I know that sounds very ambitious (and probably stupidly unrealistic), but I'm not talking about the fanciest things on the market (like glass/metal printers). I just want to design a printer that can print to a great resolution and in mixtures of 3 primary...
  33. J

    Designing microgenerator with Ansoft Maxwell

    I am designing an energy harvester consisting of a magnetic spring. The figure is given in the attachment. I have done the magnetostatic analysis (using Ansoft Maxwell 2D). But, now I am facing problem with - Force vs displacement curve of the moving magnet To calculate the output power...
  34. C

    EE courses for designing audio amplifiers and speakers?

    Hi everyone. I've got my BS in physics, but I don't know much about electrical engineering. I've had a passing interest in do-it-yourself audio equipment for quite some time (designing and building your own speakers and amplifiers), and I've finally decided to get serious about it. So, it...
  35. wolram

    Designing a mouse for quadraplegic

    My brother has a friend who is quadraplegic and is at a loss as to how to design a mechanism for him to use his computer efficiently , does anyone know of such a device or have an idea as to how to start the design of this [mouse mover] any advice will be welcome as this guy is wrighting a book...
  36. K

    Need some tips in designing a deep ratio helical gear pair

    Hi, For a final drive of a light commercial truck, I have to design a final drive helical gear pair. The expected ratio is 8.2. The centre distance is 134 mm. The input max. torque is 120 Nm. I have sized few combinations. I have a feeling that this ratio is too deep. Pl. share me your...
  37. E

    How Can Strain Gauges Be Used to Design an Effective Accelerometer?

    I posted another thread here talking about two instrument designs using strain gauges. One was for measuring torque, and the other for acceleration. I would like to go ahead with designing an accelerometer using a full strain gauge bridge. The basic idea I have in mind is similar to this...
  38. E

    Designing an instrument with strain gauges

    I am busy studying engineering and I have a subject that requires us to design and build a working instrument using strain gauges. We have a workshop at our disposal and all necessary materials and electronics. At this moment my group and I are stuck with coming up with an idea for an...
  39. A

    Need help designing a sequential circuit

    Hi, I apologize in advance for not knowing the right terminology, I've been on wikipedia for the last two hours and my brain is mush. I'm trying to design a basic circuit that will cycle through multiple circuits in series. I really have no idea how to describe this, except to draw it. I know...
  40. A

    Choosing the Right Ground Point for PCB Design

    In designing a circuit what point should I pick as the ground point? I know it's the reference node in schematic to calculate node voltages and could be anything, but when designing the PCB there should be a physical point that adhere to some conditions as I guess that make it a valid ground...
  41. M

    Junior Engineer Seeking Help Designing Gearbox for 25:1 Reduction

    Hello good people, I'm a junior engineer currently studying in an Adv.Diploma in Mechanical Engineering. I have been tasked with the project of designing a gearbox and I'm having a bit of difficulty getting started as I'm not that experienced with gears. The client requires a 25:1 reduction...
  42. S

    Designing an ASK Demodulator for RFID Tags

    Hi, I am designing an ASK demodulator for RFID Tags. I have attached the circuit diagram. This is the ckt from IEEE paper. If you look at the ckt, the first stage is the inverter kind of thing. I didn't get why second NMOS is used for Stage I. Similarly, the second stage is also inverter...
  43. S

    Need assistance designing irrigation system

    Hello all, I'm putting the finishing touches on a gravity fed irrigation system and I would like some informed input on my design. The system starts at a creek about 500 feet uphill of my garden. The creek usually dries up during the driest parts of the year, which means I need a reservoir...
  44. Q

    A Career in Designing Processors

    Good evening, I am curious as to where I would start if I wanted to start a career designing microprocessors? Although my major is mathematics I have taken Digital Logic courses and many other EE courses. I am very interested in the process behind processor technology. While it's relativitly...
  45. S

    How Do You Start Designing a 4-Bit ALU with Multisim?

    Hallo guys , I am first year electrical Engineer Major & we are asked to design and simulate using Multisim a small ALU , The ALU is a 4-bit digital circuit that performs addition, subtraction, ANDing, ORing, complementing, XORing, XNORing and comparison. The ALU also outputs if the answer is...
  46. E

    Can Small Natural Energy Generators Efficiently Power Household Systems?

    I have a decent background in generators and my brother had an idea for building one he wants me to help him out. Without getting into specifics, it would be a natural energy generator integrated into his home electrical system. I have run into some issues though as i am more familiar with...
  47. E

    Can a Femtosecond Clock Be Created Using a Spinning Disc and Photon Technology?

    Hi, I had an idea for creating a clock that could time femptoseconds, although it's possible that this design would most likely fail and only create some crazy diffraction patterns, but anyway, here was my idea (I also didnt' want to waste forum space anywhere else but General Discussion with...
  48. L

    Mechanical Engineers: Help Designing a Solid Shaft

    to my fellow mechanical engineers, please help me with some basic machine design problems. a certain drive shaft rotating at 500 rpm transmits 200 hp to an 8 inch diameter gear. Design a suitable solid shaft for this application. the shaft is ductile. Design stresses are to be limited to...
  49. H

    Need help determining feasibility of designing a stability system

    Hello everyone! This is my first post here, and I'm a recent graduate (within 1yr) of a BS in Mechanical Engineering. I have always been a car nut, and I'm interested in designing, or installing and tuning, a stability control system for my car. I recently purchased a 2012 Subaru...
  50. D

    Designing a Discus Rotator: Motor Solutions

    Hey guys looking to design something that will rotate a 2kg discus in place. I attached a simple schematic of what it will look like. I also don't know what kind of motor to use to rotate the shaft. I went to Fry's but their motors looked to weak to power it. Anyone know a site I can buy a...
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