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. B

    Designing an inline flare gas combustion chamber

    I have built a nice biomass gasifier that produces about 700,000 btu's of heat per hour by burning or flaring the gas that comes out of it. What I want to do is, to flare the gas in an enclosed chamber so I would be able to capture all the exhaust and run it through some heat exchangers for...
  2. B

    Process of designing a hitch for my motorcycle

    I am in the process of designing a hitch for my motorcycle. Realistically it is strong enough unless i pull more weight than i really should. That said I still should make it stronger in case of the foreseen, like when i got rear ended. Before i get to the pictures, what I have now is...
  3. T

    Designing a 550 V, 3A DC power supply using a multiplier circuit

    Ok so i received the suggestion to get such a power supply by rigging a variac to a bridge rectifier, but variacs are rather expensive, so after some snooping around i came around this site: http://www.scribd.com/doc/9779212/ebook-free-energy-50000-vdc-power-supply they basically just use...
  4. L

    Designing a Pump to Transfer Molten Aluminum

    Sirs, I need to make a pump to draw molten aluminum from one container to another container. The first container height is 1.5m. I wish to us a screw enclosed within a cylinder and powered by a motor. Can anyone help me with the detail design of the screw and cylinder? I welcome any other design...
  5. N

    How Can I Calculate the Volume of a Pressure Vessel with Limited Data?

    Im finding it really difficult to calculate the volume of a pressure vessel for my project. I have been only given values of pressure and temperature, where the pressure is 80psi and temperature is at room temp. Its difficult using the ideal gas law as i don't know the number of moles, nor i...
  6. N

    Designing a autonomous underwater vehicle

    am designing a autonomous underwater vehicle .well,i got 2 issues right now regarding its buoyancy control and water proof joints. can anyone suggest me some ways by which the buoyancy can be controlled and some methods to make the joints of auv water proof efficiently.
  7. A

    Designing a Delivery Ramp with Energy formulas

    Homework Statement You are designing a delivery ramp for crates containing exercise equipment. The crates of weight 1520 N will move with speed 2.2 m/s at the top of a ramp that slopes downward at an angle 22.0 degrees. The ramp will exert a 569 N force of kinetic friction on each crate, and...
  8. M

    Engineering Designing an RLC circuit from a given transfer function.

    Designing a circuit from a given transfer function. I hope you don't mind that I haven't used the default format. It doesn't lend itself well to my problem. The original problem is as follows: We were given a 'black box' that contained a passive circuit and we experimentally determined a...
  9. N

    Designing a truss (working stress method) Missing Info?

    Homework Statement "Design a bridge over a valley 300m wide. Road surface is supported by a truss underneath." My problem: With calculations Now calculation for buckling says i need to design the truss for compression such that I > (P. L^2) / (pi^2 x E ) or Pcr > P where I = reduction value...
  10. S

    Designing a Charge Distribution

    Homework Statement Design a charge distribution so that the resulting E is proportional to r^2. The Attempt at a Solution This is not really a homework problem just something our professor told us to think about at the end of our lecture. It made me really curious as to how you would do...
  11. K

    Building and designing a rc plane frm scratch

    heyy guys i am participating in an aero competition in which the problem stmt is to design an acrobatic hand launched rc plane of wingspan 3 ft max which can perform stunts like a vertical loop, sharp turns and 360 roll...can you please tell me how to begin designing this aircraft...i...
  12. D

    Designing a controller whice goal is stabilizing

    Helo, I am currently designing a controller whice goal is stabilizing (by means of feedback) a known plant. The design is carried out with matlab. Now, there is an option of using the gui "sisotool" for the controller design. The problem is that i want the closed loop system to meet...
  13. K

    Designing a Procedure to Distinguish 4 States

    Homework Statement Design a procedure (consisting of unitary operators and a measurement) that best distinguishes the following states \frac1{\sqrt3} \left( | 0 \rangle + | 1 \rangle + |2 \rangle \right) \frac1{\sqrt3} \left( | 0 \rangle - | 1 \rangle - |2 \rangle \right)...
  14. M

    Designing a Small 5W Generator from Compressed Air

    I'm looking to drive a small, 5 watt generator from compressed air (psig>60) and while being fairly frugal with the air (<.25 ft^3/min). I hope to have the base and spindle cut using a common three axis mill. Hears where I need help - I don't know how the control surfaces should be shaped or...
  15. K

    Designing 3V DC Motor H-Bridge with Power FETs

    Hello! Lastly i was designing a toy car moving in both direction foward and backward using relays and switches. I thank everybody who helped me. Now i want to move to h-bridge. i have read many books about the h-bridge but one problem that i still have is how to chose power FET transistors...
  16. C

    Designing experiment to detect pipe leakage using radiation.

    Homework Statement Is there such experiment to detect pipe leakage using radiation? I have opted to use radio-isotopes conduct this experiment. Homework Equations None The Attempt at a Solution How do i go forward with designing this experiment, knowing that I can use...
  17. B

    Designing a Ramp for Exercise Equipment Delivery

    You are designing a delivery ramp for crates containing exercise equipment. The crates weighing F_1 will move at a speed of v at the top of a ramp that slopes downward at an angle \phi. The ramp exerts a kinetic friction force of F_2 on each crate, and the maximum static friction force also has...
  18. G

    Determining the Dimensions of a Pulse Jet Engine: A Scientific Approach

    If you were to design a pulse jet engine where would you start? How do you determine the diameter and length of the tail pipe? How do you determine the diameter and length of the combustion chamber? How do you determine the area of the air intake valve system? How do you determine...
  19. D

    What equipment do I need for designing circuits at home?

    Firstly, I am starting my senior year in Electrical Engineering once school starts, and I feel that I am in dire need of some more "hands on" experience with the equipment. At my uni, the EE degree is split up into a Physics path, and a technology path. I'm thinking that may be a bad idea...
  20. H

    Designing a 2.455 GHz Oscillator

    Hi All, I would really like your help in my design project, which is about desgining, as mentioned in the title, an oscillator with 2.455 GHz frequencey. I want it to be efficent to the greatest extent, meaning the lowest power consumption possible and greatest stablitiy. I'm confused...
  21. Saladsamurai

    Find Gear Sizes/Pitches for Designing a Gearbox

    For one of my classes, I have to design a gearbox. i am currently going through some calculations, but before I get too far in, I would like to know where one can find a list/catalog of readily available gear sizes/pitches. The gearbox clearly has to satisfy certain load carrying parameters...
  22. D

    Designing a Hydro Generator for my Farm

    Over the past few years I have like many of you become interested in renewable energy. Over the past few months we have gotten a lot of rain. We also have a small creek in our pasture and it begins with 2-12 inch field tiles. The end (beginning i guess) has been filling with silt over the...
  23. W

    Spur Gear Designing: Pitch Circle or Base Circle First?

    Hi, I know basics of gear design but have never designed a gear before. I want to know, while designing a spur gear what is defined first 1] Pitch Circle or 2] Base Circle ? In case. if base circle is defined first, then how to determine its diameter ? Lot of design materials...
  24. B

    Designing and setting the operating point of a single tuned transistor amp

    Hello everyone, I'm just getting started in studying radio frequency design and have a question about amplifiers with a tuned circuit as the load. When setting the operating point of a standard class A transistor amplifier with a resistive load, one uses the collector resistor to set the...
  25. A

    Designing Model Rockets for Maximum Altitude

    Hello, This summer I would be interested in designing my own model rocket. I do not have a lot of aerospace/aerodynamics (read the NASA (http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/k-12/airplane/)) knowledge but I do have a good grasp of math and physics. I would like to use a A or B model rocket engine and...
  26. E

    Designing and making springs with music wire

    I would like to make some custom made extension springs out of music wire. Can anyone provide the formula's to determine the wire thickness, coil diameter and coil length to achieve a desired spring constant? The motivation is that I need some small springs in my research and it is difficult...
  27. R

    Need help designing a lab to calculate delta H?

    Homework Statement I have to design a lab to calculate the delta H value of the enthalpy change of ice to liquid water. It has to stay at 0*C Homework Equations Needs to be in lab format but possible q=n(delta H) where n is the molarity The Attempt at a Solution I know the...
  28. daniel_i_l

    Designing a Simple Circuit - Ask for Feedback!

    Hi, I started to design a simple circuit and want to ask you what you think about it. http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/8508/circuit.th.png Basically what I have is a motor that can be turned on with a switch and can run for 5 more seconds when the switched is turned off. The coil...
  29. N

    Designing a Fan to Overcome 40N of Force

    Homework Statement hello there. I'm tried to design a fan which can overcome a force of 40N place on it. the project is actually somthng like future skateboard, where there are fans below the board. one more thing, i not too sure about the suitable power supply to use. any idea? Homework...
  30. kandelabr

    Designing a compressed air car

    hello, lately I've been thinking how to roughly design a compressed air powered car. i'd take an existing commercial car, take out its IC engine, fuel tank and all the other stuff and mount my own machine and tanks in. i want it to travel 300 km (185 miles) at speed of 90 km/h (55 mph)...
  31. T

    Help on designing a device to measure light intensity

    Homework Statement I have been asked to design a device or assemble existing devices that will measure light intensity from a source across diifferent places on a table, the data has to be recorded electronically on a computer as well, the position of the measuring point has also to be...
  32. B

    Designing a Catapult: Calculating Mass Moment of Inertia & Launch Speed

    This is a catapult design project. Homework Statement The counterweight is 400lb, the boulder (projectile) is 50lb and the throwing arm is 100lb. The throwing arm is assumed to be rigid, uniform in density, and weight. The throwing arm is also 17ft in total length. The throwing arm starts...
  33. A

    Designing a control system for a heating system

    Homework Statement F = Fahrenheit A particular temperature control system uses electrical heaters, exterior thermal insulation and a thermostat for maintaining the temperature at 170 F +/- 1 F. The thermostat turns the heater on when the temperature drops to 169 F and on at 171 F. Heater...
  34. S

    Designing the Best Potato Launcher: Catapults, Compressed Gas, and Combustion

    hello, i was wondering what people here would think the best design type for a potato launcher would be. I looked at catapults, ones that use compressed gas, and combustion. firstly, which would be the easiest to make?
  35. Q

    Designing High School Lenz's Law Experiment

    I teach high school physics and I would like to get maximum mileage out of my Lenz's law experiment/demonstration. I am going to get the students to drop magnets down a long copper tube to calculate the magnetic force using distance, time etc and making a direct calculation using Fnet=...
  36. A

    I am looking for someone capable of designing a theoretical solar system

    Greetings...I am looking for someone (as the title describes) capable of designing a theoretical solar system similar to Earth for a personal project I am working on. There are more details than that 'it is like earth', but i don't think they are relative while finding the person able to...
  37. J

    How are the stresses on a rail calculated for mounting components in a rack?

    I want to know how the designing of a rail( Basically a long metal strip with holes at regular intervals to mount components). The rail is used either side of a rack to mount components. So the problem is there are two rails separated by 19". The height of the rail is 40". At a height of 30"...
  38. T

    Designing a DC transmission line

    Homework Statement Design a dc transmission line that can transmit 225 MW of electricity 185 km with only a 2.0% loss. The wires are to be made of aluminum and the voltage is 660 kV. 2. Homework Equations P= IV = I^2 * R R= p(L/A) Power loss = Pf - Pi Attempt at a solution I worked through...
  39. C

    Designing an experiment w/ a wind tunnel

    For a school science project I am supposed to design an experimental process that utilizes the wind tunnel my school owns. I've built four small model towers out of wood - one a triangular prism, one a rectangular prism, one a cylinder, and one a pyramid - that all have the same height and base...
  40. B

    Designing a 240VAC Coil Assembly with 1600 Turns and 22 AWG Wire

    I'm currently making a coil assembly for a customer. The coil has the following specs: 120 VAC application 1,600 Turns 22 AWG magnet wire 12.5 ohms typically coil is in a circuit with a half sine wave rectifier and a solid state VAC controller current draw is .6 amps (72 watts)...
  41. TheFerruccio

    Designing a Lighting System for a Structure

    I wish to mathematically represent point light sources inside a structure, and figure out how much like is scattered throughout the structure. Specifically, I have lighting values of a certain amount of lux, and I need to ensure that the structure has a minimum of (certain value) lux touching...
  42. S

    Designing a Circuit with Op-Amp on PCB: Reasons & Refs

    As part of our project work we have to design a circuit using op-amps on PCB giving reasons why we used the resistors of particular value etc. any suggestions or references?
  43. C

    Designing a Thermometer to Measure Negative Temperature

    My homework problem says to construct a thermometer which could accurately measure a negative temperature. I have no idea how to do this. Any help would be very appreciated!
  44. C

    Can anyone explain the European standard for cookware lid design requirements?

    I need help!... Hi all, I'm new to this forum. I just joined the forum and I hope that you guys could help me out. I'm in the trading business of cookware. I'm currently studying the European standards for these items and there's a point in the standard that I don't understand at all...
  45. D

    Designing Machine for Chew Toy Testing

    I am designing a machine using a cam to generate a down force on a customers product (chew toy). The customer is wanting to try out different materials against his current production model. I was wondering if anyone could help me calculate the cam force in the veticle direction using a 110...
  46. M

    Designing Airfoils: Choard Sizing & Printing - Low Reynolds #50000

    Hi I need a software for designing airfoil that alows changing the choard size and printing. If you know any please tell me. Btw do you know any refrence for low Reynolds number (about 50000)? I want to choose NACA7610 for my glider but I don't know exactly how it behaves at low Reynolds...
  47. B

    Designing a F1 Model Car for Optimal Speed

    Hi this is my first post here, I am just looking for some advice on designing a F1 model car. Like what the best possible shape for a Formula 1 car could be (Less drag and other factors which may effect its speed). The model car will be propelled forward by a Co2 Canister and will be and a...
  48. R

    Help designing a thermistor circuit

    I want to design a thermistor circuit to be sampled by a microcontroller using an 8 bit ADC, with a voltage reference of 2.55V, I know the following T (ºC) R(ohms) 25 2815 40 1200 I am going to use a potential divider then use a linear approximation to measure the...
  49. K

    Designing Voltage Source Inverters for 50V Output Peak Voltage

    Hello every1 I hav a basic question bout Design of inverters(Voltage source inverters). Wel Actually what does designing mean? I hav to design a inverter whose output Peak voltage is 50v. The input DC voltage wil b around 55V.I'm using single phase full bridge inverter And i'll b using R...
  50. W

    Designing Circuits: RF & Sensor Basics for Self-Study

    I have taken both Analog circuits and Digital Circuits. These are the only EE courses I can take with my curriculum--I will have to self-study. If am looking to design RF and sensor circuits, where do I start? I look at a radio transmitter schematic and am dumbfounded on how the designer would...
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