Prompt

Designers represent their ideas through many different means: drawings, photographs, renderings, scale models, prototypes, and more. Each method presents specific advantages for highlighting different aspects of the concept and proposed execution.

Instructions

In this assignment, we will learn about different types of diagrams, and how we can use each one to further communicate the ideas of your project. 

Review the presentation above to learn about the types of diagrams used by designers to communicate their ideas. Then each project team needs to create a Use diagram and technical diagram. As you create your diagrams, consider how each one will highlight a different aspect of your idea. These diagrams should be useful tools for others to understand your idea.

Keep in mind that these diagrams will be shared in your final presentation, so take care to make them clean and easily understandable. 

Draw a Use Diagram

1. Look back at examples of this type of diagram in the slides above. 
2. Depict who is interacting with your project as well as how they are utilizing it.
3. Using arrows, color coding, and/or labels, point out the components of your project in your Use Diagram. 

Draw a Technical Diagram

1. Look back at examples in the slides above. Notice how these examples deconstruct the object to show the individual elements.
2. Deconstruct or take apart your final project into multiple components. Try to highlight visually, how the project is put together to perform its functions.

Deliverables

Submit your Use Diagram/s or Technical Diagram/s in the Responses tab above.

Batteries made from an electrically conductive mixture the consistency of molasses could help solve a critical piece of the decarbonization puzzle. An interdisciplinary team from MIT has found that an electrochemical technology called a semisolid flow battery can be a cost-competitive form of energy storage and backup for variable renewable energy (VRE) sources such as wind and solar.

https://news.mit.edu/2021/energy-storage-solution-soft-serve-ice-cream-1130

Imagine a day without vehicles. No cars, buses, trucks, rideshares.

It's almost impossible to imagine, right? Transportation is an integral part of our everyday lives. The average American drives more than 15,000 miles and spends 54 hours stuck in traffic every year. Ouch.

Today, transportation makes up nearly 30% of our energy use in the United States and most of our oil consumption.

We're thinking differently about how to travel in a sustainable way. Introducing the latest in mobility innovation!

https://www.nrel.gov/news/video/transportation-energy-basics-text.html

At the occasion of #COP26, the UIC presents this Vision 2030, painting the picture of how, given the right action and investment, we can design a better future where rail is the backbone of a sustainable mobility system. 

This inspiring vision, created by UIC Global Rail Sustainability Taskforce, describes a future where we are on track to decarbonise transport and a thriving railway has unleashed many benefits for society. The vision includes a call for action to help design this better future.

https://www.alstom.com/

Related links

1. https://news.mongabay.com/2021/03/new-age-of-sail-looks-to-slash-massive-maritime-carbon-emissions/
   
2. http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/wind-power-profile/
3. http://www.sciencealert.com/the-netherlands-aims-to-have-a-completely-wind-powered-railway-system-by-2018
4. http://www.railjournal.com/index.php/europe/dutch-trains-to-be-wind-powered-from-2018.html
5. http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/wind-power-profile/

How wind turbines work (info-graphic): https://www.saveonenergy.com/how-wind-turbines-work/

What will vehicles look like in the far future? What will the systems that support these vehicles look like? Will transportation continue to be more and more efficient? What if future transportation systems could also be delightful, fun, or helpful to society in new and surprising ways? These are the questions students will explore in the Transitopia Studio by NuVu. 

In this studio, students will be constructing sci-fi and futuristic vehicles of their imagination while learning about renewable energy systems such as solar, hydro, and wind power. They will imagine the systems and infrastructure that will change the way vehicles move, how they are designed, and who they will transport, and then design new modes of transportation based on their imaginations.

Students will experience the hands-on joy of iterative physical prototyping and explore how motors, batteries, engines, radio signals, types of chassis, and wheels can help them achieve moveable speculative transportation devices. They'll push their vehicles to the creative limit with innovative and unusual designs! Then, it’s off to the final exhibition, where students will demonstrate their prototypes and share their vision of the future of transportation with the audience.