Cardboard Chair Design Project
The Project:
The goal of this project was, with the help of a partner, to design and build a useable chair made entirely out of cardboard. The criteria for this project was that the design had to comfortably seat one of the many distinguished faculty members at South Western High School. The project was worth a total of 400 points, grades would be based off of four components, form, function, a presentation, and a partner assessment.
The goal of this project was, with the help of a partner, to design and build a useable chair made entirely out of cardboard. The criteria for this project was that the design had to comfortably seat one of the many distinguished faculty members at South Western High School. The project was worth a total of 400 points, grades would be based off of four components, form, function, a presentation, and a partner assessment.
The Design:
The design selected for the project had to take several things into account. First of all, structural strength was extremely important, cardboard is a weak material, and therefore the final construction had to utilize the cardboard in a way that made up for its weaknesses. Secondly, the chair needed to be comfortable for the human user. And lastly, the chair had to be visually appealing. The final design (shown here as a prototype, and in various stages of construction) was similar in shape to that of a lawn chair, based on measurements found concerning ergonomic correctness in chairs. To create strength, the base of the chair was made of four identical pieces, aligned parallel to each other, with cross pieces connecting them. This created what looked like a 3-D puzzle. Then next step was to add slats going across the seat and back of the chair, this would give it aesthetic appeal, by creating a smooth look, comfort, by smoothing out the shape of the back, and strength, by spreading out the load of the sitter over the entire base of the chair. Finally, all of the joints were reinforced with tape to prevent them from separating and moving around, this not only improved the strength of the chair, but also the comfort (when you sat down and the chair didn't squirm).
The design selected for the project had to take several things into account. First of all, structural strength was extremely important, cardboard is a weak material, and therefore the final construction had to utilize the cardboard in a way that made up for its weaknesses. Secondly, the chair needed to be comfortable for the human user. And lastly, the chair had to be visually appealing. The final design (shown here as a prototype, and in various stages of construction) was similar in shape to that of a lawn chair, based on measurements found concerning ergonomic correctness in chairs. To create strength, the base of the chair was made of four identical pieces, aligned parallel to each other, with cross pieces connecting them. This created what looked like a 3-D puzzle. Then next step was to add slats going across the seat and back of the chair, this would give it aesthetic appeal, by creating a smooth look, comfort, by smoothing out the shape of the back, and strength, by spreading out the load of the sitter over the entire base of the chair. Finally, all of the joints were reinforced with tape to prevent them from separating and moving around, this not only improved the strength of the chair, but also the comfort (when you sat down and the chair didn't squirm).
The "finishing touch" was the crest positioned on top of the chair (shown below). This added to the visual appeal of the chair, as well as supported school spirit.
The Results:
The final grade was 390 points out of a possible 400. For the aesthetic evaluation, the entire student body was invited to vote on the chair that was the most appealing to the eye, this design received 27 votes, making it the second most popular chagrin the competition. For the Functional evaluation, one of the teachers at southwestern sat in every chair and graded them based on a 100 point rubric. This design earned every one of those points, the craftsmanship was deemed "excellent" and "much better compared to other products". The comfort level was "so comfortable that I fell asleep". The tester would also recommend the product to others and the overall opinion of the product was "high quality". The last grade was on a presentation that summarized the project, in which 99 out of a possible 100 points were awarded.
The Results:
The final grade was 390 points out of a possible 400. For the aesthetic evaluation, the entire student body was invited to vote on the chair that was the most appealing to the eye, this design received 27 votes, making it the second most popular chagrin the competition. For the Functional evaluation, one of the teachers at southwestern sat in every chair and graded them based on a 100 point rubric. This design earned every one of those points, the craftsmanship was deemed "excellent" and "much better compared to other products". The comfort level was "so comfortable that I fell asleep". The tester would also recommend the product to others and the overall opinion of the product was "high quality". The last grade was on a presentation that summarized the project, in which 99 out of a possible 100 points were awarded.
Experience, lessons learned:
There were three main lessons learned, planning, precision and production efficiency, all of which are entwined with each other.
The planning involved for this project to be successful was extensive. Large amounts of research was done online to find previous examples of chairs made from cardboard. Even more research was done in textbooks to find optimal ergonomic measurements to construct the final design. The schematics for the final chair were designed to optimize the use of one sheet of cardboard.
Precision was another quality that had to be carefully implemented. The slats on the side, where the cross-sections fit together with the main pieces, is the best example of this. If the grooves were too small, the chair would not fit together, If the grooves were cut too large, the chair would not have been very stable, and would have wobbled, leading to a lower quality rating.
The final lesson; production efficiency, was also very important. There was a limited amount of time to work and a limited amount of materials and tools to work with. This means that everything has to be maximized. No time could be wasted, no cardboard or tape could be wasted, or else the design might be compromised.
There were three main lessons learned, planning, precision and production efficiency, all of which are entwined with each other.
The planning involved for this project to be successful was extensive. Large amounts of research was done online to find previous examples of chairs made from cardboard. Even more research was done in textbooks to find optimal ergonomic measurements to construct the final design. The schematics for the final chair were designed to optimize the use of one sheet of cardboard.
Precision was another quality that had to be carefully implemented. The slats on the side, where the cross-sections fit together with the main pieces, is the best example of this. If the grooves were too small, the chair would not fit together, If the grooves were cut too large, the chair would not have been very stable, and would have wobbled, leading to a lower quality rating.
The final lesson; production efficiency, was also very important. There was a limited amount of time to work and a limited amount of materials and tools to work with. This means that everything has to be maximized. No time could be wasted, no cardboard or tape could be wasted, or else the design might be compromised.