Overall Research
The overall idea was to create engaging toys for the kids using simple mechanisms. In order to understand more about toys, we started playing with children of various age groups. There was one common thread that excited us. Most children and young adults like playing with a toy that has something related to trajectory and aiming. Examples of such toys were a home mini basketball kit, tennis ball, game of magnetic darts, and many more.
Research With Kids
After an initial research and market phase, we decided to focus on children who were makers. The children who were interested in creating their own toys. These children were “builders”, they liked creating their own toys. These children played with mechanics kit, lego, DIY aircraft, and so on and so forth.
Problem
The central problem was most of the DIY kits were either too complicated to make it functional or flat out non-functioning models
Problem Statement
To create engaging toys for children that were easy to assemble and functional.
Ideas From Children
We went to collect ideas by playing with kids of various age groups and gender. We went to neighboring societies, schools, and playgrounds. We played with children who loved playing with kitchen kits, soft rubber shooting guns, avenger fan child, lego lover, and construction equipment model toy lover.
The child playing with the kitchen tools was interested in creating her own tools and making certain aspects functional.
The child playing with JCB was interested in creating his own sculptures using excavated dirt from the ground.
The avenger’s fan child was creating new avengers by taking limbs and equipment out of an avenger and attaching it to another avenger’s torso and providing him a new name.
The lego lover was creating a car and when he got bored he switched 3-4 blocks and converted it into an aircraft/train.
Understanding Various Mechanism
Ballista – A large crossbow that is mounted on a frame.
Trebuchet – It was used for throwing large stones.
Oxybeles – Composite bow placed on a stand with a stock and a trigger, use torsion power by the ballista.
Onager – It is similar to a catapult and it uses twisted ropes to generate tension.
Mangonel – A bucket is attached to the frame on which the arm rotates.
Nerf guns – These are pocket-held tension guns.
Prototype
Stage 1
We created various prototype mechanisms. The understanding of each mechanism was quite important. The initial prototypes were created to understand the tension generation mechanism and range of each and every model.
Stage 2
We decided to create various crossbows as our final prototype. We started exploring various materials like cardboard, wood, and PVC pipe. We also explored various ways to generate tension, tried understanding the ability to create a knock-down kit, aesthetics, and ease of use.
Stage 3
We finally settled on Ballista and started creating models on Rhino. Got these prototype kits laser cut on an MDF sheet. It went multiple times with various iterations of trials and errors to create and test the precision and ease of use.
Testing
We tested the prototypes with 12 and 15-year-old children. The final model was constructed independently by these children and they played with it too.
Key Takeaways
In this course, we learned about the different mechanisms and their applications. We also learned one mechanism can be used to power different applications in a single crossbow.
