Alex Breton | Mechanical Engineer
2.008
Design and Manufacturing II
2.008 focused heavily on the manufacturing aspect of the course's title. Teams of 5-7 students were required to design a yoyo consisting of at least 5 unique parts, machine manufacturing dies and molds for these parts, and then complete a manufacturing run to make 50 yoyos. Students were also required to measure the parts and compare them to the designed specifications.
Our team, Mmas-ave, designed and created a yoyo based on the mountains and geography of New England. One side features the mountains of New Hampshire surrounded by a compass ring, while the other sports a laser cut map of New England with a ring embossed with my teammates' names. The yoyo body was built for speed and performance.
The class taught me about the more subtle sides of manufacturing like snap fit tolerances, part shrinkage, and mold draft angles. Because of the integrated nature of the yoyo, I also learned that communication is perhaps the most important part of a team's success.
