Nerf-N-Strike Hail Fire Dissection

Revision as of 18:17, 12 December 2012

Purpose

This gate encompasses the dissection process of the Nerf-N-Strike Elite Hail Fire. This gate was conducted on 3 levels:

1. Project Management:Preliminary Project Review
   
2. Product Archeology: Product Dissection
   
3. Subsystems and Connections
   

Project Management-This section provides an overall assessment of our work and management plans; including how they have worked out thus far and identified potential and past challenges that existed within the overall group from a management perspective and how discussed how they were dealt with.
Product Archeology-This section provides a "How-to" guide for the dissection process for our product the Nerf-N-Strike Elite Hail Fire. The table shown outlines the steps, detached parts, tools used, relevant figures and difficulty level. The pictures taken are supplemental images that aid in the less intuitive parts of the dissection. The dissection procedure and supporting analysis should give you a better understanding of the Nerf-N-Strike Hail Fire and how it functions on a more complex level.
Subsystems and Connections-This section provides an overview of the subsystems and how they are interconnected. Some factors the group considered are:

• How they are connected
• Why they are connected
• How are the connections implemented
• The arrangement of subsystems

Project Management: Preliminary Project Review

Overall our group’s work and management plans have worked out very well thus far. Each team member; Project Manager, Communication Liaison, Technical Expert, and Web Developer individually contribute to the overall workload to ensure successful completion of the product requirements.

Cause for Corrective Management

Work Plans
In terms of our work plans we have taken special consideration to make sure each deadline is met as outlined in the Work Management Project Timeline from Gate 1. Having deadlines for specified portions of the overall gate has helped break down the workload into manageable sizes for the group to complete in a timely manner. Each portion of the work is then collected and then combined into a cohesive product. Once the draft is complete the group then sets aside a few days for the final revisions and Wiki formatting which includes tables, diagrams and pictures. We did have some problems with interpreting some of the criteria that was graded. Much of the graded criteria were implicitly stated, but some of the criteria that we needed to interpret, we were unable to properly meet the requirements of this non-implicit criteria. We struggled with this because we viewed the assignment with a more straightforward approach and in doing so we neglected to address some aspects of our assignment that we should have. In order to fix this problem we had we will go more in depth in our reasoning behind our answers as well as work to more thoroughly decipher the non-implicit criteria from what information and questions we are presented with.

Management Plans
Management for the group has worked well up to this point. In the beginning there was an issue with time management which was a minor challenge for the group however after addressing the issue to the entire group we were able to work together to come up with solutions and increase communication to handle issues regarding time management. We now have more group meetings and more clearly establish tasks for group members to complete. Also we always now set the time and date of our next meeting at the end of each meeting. This process has helped contribute to the overall success in completing our gate 2 more efficiently. The communications liaison plays a crucial role is disseminating information and keeping everyone on the same page. Respect for each group member has definitely been a significant assistance to the overall work ethic and production level of each group member; we all want to see each other excel which perpetuates into the overall success of our group. We all strive to attend all meetings and accomplish the tasks we establish for that given group meeting. We also make sure we set group meeting times in which all members are able to be present. If there is ever a case where an additional meeting is necessary we work to meet again. This has been quite easy due to the fact that everyone is open and willing to set time aside to finish the necessary tasks.

Product Archaeology: Product Dissection

Nerf-N-Strike Elite Hail Fire Disassembly Guide

Nerf Gun Disassembly Guide
Start here if the gun is already fully assembled, if not skip to Step 5

Steps	Components Removed	Tools Used	Figures	Difficulty Level
1	Refer to Figure 1 for familiarization with part components	None	Figure 1: Click picture to enlarge	1
2	Remove all dart magazines from the magazine holder and darts from the magazine.(The magazines cannot be further dissembled without compromising functionality of the product).	By hand	No Figure Necessary	1
3	Remove the battery tray on the back of the gun by removing the 2 Phillips-head screws. Then carefully remove the battery tray from the gun and set the tray aside. Remove the batteries from the tray for complete disassembly.	Phillips-head screwdriver	No Figure Necessary	1
4	As shown in Figure 2, Remove both sides of the magazine cover by gently prying at the area labeled in the picture with a flat head screwdriver while you also pull them away from the gun	By Hand	Figure 2: Click picture to enlarge	2
5	Remove the 2 Phillips-head screws on the inside of each side of the magazine rotation lever and slide a small flat-head screwdriver in between the clips on each side, this will allow you to slide off the handle. This needs to be done for both sides in order to remove the handle from the gun	Small Phillips-head screw driver	No Figure Necessary	3
6	As shown in Figure 3, Remove all of the Phillips-head screws from the frame of the gun	Phillips-head screw driver	Figure 3: Click picture to enlarge	2
7	Gently pull the two halves of the frame apart, be careful not to lose the small spring and plastic retainer on the top of the gun. The spring and retainer are used to mount a scope which is bought separately from this product	By Hand	No Figure Necessary	2
8	Remove the clear plastic cover from the top of the gun, it simply slides out. Be careful not to damage the safety switch that is located at the rear end of the plastic cover.	By Hand	No Figure Necessary	1
9	Remove the base of the magazine rotation lever by pulling upwards on it.	By Hand	No Figure Necessary	1
10	Remove the one Phillips-head screw holding the electric motor assembly at the front of the gun, it can now be moved but cannot be fully removed, due to its connection to the wires.	Phillips-head screwdriver	No Figure Necessary	2
11	Remove the magazine holder and rotation shaft by moving the trigger assembly and motor assembly to the side, creating space for you to slide the magazine holder out	By Hand	No Figure Necessary	3
12	Gently pull the wires leading from the trigger assembly to the motor assembly out of the channel that they are glued into. Be careful not to pull the wires too hard because they will split. Only remove the wires from their channel within the frame of the gun.	By Hand	No Figure Necessary	1
13	Remove the one Phillips head screw that connects the motor and its casing to the frame of the gun.	Phillips head screw driver	No Figure Necessary	1
14	As show in Figure 4, Pull apart the two halves of the orange casing around the electronic motor visibly exposing the motor.	Hands	Figure 4: Click picture to enlarge	3

Note: The electric motor assembly and the magazines are unable to be further dissembled without permanently compromising the functionality of the product.

Disassembly Difficulty

Each step of this disassembly process entails a certain level of difficulty in its successful completion. Therefore a system in which each step’s difficulty is labeled provides helpful added disassembly information for the person executing the disassembly. The first criteria for establishing our difficulty rating system is time necessary for step completion. The second criteria for establishing our difficulty rating system is step complexity. Step complexity is defined by the number of parts involved to complete the step. If there is a situation where a given step meets the time qualification of one difficulty rating and the complexity qualification of another difficulty rating then the higher rating will be used. The specific difficulty ratings are outlined below.

Difficulty Rating 1: Step requires time of less than one minute. Step requires dissection of 3 or less parts.

Difficulty Rating 2: Step requires time ranging between one and five minutes. Step requires dissection of 3-5 parts.

Difficulty Rating 3: Step requires time in excess of 5 minutes. Step requires dissection of more than 5 parts.

Parts not intended for Disassembly

Magazine Clip
There are multiple parts of this product that are not intended to be disassembled. The first that part is the magazine of which there are four of them. They can be removed from the gun and the magazine holder. Once removed from the gun you are able to remove the darts from the magazines. At this point you cannot further dissemble the magazine. Although within the magazine there is a spring mechanism that pushes each bullet up after the previous one has been fired, it is unable to be accessed because the two halves of the magazine holding the internal spring in place are glued together. Attempting to pull or pry apart these two halves would cause the plastic to snap. This would render the product unusable and hazardous as well. It is not able to be dissembled because the spring is positioned so that it will always create an upward force on the darts in the magazine and disassembly would potentially compromise this action of the spring.

Electric Motor
Another part of the product that is not intended for further disassembly is the electronic motor. The electronic motor is not intended to be disassembled because it contains parts that are glued together. Also the electronic motor is hooked up to wires that originate from the battery pack and tampering with the wires during dissection of the motors may damage the product disallowing it to function properly.

Subsystems and Connections

Trigger and Safety Subsystem

The first subsystem that is connected is the system of the trigger and its safety. In order to fire the weapon it is necessary to pull the trigger. In order to pull the trigger you must first pull the safety.

• Connection:
  • Physical: The safety system and trigger system are connected through physical means because the safety while unmoved physically blocks the trigger from moving. However, once the safety is pulled it allows for the trigger to move freely and then it can, in turn, act on the piston and feed the darts into the electric motor.
  • Energy: This subsystem creates mechanical energy through the action of pulling the trigger which then causes a piston to push the dart into the barrel of the gun.
  • Mass: No mass is transferred in this specific subsystem.
  • Why is it Connected: They are connected this way because it is the most efficient way to protect the trigger from causing unintentional fire.
  • How it is Implemented: These subsystems are implemented through adjacent physical contact in which they operate to fire the weapon.
• GSEE Factors: This connection of subsystems has a societal influence because real firearms have safety mechanisms on their triggers so implementing one on the product makes it more realistic and therefore more appealing to the customer of this products given target market.
• Performance: This subsystem connection affects performance by enhancing it through creating a way to ensure that darts are fired only when they are absolutely intended to be fired by the user.
• Arrangement: The safety is directly below the trigger because it is much more efficient to have these systems as close to each other as possible because of their direct physical relation.
  

Electric Motor and Battery Subsystem

The next subsystem in the Nerf gun is the electronic motor to the battery.

• Connection:
  • Physical: They are connected through the wires that are soldered to each of the subsystems and travel throughout the gun in channels along the frame.
  • Energy: Through the wires chemical energy from the battery is converted to electrical energy in the electronic motor.
  • Mass: No mass is transferred in this subsystem.
  • Why it is Connected: These two systems are connected because without this connection there would be no energy available to fire the dart.
  • How it is Implemented: This connection is implemented through the two wires connecting the battery to the motor.
• GSEE Factors: There are no major global, societal, environmental, or economic influences directly related to this connection of subsystems.However it could be possible to change what type of battery is used, which could make it an economic factor. A rechargeable battery is an alternate option to the current battery. By implementing a rechargeable battery it would reduce the cost from having to continually buy batteries.
• Performance: Performance is nearly fully dependent on this connection due to the fact that this connection is the supplier of energy to fire the dart while the user’s force on the trigger only moves the dart into place to be fired.
• Arrangement: The battery is located in the back of the gun above the trigger mechanism and the electronic motor is located in the front within the barrel.These two subsystems are arranged this way because with the designed frame there is insufficient room to place them both at the front. The electronic motor must be in the front so it has access to the darts in order to fire them. This forces the battery case to be in the back of the gun.

Trigger, Piston, and Motor Connection

• Connection:
  • Physical: The system has physical connections because when the user pulls the trigger, the piston feeds the dart from the magazine to the position where the electric motor fires the dart.
  • Energy: The system uses the energy input from the user on the trigger to move the piston which moves the dart into the electric motors.
  • Mass: The mass of the dart is transported into the electronic motor through this subsystem.
  • Why is it Connected: The trigger and piston are connected in this way because it is necessary to have a method of feeding the dart into the motor for it to fire the dart.
  • How it is Implemented: The connections are implemented through means of physical force from the user on the trigger causing the piston to push the dart.
• GSEE Factors: There is a societal influence in this connection of subsystems because it portrays a realistic firearm to the user through the use of a trigger and magazine that feeds ammunition into the gun and fires a projectile. Both of the aforementioned parts are components of many actual firearms.
• Performance: This connection effects the performance of the product because without this connection there is no way to move the dart into the position where the electronic motors can fire it.
• Arrangement: The trigger is at the back of the gun, the piston that is controlled by the trigger runs from the back of the gun to the middle of the gun where the magazine system is. This adjacent connection allows for physical means of interaction between the subsystems.

Rotation Lever, Push Rod, and Magazine Rack Connection

• Connection:
  • Physical: This is physically connected through how the gun is manufactured. There is no mending tool or material used to connect this subsystem, once the frame of the gun is locked into place and screwed together it holds the subsystem in place and allows it to function. When the user pushes the rotation lever the push rod that is connected to the the lever slides along the magazine rack causing it to rotate.
  • Energy: The energy to rotate the magazine rack comes from energy of the user pulling the lever
  • Mass: The mass of the magazine is rotated about the z-axis in this subsystem.
  • Why is it Connected: These systems are connected in order to provide more ammunition to be fired without having to reload.
  • How it is Implemented: The connections are implemented through means of physical force from the user causing the lever to push the magazine rack.
• GSEE Factors: This system has a societal influence because the main function of this subsystem connection is to let the user fire more darts without having to reload. In previous products made by the company this was most of the weapons can only fire 5-6 darts before the user must reload and solving this problem in this product to please society’s demands would constitute a societal influence.
• Performance: The overall Nerf gun’s performance isn’t very dependent on this subsystem connection because this connection is purely for convenience of quicker firing. Without this mechanism the same task can be accomplished by hand in just a few extra seconds.
• Arrangement: The lever is located on top of the gun near the front, the push rod runs inside the gun from the base of the lever to the magazine rack, the magazine rack is located on the underside of the gun and directly between the front and back of the weapon. These subsystems are placed where they are in order to allow their designated function to work. Also the lever used to rotate the magazines can be used as a carry handle that the user can use to hold the product while it is in use. Alternate placements would disallow the function of this subsystem connection. If the subsystems were not adjacent to each other the magazine rack would not rotate.

References

All information was generated from group members and information gained in the dissection process.