Group 16 - Craftsman Lawn Mower
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Introduction
Group 16 was tasked by course MAE 277 (SUNY BUFFALO) to reverse engineer a Craftsman® lawn mower while paying specific attention to its design and manufacturing. The purpose of this project is to reinforce group work skills, technical writing skills and introduce the design process in order to better prepare students for industry.
Data will be presented through tables and figures, and Computer-Aided-Design will be used to produce models of Craftsman® lawn mower components. The compiled information will be uploaded to the internet through MediaWiki.
The group has until December 16 to take a functional Craftsman® lawn mower and: disassemble/reassemble, upload data to MediaWiki, and perform a 5-minute presentation to the fall 2011 MAE 277 class. To ensure that the group stays on task, a series of 5 stages has been established at which point certain criteria must be completed. The group due dates for these tasks are:
• Request for Proposal – 10/10/11
• Product Dissection – 10/26/11
• Product Analysis – 11/14/11
• Product Explanation – 12/2/11
• Delivery – 12/16/11
*each stage has additional sub-tasks: see Diagram 1for the complete Gantt chart
Executive Summary
The Craftsman 6 HP Lawn Mower is an ideal machine to help engage future engineers in a hands-on way with an internal combustion engine and how the energy generated by it can be used to do work. The four-stroke engine cycle is the same as found in most small engines. The process of reverse engineering this lawn mower can easily become a keystone of an engineer's understanding of the interactions between engine components. These interactions of components turn chemical energy into thermal energy into mechanical energy and ultimately do work. These interactions need to be properly balanced and maximized in order to manufacture an efficient, desirable, functional and cost-attractive machine.
The group worked together to completely disassembly and reassembly this product looking at several different factors and manufacturing processes along the way. The group was responsible for determining how each of the components were manufactured along with how the entire product was manufactured. There was also a focus on different functions and interactions that are involved in operating the product. During this process, the team also learned about different types of materials and was able to apply this when analyzing the product.
Overall, this was an appropriate product that provided many learning opportunities and helped the group think analytically about this specific product especially when having to recommend several different design revisions that would improve this product. Also, due to its common nature, knowledge gained during this project can be applied a much wider range of products outside of simply push lawn mowers.
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Gate 1: Project Planning
The below link navigates to the Gate 1: Project Planning page which outlines:
Group Members' Backgrounds
Proposed Time Management
Group Dynamic Analysis
Pre-Dissection Analysis
Gate 2: Product Dissection
The below link navigates to the Gate 2: Product Dissection page which outlines:
Preliminary Project Review
Cause for Corrective Action
Product Dissection
Gate 3: Product Analysis
The below link navigates to the Gate 3: Product Analysis page which outlines:
Cause for Corrective Action
Component Summary
Product Analysis
Solid Modeled Assembly
Engineering Analysis
Design Revisions
Gate 4: Product Explanation
The below link navigates to the Gate 4: Product Explanation page which outlines:
Cause for Corrective Action
Product Reassembly
Design Revisions
Contact Us
April Bouquard E-mail
References
Gate 1:
[1] Moran, Michael J., & Shapiro, Howard N. (2008). Fundamentals of Engineering Thermodynamics: Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
[2] "Owner’s Manual Craftsman® 6.0 Horsepower 21” Multi-cut Rotary Lawn Mower." Hammerwall.com. 03 Oct 2011 <hammerwall.com>
