Blueprint - the CD-ROM

The IDER group have been developing software to teach design for 5 years. Originally setup to develop software to teach concurrent engineering to undergraduate engineers we decided the technology used in our undergraduate software could be utilised to aid the teaching of Design at GCSE, GNVQ and A-level. The product produced was Blueprint. The Blueprint CD-ROM is has a different set of aims and objectives to this website, using interactive multimedia technology combined with knowledge based expert systems to produce a highly interactive design simulation.

System Description:

In Blueprint the student becomes a designer for a racing car manufacturer. Using a more advanced version of the virtual experts developed for Design Builder, the student is guided through the Design to Manufacture process of a race car and is introduced to team working in design and the difficult decisions required for successful product design.

The system consists of three major stages. After the user is introduced to the design process and the manufacturing facilities available to produce the racing car, the first stage is to produce a detailed Product Design Specification by analysing the problem in detail.

The completed product design specification is used as the basis of the design phase. In the design phase the users have to decide on components, design the ergonomics of the car to be comfortable for their driver (generated randomly when a user first starts the system) and select appropriate materials for the cars structure.

The final design then has to be manufactured and the user is required to plan the order the components will be manufactured in, to best achieve the timescale. The cars can then be raced against each other.

The system is backed up by extensive help files to aid the user in making the correct decisions. This can be accessed externally to the main system and could prove an invaluable resource of information to Design and Technology students.

Price:

Ł79.95 site license

Suggested application:

Blueprint can be used as an introduction to engineering design for students studying National Curriculum Design Technology courses, GNVQ level 1 and 2 students and 1st year A-level students.