Video Reflection: Who killed the electric car?

This film goes through the history of the electric car in production and commercialization. The main car that this film focuses on is the General Motors EV1. It is one of the first Zero-emissions vehicle in the 90's that passed the Californian Air Resources Board. Things didn't go too well this car and was destroyed in the later years. It is probably because that it relied too heavily on battery powered and charging batteries which lead to its destruction due to it to be not feasible in the long run.

This film also progresses and talks about the oil monopoly, how the oil companies were worried about losing the profits if oil was not required as much as we do currently. Considering the consumption of oil that we currently use, if this consumption drops, profits are going to decline heavily causing many business possibly closing down. However, reducing the amount of oil used, i think would be a great step for society. As we are currently running on a limited amount of oil, especially with the world's oil reserves starting to run low, reducing consumption is definitely a positive outcome even though some businesses will suffer.  I think that this would play a vital part in those who oppose the electric vehicle as a majority of the world is driven by money.

It also goes on and talks about hydrogen. I really do believe that this is the solution to our problems, as hydrogen is the most abundant mineral in the world and it can be filled up just like a normal petrol car at the servo. Consumers wouldn't have to go out of their way to change their normal day habits as society today is used to the normal procedure of refilling their car if it runs low on petrol. Instead of filling up on petrol, consumers would just be using liquid hydrogen instead. Especially with this car having its own charging station, it really does hit the nail on the head and is currently in production. The car is called the Honda Clarity and is only sold is California because of the lack of hydrogen filling stations but i hope that this will continue around the world.

The take home message would be that the new hydrogen sources would be a temporary fix not a permanent one. I personally think we need to find another source of renewable energy as solar will only get us so far. Either that, solar energy needs to be more efficient in daily use in life.

Disassembly - Toaster Oven

This exercise was meant to show how much time and effort required to disassemble the oven. We took about an hr all up to disassemble it having about 70 screws inside! We also had to show how we can improve the product for disassembly which is shown below.

Legs Eleven - Cormack Project

BreatheEZY is my take of re-designing and innovating an existing product. It is a re-designed Asthma Inhaler, which has been designed for the use for children. Existing problems were that the the unit was too small to properly grip and use the inhaler. Many children really struggle to have the strength to push down on the small canister AND breathe in at the same time. My focus was to solve that main issue.

The Inhaler has been enlarged for maximum grip, allowing the user to fully utilize 2-3 fingers to depress and squeeze from the top. This provides 2 - 3 times the amount of strength compared to previous inhalers which makes it easier for the child to use. Also a bigger surface area, allows adults to be able to assist the child when necessary.

Inside the unit, contains two spots for the asthma inhalers to be stored. One for current use, and also another for a backup. This is because children are not able to determine accurately whether the canister is about to be depleted, and in situations where the reliever is required urgently, a backup is stored inside. 

All that is required to change the canister is to lift the top housing, pull out the old canister and replace with the new. Push down on the top housing till you hear a click.

The unit is constructed using PE coated by using gas plasma processing to ensure that no medication attaches itself to the walls of the inhaler.

I believe this is a viable solution to the existing product and solves many of the issues for it.