EPS@ISEP | The European Project Semester (EPS) at ISEP

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report [2021/06/23 14:25] – [5.2 Environmental] team3report [2021/07/03 20:21] (current) – [1.1 Presentation] team3
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 <caption>Team Members</caption> <caption>Team Members</caption>
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 ** Customer/Learning strategic objectives ** ** Customer/Learning strategic objectives **
   * Introduce a sustainable and eco-friendly furniture solution.   * Introduce a sustainable and eco-friendly furniture solution.
-  * Our goal is to educate the public, individuals, companies, and organizations about the benefits of compost and to recycle organic materials from landfills to generate soil for community-based agriculture projects. 
   * Build relationship with customers (companies) by introducing a high-quality product and service.   * Build relationship with customers (companies) by introducing a high-quality product and service.
  
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 For the lifting mechanism, we’ll be using aluminium. The material is supplied by both primary (around 65%) and recycled (around 35%) metal sources. Aluminium can be recycled using only 5% of the original energy input, without any loss of its inherent properties. For our desk, we’ll be purchasing recycled aluminium.  “It requires up to 95% less energy to recycle aluminium than to produce primary metal and thereby avoids corresponding emissions, including greenhouse gases [(RECYCLING2021)].”  Reducing the amount of VOC’s and keeping our materials clean were the driving factors behind our material choice.  For the lifting mechanism, we’ll be using aluminium. The material is supplied by both primary (around 65%) and recycled (around 35%) metal sources. Aluminium can be recycled using only 5% of the original energy input, without any loss of its inherent properties. For our desk, we’ll be purchasing recycled aluminium.  “It requires up to 95% less energy to recycle aluminium than to produce primary metal and thereby avoids corresponding emissions, including greenhouse gases [(RECYCLING2021)].”  Reducing the amount of VOC’s and keeping our materials clean were the driving factors behind our material choice. 
  
-The first feature of eco-efficiency mentioned in the introduction, is reducing the amount of material. We need to find a way to use less material for the desk, while still producing a strong, durable product. Moving very heavy furniture is often more expensive than buying new furniture, especially furniture from fast chains. It’s important to think of ways to keep our furniture more light and flexible, also in terms of transport. Our desk, which is illustrated below in figure x (figure will follow), is made out of a table top, two storage boxes and a lifting mechanism. By choosing a solid wood for our desk, our material is quite heavy to start with. By testing our 3D model using simulation software, we can check how thick our material can be too keep it as minimal as possible, while still having a solid and safe construction. +The first feature of eco-efficiency mentioned in the introduction, is reducing the amount of material. We need to find a way to use less material for the desk, while still producing a strong, durable product. Moving very heavy furniture is often more expensive than buying new furniture, especially furniture from fast chains. It’s important to think of ways to keep our furniture more light and flexible, also in terms of transport. Our desk, which is illustrated below in Figure {{ref>flabel25}}, is made out of a table top, two storage boxes and a lifting mechanism. By choosing a solid wood for our desk, our material is quite heavy to start with. By testing our 3D model using simulation software, we can check how thick our material can be too keep it as minimal as possible, while still having a solid and safe construction. 
  
 +<WRAP centeralign>
 +<figure flabel25>
 +{{ :renderstand.jpg?400 |}}
 +<caption>Standing desk</caption>
 +</figure>
 +</WRAP>
 The user will have to assemble the boxes at home. This way the different wooden planks, out of which the storage boxes are made, can be flat-packed. By making the user assembly the desk himself, we also assure that the desk is easy to disassemble. As previously mentioned, this will result in easier repairs and better recyclability. This also makes us more efficient in terms of shipping; if the desk can be partly disassembled and flat-packed, carriers can fill their trucks to capacity and prevent additional delivery trips and fuel stops.  The user will have to assemble the boxes at home. This way the different wooden planks, out of which the storage boxes are made, can be flat-packed. By making the user assembly the desk himself, we also assure that the desk is easy to disassemble. As previously mentioned, this will result in easier repairs and better recyclability. This also makes us more efficient in terms of shipping; if the desk can be partly disassembled and flat-packed, carriers can fill their trucks to capacity and prevent additional delivery trips and fuel stops. 
 This isn’t the only thing we can do to reduce the energy intensity; we should look for more ways to produce our desk more efficiently. We can do this in multiple ways, think about using more energy efficient techniques, recycling wood waste and sawdust, insulation improvement, replacing old machines, …  This isn’t the only thing we can do to reduce the energy intensity; we should look for more ways to produce our desk more efficiently. We can do this in multiple ways, think about using more energy efficient techniques, recycling wood waste and sawdust, insulation improvement, replacing old machines, … 
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 +As for the prototype, we have constructed it from an already used adjustable desk, in which we have created the boxes out of PVC boards which were glued together and taped with duct-tape for additional support. As can be seen in Figure {{ref>flabel60}}, the left box has 3 drawers made on the same principle and the right box contains a push-to-open system for the door to be easily opened or closed. Plus, we have put the battery containing the USB ports and the lamp to illustrate all the functionalities our desk provides. Also, in Figure {{ref>flabel61}} can be seen the desk in the standing position. Although the prototype has a different system to adjust the height, the function is the same and the picture illustrates the position in which someone will work from a standing point. \\
 +
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 +{{ :free_desk_prototype.jpeg?500 |}}
 +<caption>Prototype with all its functionalities</caption>
 +</figure>
 +</WRAP>
 +
 +<WRAP centeralign>
 +<figure flabel61>
 +{{ :free_desk_standing.jpeg?500 |}}
 +<caption>Prototype in standing position</caption>
 +</figure>
 +</WRAP>
  
  
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 ==== - Summary ==== ==== - Summary ====
-//Provide here the conclusions of this chapter and introduce the next chapter.//+In this chapter, we tried to find a solution for the problems stated in the introduction. Since this pandemic, a lot of people are working remotely. We focused on creating a more flexible and autonomous work environment for them. Our target market consists mainly of people who live in small spaces, they struggle even more with this shift to WFH due to lack of space. 
 +We started of with some initial ideas that we illustrated with some sketches and later with a wooden model. By making this model and a black box of our product, a clear vision of our product was created. After defining the target market, a comparison of different materials and components followed. We explained our decision to proceed with maple wood and aluminium with technological properties and evaluations between different materials. The strength, durability and easy recyclability of these materials convinced us that they were the best option for our desk. Further, the team looked into different lifting mechanisms and compared their advantages and disadvantages. We chose to offer the user the option to choose out of three mechanisms, according to their budget. The electrical one has the greatest range and is easy to operate, the manual one is a bit more limited in its range and has to be lifted by operating the handle. The last one, the mechanism with the lock pin, is the simplest one to produce and can reach any height but won’t be easy to handle for the user. For the 3D model and the visualisation, we focused on the manual crank lifting mechanism. The range of the crank mechanism is sufficient for our idea and given that it’s manual, we avoid our product being too expensive.  
 +Further, we discussed al the features we integrated to make our desk more autonomous. The ideal posture to ensure the desk is ergonomic is explained in chapter 7.5. Afterwards, we visualised our solution using renders. We elaborated on our packaging solution and our choice to flat pack the desk. Simulation tests were performed on the 3D model using simulation software, to ensure the safety of our FREE desk.  
 + 
 +The prototype was created using expanded PVC and a reused, transformable desk from our institution. Although the materials limited us in achieving a realistic desk, we tried our best to make it look like our model. We used our research on sustainability and ethics as a guideline for our project. In the following chapter we will conclude our work and discuss some possible future development.  
 ===== - Conclusions ===== ===== - Conclusions =====
 ==== - Discussion ==== ==== - Discussion ====

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