For an Engineering Innovation class (Fall 2016), I was part of a project team tasked with designing, creating, and proposing a formal marketing pitch for a Happy Meal Toy. I designed the axle-group and wheels, and collaborated with my group mates to negotiate critical-to-fit dimensions.
Our initial ideation process revolved around what type of toy we wanted to create. I created a mind-map of our ideas to help group and separate certain toy themes, which in turn led us to our final choice of a Mars Rover. This choice was both neutral from an international perspective, and we hoped to inspire both boys and girls, making it gender neutral as well.
Additionally, we decided the size of each individual part such that the completed toy fit within a Happy Meal Toy Box and that each individual part passed choking hazard standards.
I designed the axle-group in SolidWorks, and 3D printed the prototype and final product via fused deposition modeling. Below is the part-file for my specific part, according to our professor’s specifications:
Our final assembled painted prototype and exploded assembly views:
Jolán von Plutzner 