/public/

Identify Customer Needs

Table of Contents 1 First Sponsor Interview 2 Customer Needs 3 Needs Hierarchy 4 Need Weighting 5 Reflections

First Sponsor Interview

Interviews by Trae Rogers/Kyle Norlin

Todd Herrington: Prinicipal Mechanical Engineer Herrington Interview

Scott Webster: Mechanical Design Engineer Webster Interview

Interviews by Pat Ryan/Ric Schmeelk

John Stevens: Project Engineer of Panther Product, EE Stevens Interview

Interviews by Chris Reed

Kevin Roland, Head of Software Development Roland Interview

Customer Needs

• Create a fully functional prototype Parabolic Dish Autopoint Solution (PDAS), automated and manual.
• Interface should be easy for someone with no field experience to operate, given a manual.
• Basic functional blocks of the device should be easy to understand.
• Budget is to be less that $5000.00.
• Design should be robust enough to function properly under harsh conditions.
• Design to Mil-Std guidelines.
• Verify design functionality.
• Provide full documentation to L-3 GCS.

Needs Hierarchy

1. Portable
   1. Low weight
   2. Small size
   3. Low power consumption
2. Usable setup time
3. High degree of pointing accuracy
4. Low cost
5. Test procedure to verify functionality
6. System Health Status
   1. LEDs
      1. Fault status
      2. Movement status
      3. Power status
      4. Blackout mode
   2. GUI
      1. Fault status
      2. Movement status
      3. Power status
      4. Level status
7. Robust design

Need Weighting

Needs Summary

Need	The Product Needs to	Importance
Low weight	Must be man portable	9
Low power consumption	Must be able to run off of a battery	9
Usable setup time	Must acquire satellite in a reasonable amount of time	3
High degree of pointing accuracy	Must aim narrow beamwidth antenna at satellite	9
Low cost	Must fit within customers allocated budget	3
Test procedure to verify functionality	Must produce means to verify design	9
Fault status	Must indicate if motors become jammed or if a circuit shorts	3
Movement status	Must indicate if it has acquired final position	3
Level status	Must indicate if base has been leveled or if leveling is required	3
Power status	Must indicate if power has been applied to automation system	3
Blackout mode	Must be able to disable LEDs	3

Reflections

The need to design a product that is packaged such that the end user has an easy and durable solution will crucial to the success of this design. By going through this process we were able to clarify and organize the needs into an easily understandable format. This will prevent accidental omission of crucial design aspects.

Home