Summary
For this project, we had to make chairs our of cardboard. These chairs either had to be able to seat an adult, or the alternative, was for it to be able to seat a toddler. In order to make chairs out of cardboard, we first had to learn all about structural engineering. We performed a lab to find out which shapes are most durable. Once we decided which shapes we would want to use, we began our work. To start it off we drew a sketch with measurements marked. Then, we made a model out out of manilla folder. Lastly, we made our final chair. It was able to successfully hold a toddler.
Concepts
There are three components in making a chair: comfort, economy, aesthetics, and structure. Having a economically good chair means using little supplies. Aesthetics means that the chair looks good. Structure is how well the chair works. You can not have all of these be perfect, so you must make trade offs between these categories in order to make a chair that is best fit for the situation.
Our chair has a very geometric, solid look. This is usually pleasing to most audiences. Our chair is decently comfortable, and the back is slanted to fit the human back slope. Our strongest areas were economy and structure. While our chair is not the most comfortable, it is the most sturdy. It is supposed to be for toddlers and can hold up to 200 pounds! The four short and wide cylinders are very supportive. Also, the panes across the back spread out the force and ease the stress on the cardboard. Because our four low and wide cylinders provide most of our support, our chair is very economic. in total our cardboard consisted of the four cylinders, the four panes, the back, and the box to cover the cylinders. Very economic!
Our chair has a very geometric, solid look. This is usually pleasing to most audiences. Our chair is decently comfortable, and the back is slanted to fit the human back slope. Our strongest areas were economy and structure. While our chair is not the most comfortable, it is the most sturdy. It is supposed to be for toddlers and can hold up to 200 pounds! The four short and wide cylinders are very supportive. Also, the panes across the back spread out the force and ease the stress on the cardboard. Because our four low and wide cylinders provide most of our support, our chair is very economic. in total our cardboard consisted of the four cylinders, the four panes, the back, and the box to cover the cylinders. Very economic!
Reflection
I have gained some very important new skills from this project. I learned that taking care of materials is very important. If the cardboard had any creases, it was useless because it would just fold in half. Therefore, we had to be extra careful when building our chairs. I also improved my patience. In the process of making these chairs there was a lot of trial and error. We had to tweak our design in order to make it work. This tended to be tedious work.