Week #12: (4/3-17) MTBF & Project Discussion

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rjagodowski
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Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2015 6:59 pm

Week #12: (4/3-17) MTBF & Project Discussion

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This morning we'll spend a bit of time discussing MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) and related issues, then discuss project related issues.

MTBF from Wikipedia


Some typical MTBF numbers

MTBF vs AFR (Annualized Failure Rate) from Seagate (hard disk drive manufacturer).

Seagate Ironwolf drive datasheet showing a 1,000,000 hour MTBF for this series of hard drive.

Here's a link to MTTR, MTBF & MTTF: A Guide to Failure Metrics.

This is a great PDF document on Lessons in Industrial Automation and it is updated frequently (current version is September 2018) and it's FREE. It is a large document over 3,300 pages long, so please don't print it. The part we will be looking at is section 32.3 Practical Measures of Reliability beginning on page 2633. Section 32.3.2 (page 2639) shows the common failure graph knows as the bathtub curve to relate how the likelihood of failures varies over the expected product lifetime.
Lessons in Industrial Instrumentation_2018-0912.pdf
(60.65 MiB) Downloaded 159 times
You can always download the latest edition of this document here.

Another consideration which is a growing concern in manufacturing is that of "counterfeit components". This paper from Cyclops Electronics discusses the importance and prevalence of this problem.
PROJECT REPORTS:

A formal assignment sheet will be created and posted in Blackboard describing the details required in the report. Per our discussions during the week of 4/6, the following rough outline is required.

INDIVIDUAL REPORTS:
First, each individual team member should write as detailed a report as possible on the specific work they did up until the campus was closed. If you worked with a partner or partners, it is OK to mention that, but focus on the tasks which were directly your responsibility. This document will serve as a basis for piecing together the Team Report. Once you've completed the "what I did" part, you should summarize "what I was going to do" in the same way. Obviously this might be a bit more nebulous as you might not have fully figured out what steps need to be done, the parts needed, the process, etc. But to the best of your ability, summarize and document what your anticipated tasks were going to be between the time the campus was closed and the project completion date.

TEAM REPORTS:

Again, this will get formalized in the coming days, but for now, you should plan on including the following key areas for your Team Report. Remember, the Team Report should be written as if it is a single document, not a bunch of disjointed documents cobbled together to form a large report. This will take some work and it's usually best if one or two people is put in charge of this. Google Docs can be a big help in getting team members to read and submit their contributions to the report, while those in charge of the Team Report Documentation will oversee it and "smoothen" any disjointed aspects of the individual submissions. Make sure that team members in charge of the report are responsible as the report grade is a TEAM grade. A GREAT paper is a boost to all in the team. A poor paper will be detrimental to all in the team.

Key Areas of the Report:

Introduction
Challenges
Tentative Schedule
Team Contributions
Expected Project (What you expected to have completed and operational at the end of the semester.)
Technical Documentation: Diagrams, Schematics, Flowcharts, Programs.
Conclusion (What was learned working on the project, soft & hard skills, assuming that it did in fact operate as expected.)
Appendix

Next Steps: What might the project have looked like if you had more time and/or more money.

Practical Application:
Find a similar unit to your project that is in operation and write a comparison between that product and what you expected your finished project to be.


PREVIOUS REPORTS:

Here's a link to some Project Reports from several years past along with ideas about organization. Obviously these reports were not done under our current circumstances. As discussed last week, there will be more focus on the quality and formality of the report this semester in compensation to the fact that a completed project wasn't a possibility. In other words, the time spent in years past building the project should be devoted to writing the report.
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