Sun-Track Reflections

Introduction

This report aims to reflect on the knowledge gained while creating a Solar-Track application, the progress made, the decision-making, and the error encountered during the track application development.

Solar trackers are devices that allow an object to be placed at an angle toward the Sun. For example, solar trackers can be used to keep solar panels aligned with the Sun's rays and to position space telescopes so that they can see where the Sun is coming from. A solar panel's orientation can be adjusted to track the Sun's path across the sky (Hidayanti et al., 2020). When the solar panel is oriented perpendicular to the Sun, more sunlight is absorbed, and less light is reflected. Tracking the position of the Sun about the object being aligned is done using high-tech instruments. Intricate algorithms and sensors allow the system to follow the Sun, either a computer or a solar panel with a basic circuit board that transmits information about the Sun's location to a computer. As Venetian blinds, solar trackers were expected to operate similarly, with the rows of panels moving in unison throughout the day. Solar trackers can increase electricity generation by 40% compared to fixed modules (Hidayanti et al., 2020). Using this tracking gadget, you may rotate the device 180 degrees. Solar trackers outperform stationary modules because of this advantage. According to studies, the angle of light affects the power output of a solar panel.

Solar-Tracker Application Development Phases

Empathizing

The first step in creating a product is to empathize with the customer. Product and market development's primary goal was to impact customers at this phase positively. This project taught me that empathy is essential because it enables us to comprehend the feelings of others so that we may respond appropriately. According to Redante et al. (2019). Empathy is the foundation of each successful design effort. In the end, the success of a design is defined by how well it is understood and sympathized with by the people who make it. According to Gasparini (2015). There are numerous ways to approach and apply empathy in the design process. Start by using this technique to create a character from an emotional response. Designers can employ empathy to better understand their customers' needs when it comes to product design. Everyone on a design team must empathize with their customers to develop creative solutions in a Design Thinking process. Designers use a range of methods to acquire that expertise and insight, allowing them to prioritize users' needs and improve the outcomes of the process. At the same time, we were unsure of the best way to generate empathy from our audience. We had to decide between takings on the mindset of a novice, conducting interviews based on empathy, or talking to users who went to the extremes. We later decided to begin from a beginner's point of view. The project was a success because of this strategy. But the design taught me about the beginner's approach, which includes developing an eagerness to notice everything as if it were for the first time. There are no preconceptions, assumptions, or biases in our view of the world as if we were a child (Davidson, 2016). All of the above are part of this technique, which includes questioning everything, striving to shift your perspective, challenging your beliefs, finding a reverse mentor, and choosing the most unlikely path.

Define

The defining or problem statement is the second phase in the project design process. As the name suggests, an issue statement outlines the gap between a current state and the desired state of the process. According to Gasparini (2015), a problem statement exposes the problem (or requirement) so that designers can act on it. Describes clearly the problem the designer aims to solve while keeping the user in mind at all times. Current product designs are not suitable in adverse weather conditions, expensive, take a long time to clean, and have limited efficiency in adjusting solar panels. During the project, we noticed various market gaps.

This project showed me that definition is the second stage of the design thinking process and that empathy precedes it. This phase's goals are to synthesize observations about users from the empathy phase and build a workable problem statement. The articulation of the problem is required to develop a complete problem statement. According to Awati et al. (2020), problem statements aim to identify the core issues that need to be addressed and produce concrete and practical solutions to those issues. A human-centered approach is the purpose of this stage and all others in the design thinking process.

When it came to making choices and identifying market issues, everyone participated. Because we couldn't find a solution for every gap in the market, we resorted to the Vroom-Yetton Decision-Making Model. No one ideal decision-making technique is found, according to Lührs and colleagues (2018). Instead, the correct procedure to follow will vary depending on your situation. As a model, Vroom-versatility Yetton's is one of its strengths. I discovered that the method can still work even if you're in a strange situation. When the project was first proposed, many people observed a lack of expertise and experience in the solar tracking system sector. This model alleviated those concerns and allowed everyone to participate. However, we could collect as much data as possible and run tests to guarantee our product is better than manual labor.

Ideate

Sketching and prototyping are examples of activities that can generate new ideas and solutions. Because the purpose is to create many ideas from which the team may select and refine the best, most practical, or most creative ones, I found that Ideation was a fascinating part of a Design Thinking project. Similarly, I realized that Ideation is a design process model that focuses on producing concepts. The idealization approach helped us discover what we required for our product and how it would meet market shortages. Aluminum and glass cases with metal suits that confine and guard robots proved to be the most effective technique to make this app great. We also went with a low-cost product design. We also decided to use rapid cleaning robots, which are 15 percent faster than a standard cleaning robot, to reduce the time it takes to clean. A group of three skilled computer engineers was quickly assembled to tackle the challenge and get the app up and operating as promptly as possible.

This phase was created using several ideation techniques, such as sketching, prototyping, brainstorming, brainwriting, and the Worst Possible Idea exercise. This step is critical when a design team understands and defines consumer problems to design solutions for those needs.

Prototype

A working prototype is a scaled-down model of a new product concept. A visual and interactive product can be used for investor presentations, user testing, and giving your audience a visual and interactive experience. When it comes to prototypes, they aren't supposed to be utilized in production, so they shouldn't be compared to the finished product. Product development research has recently focused on prototyping as an activity and a process, according to Elverum et al. (2016). Traditional engineering design often assigns prototyping the duty of "proof-of-concept," but design thinking prototypes are more experimental (Elverum et al., 2016). It is possible to "construct to think" by prototyping in addition to igniting creative thinking. Prototypes must be built quickly and tested thoroughly as a result. The development approach has relied heavily on the technology now accessible in terms of prototyping. Learning from the group activity, I discovered that mixed prototyping, in which digital and physical prototypes are used to create and evaluate product interface usability, has great potential for designing and evaluating innovative production systems. We also observed that the most crucial benefit of a prototype is that it mimics the actual and future product. Incentives such as these can help entice customers to purchase the product even before any deployment efforts have been made. If you do your due diligence, you can detect and fix any errors in the design before it is put into mass production.

Testing

Products can be tested for quality and performance using various methods, including consumer testing and comparisons testing (Kumar et al., 2018). Product testing is necessary to ensure customers know what products can accomplish for them and the most significant value. To assure quality and reliability, required testing should be conducted throughout this phase. To develop high-quality materials that customers use safely, manufacturers might define technical standards for their products through product testing (Kumar et al., 2018). Thus, we ran the app through its paces to get user input before correcting any flaws that arose. Testing began with a demonstration of the program and the possibility of interacting with it. At the same time, I understood the criticality of product testing in assuring a high level of product quality. I realized that this process was successful based on the feedback that we obtained and modifications made to ensure the efficiency of the application.

Conclusion

The product development process went smoothly, and we could create a solar array with a high-efficiency level. According to what I found, customers also evaluate the product's functional use, the outward appearance design, and the quality of service provided to your clients. This course taught me the importance of teamwork and how product development spans the entire process of creating a product, from the conception of an idea through its eventual sale. Keeping up with industry changes and trends is crucial for businesses to stay on top of the competition.

References

• Awati, J.S., Mulla, A.M., Desai, S.S., Bamane, P. and Karanjkar, S., 2020. Startup Entrepreneur Support for Design and Development of Problem Statement to Product Finalization: A Case Study. Journal of Engineering Education Transformations, 33, pp.260-264.
• Davidson, S., 2016. Leading Innovation: The Beginner's Mind and Mindful Beginnings. Nurse Leader, 14(2), pp.96-97.
• Elverum, C.W., Welo, T. and Tronvoll, S., 2016. Prototyping in new product development: strategy considerations. Procedia CIRP, 50, pp.117-122.
• Gasparini, A., 2015. February. Perspective and use of empathy in design thinking. In ACHI, the eight international conference on advances in computer-human interactions (pp. 49-54).
• Hidayanti, F., Rahmah, F. and Agusto, J., 2020. Design of Solar Tracker on Solar Panel with Fresnel Concentrator. International Journal of Advanced Science and Technology, 29(05), pp.1014-1025.
• Kumar, B.S., Rekha, Y. and Yuvaraja, T., 2018. Solar Energy Conversion Using Maximum Power Point Tracker Controller and Multilevel Inverter for Diverse Applications. Journal of Computational and Theoretical Nanoscience, 15(6-7), pp.2143-2146.
• Lührs, N., Jager, N.W., Challies, E. and Newig, J., 2018. How participatory should environmental governance be? Testing the applicability of the Vroom-Yetton-Jago model in public environmental decision-making. Environmental management, 61(2), pp.249-262.
• Redante, R.C., de Medeiros, J.F., Vidor, G., Cruz, C.M.L. and Ribeiro, J.L.D., 2019. Creative approaches and green product development: Using design thinking to promote stakeholders’ engagement. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 19, pp.247-256.