Section F
CONSIDERATION OF DESIGN VIABILITY
Over thirty articles and several research papers were researched to validate our problem statement and provide insight into how to create a solution. These articles and papers all highlight the common issues of discomfort and injuries caused by wearing a ballistic vest for long periods of time. The articles also mention various solutions to these problems such as reducing the weight of the vest, redesigning materials, and distributing the weight across different parts of the body. After reviewing this information the team decided to follow up with research from primary sources. We interviewed our school’s SRO, Sergeant Culp, in person as well as a police officer from a local police department, Lieutenant Taylor.
VI.1 First Interview Transcripts
VI.1 First Interview Transcripts
After further confirmation of the primary design problem, the team decided to examine previous solutions. These solutions included five different patents pertaining to vests, vest materials, and the construction and/or combination thereof. The team also examined potential competing products such as common ballistic vests already being used by both U.S. domestic police forces and the U.S. military. By examining a broad range of potential solutions and solutions already in use, the team has gained an understanding of some varying approaches to solving its design problem.
The team next generated criteria that the solution would have to meet. Fourteen relevant and critical criteria were created including criteria that a standard ballistic vest would have to meet, as well as considerations that could impact the comfort of the vest. Several extra-functional criteria of a good design were also considered such as durability of materials and whether or not a feature could pose additional dangers not present in current designs, The team also created criteria that could impact the team's ability to construct the prototype such as cost of materials, and ease of acquiring materials that could be constructed.
Instead of comparing a single solution to each of our criteria, the team first brainstormed several solutions for each criteria or component of designing a ballistic vest. These various solutions were all rated on relevant criteria for the problem they were trying to solve. Finally, after the team had decided which solution was the best in each category, all of the winning solutions were combined into a single prototype design of a vest. The design, therefore, meets all of the criteria and is the best possible solution because it utilizes the best aspects of each solution, determined using the aforementioned decision matrices.
Instead of comparing a single solution to each of our criteria, the team first brainstormed several solutions for each criteria or component of designing a ballistic vest. These various solutions were all rated on relevant criteria for the problem they were trying to solve. Finally, after the team had decided which solution was the best in each category, all of the winning solutions were combined into a single prototype design of a vest. The design, therefore, meets all of the criteria and is the best possible solution because it utilizes the best aspects of each solution, determined using the aforementioned decision matrices.
After designing the prototype, the team again consulted Sergeant Culp and Lieutenant Taylor regarding if they would actually use the design. The primary problem statement is to design a vest that is more comfortable than current, standard vests, so as to ensure that officers would actually wear the armor. By consulting Sergeant Culp and Lieutenant Taylor, the team has gained credible feedback by potential users of the team’s solution.
Sergeant Culp commented that the belt loops at the bottom of the vest could interfere with trying to pull out a gun because the vest could be pulled upward as well. He believed that distributing the weight of the belt onto the vest was a good thing but offered other solutions as to how it could be implemented. For instance, all of the belt’s contents except the gun could be placed on the vest, or the vest could instead attach to the belt loops on the trousers and act like suspenders.
Lieutenant Taylor expressed concern that the vest seemed bulkier than what he would want, as a bulkier vest would restrict arm movement. He was also concerned about the positioning of the duty belt, but this was in part due to a misunderstanding of the design we sent him.
Both Sergeant Culp and Lieutenant Taylor agreed that the vest was a product that they would use. Both officers liked that the extent of coverage as well as the increased flexibility was greater than the standard assault vests they use. However, there were some conflicting opinions between Lieutenant Taylor and Sergeant Culp. We realized we needed feedback from a broader group in order to determine which opinions were reflected by the majority of officers. The team designed and created a survey to help gauge opinions about our design. After having the survey reviewed for bias, we sent it out to two police departments. The results of the survey are summarized below.
Lieutenant Taylor expressed concern that the vest seemed bulkier than what he would want, as a bulkier vest would restrict arm movement. He was also concerned about the positioning of the duty belt, but this was in part due to a misunderstanding of the design we sent him.
Both Sergeant Culp and Lieutenant Taylor agreed that the vest was a product that they would use. Both officers liked that the extent of coverage as well as the increased flexibility was greater than the standard assault vests they use. However, there were some conflicting opinions between Lieutenant Taylor and Sergeant Culp. We realized we needed feedback from a broader group in order to determine which opinions were reflected by the majority of officers. The team designed and created a survey to help gauge opinions about our design. After having the survey reviewed for bias, we sent it out to two police departments. The results of the survey are summarized below.
The team can therefore conclude that our design is in fact viable, because our solution is an iteration of the combination of the previous solutions, it addresses relative criteria pertaining to our problem, and we have had relevant users of the solution verify its viability. Our final design is presented below.