Multitool Project

Summary

As part of a small team, I designed and produced a prototype of a multitool device which supports interchangeable bit heads.

Skills

CAD (SolidWorks); Engineering drawings

Team Size

3 (myself and two peers)

Category

Coursework: Introduction to Design Thinking in Engineering (EG 20210)

Detailed Breakdown

For the final project in this course, my class was tasked with designing a multitool device which could interface with a variety of screws and bolts, as well as their corresponding nuts, as shown below.

The wooden block used to test the versatility of the multitool.

After identifying engineering and customer requirements, we generated a house of quality (HOQ) to understand interdependencies of design specifications. This information was essential to ensuring our brainstorming and design process remained focused and deliberate.

The HOQ was used to ensure engineering design decisions were made with both form and function in mind.

We brainstormed several different designs, and eventually settled on the one shown below. This implementation was selected mainly due to its modular design, which prevents wastage of print filament and minimizes the overall print time. One of the most important design features is that all of the interchangeable bits can be stored inside the holds along the sides of the part’s main body; this was how we decided to address the requirement of self-containment. Making this decision enabled us to have a highly compact and functional design.

The design features the main body, a wrench, a bit extender, and the six bits required for the different screws and bolts. Each of the bits can be slotted into the notch seen on the top of the main body.