CARSEN LANDRETH & AARON TAYLOR RULE OF THIRDS (PART 1)

PROBLEM SELECTION

TOPIC BACKGROUND To begin with, customers brought in their own chairs to seat their children or they had to hold the baby and eat at the same time. This was not fun or convenient for the parents so eventually the high chair was developed to provide a pleasant place for the child to sit where the parent could easily feed the child. However, another problem developed when the child was too big for the high chair but not quite big enough to seat at the table. The booster seat was designed to raise the child up to the table and still allow him or her to have their own personal seat.

CITED JUSTIFICATION child-safety-seats Seat.html Discussed on these websites were the history and evolution of Booster Seats/Car Seats. They explained how much safety features and design features have changed over the last century.

PROBLEM STATEMENT There are over 25 million children under the age of 5 in the United States, many of these children are taken out to restaurants to eat with families on a regular basis. These children need help of a booster seat to be able to reach the table and have a place to be comfortable in while eating. However, many mothers and families are concerned with the safety and functionality of current booster seats in restaurants.

PAST/PRESENT SOLUTION There are booster seats than are made from both Plastic & Wood. They can Include “slide ins”, straps, and buckles.

STEM PROPERTIES Materials Science- Deciding what the Booster Seat should be made out of depending on cleanliness and the safety of material Mechanical Engineering- Building a new Booster seat and combining elements of other designs in the Seat Project Management Applied Engineering- The field concerned with the application of management, design, and technical skills for the design and integration of systems, the execution of new product designs, the improvement of manufacturing processes, and the management and direction of physical and/or technical functions of a firm or organization.

DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS

DESIGN PARAMETERS Criteria for when we know we have accomplished our Goal for the Design Safe for Small Children under 5 Holds onto Wooden Seats Holds Carriage Stackable Adjustable Height Cost Efficient Under $40 Minimum Set up time

DESIGN MATRIX Design Solution Ideas Criteria Weight Larger Booster Linked Booster Safety Booster The design can be accomplished in the given time The design can be solved with the available resources/funds Initial research indicates that no othersimiliar solution exists The design is likely to meet a specific need and/or be easliy marketable Design can be easily constructed Total Score

DESIGN VIABILITY The project that we are making will greatly increase the safety of the child sitting in the booster seat. We taking concepts from existing high chairs and booster seats and implementing them into a new product to support children of all ages. This product will help families with small children that still want to enjoy the experience of dining in a restaurant.

PROJECT PROPOSAL As of March 2010, there were over 20 million families with children in the United States. Many of these families go out to eat at restaurants on a regular basis. The problem these families face is that small children do not have a safe and functional booster seat to sit in. The booster seats already put in place by restaurants do not have a safe way to hold children from new born to 5 years old. The current booster seats does not have a secure way to hold the child and they do not address the issue of holding children of multiple ages. The overall design of our group would address safety and functionality for small children.