Handling the Handler

This new STEAM unit is about learning to Design and Engineer products. This Action Project asked us to redesign an existing tool so that it could be used by anyone using empathy. Empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, and relate to how they feel. It relates to this project because of how we need to be able to empathize with people to make a product that will work for everyone.

The new tool that we created is a variation of a Mattock axe. The more flat part of the mattock head (the adze) is used for tilling the soil after you break it up with the pickaxe/axe part. The mattock does not have any real kind of grip to help you get leverage on it easier. It comes in varying weights; 2.5 lb  and 5 lb versions were the ones we saw when we went to go research our tools at a nearby Home Depot. The pick mattock uses a 3rd class lever. This is because of how the fulcrum is at one end of the tool, the input is in the middle, and the output is at the other end of the tool.

I would say our new tool is more comfortable and easier to use than its competition. Instead of a regular axe, the new Mattock axe will have handles on both sides of the axe for better leverage. It also has foot pedals, so that you can have more force when breaking through stone and hard dirt. When you receive this tool, you would put together all of the equipment, then you would grab the handles, dig into the ground, and then step on the foot pedal to further break the ground apart. The reason this works is because the handles have grips on them that allows for better leverage, so the axe won’t slip out of your hand. The foot pedals also help because of the fact that by using them you don't have to use as much arm strength to break the ground apart.

Below is the slideshow that my partner, LH, and I cooperated on, which includes sketches for our tool, measurements for it, and a storyboard on how it's supposed to be used.


In conclusion, I thought that this project was enjoyable and interesting to do. Doing it with a partner made it quite a bit easier, but that did not mean that it was without its struggles at times.

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