Taner Avci, Naazneen Virani, Muhammad Zaid
Professor Collin
Engl 21007
29 April 2019
Proposal of Smart Desk
INTRODUCTION
Over the past years, the number and types of technology/electronics such as tablets and laptops have increased in production, with college students being major consumers. This can be a large expense for college students. Tablets, phones, and laptops are all used to communicate with peers and friends, take notes, study, and complete course work. Figure 1 displays the average number of electronics that a college student has based on a survey done in 2013. With the most common being the laptop, this data establishes two things. First, it shows that technology is important in student’s lives because they have a variety of gadgets. Technology is important because of its uses in personal and academic lives. Students have embraced their devices, utilizing technology as a tool for a better educational experience. Second, this data helps to establish a need for a versatile product that can help eliminate excess gadgets brought into schools.
Figure 1: Tech Devices Owned by College Students. Source: marketingcharts.com
When in class, many students bring their own tablets and laptops for note taking and reference material. In addition to electronics, the backpack of a typical college student is filled with loads of paper; from notebooks, rubrics, and assignments. What if there was a possibility to reduce paper usage while adapting to a world in which technology is essential in our daily lives? An innovation that would address many issues in college classrooms would be the Smart Desk. The Smart Desk is a desk with an integrated tablet. The purpose of this innovation is to ease classroom transitions, assist students in their note-taking and learning, and help eliminate paper usage in schools. Each desk will allow students to log in, view handouts and assignments, take notes, and access browsers and files. The effects are to reduce paper usage, eliminate the amount of money college students use for technology, ease of learning, and better overall experience. As the engineers behind this innovation, we are looking for investors to help fund this project. By funding this project, the investors provide funds allowing us to manufacture and test this innovation, eventually creating a model that can be sold to many colleges.
The need for this innovation is questioned by many who argue that allowing students to purchase their own tablets is far easier than creating a Smart Desk to be placed in classrooms. To answer this question, we must understand that college tuition costs include tech fees, yet there are never enough computers in the labs for each students. In addition, college class sizes can range from 25 students to lectures with over 200 students. While paper usage may not seem like an issue with smaller class sizes, larger class sizes consist of more pages that students can print. The Smart Desk is a versatile innovation that will allow organization of notes, while creating a system that is beneficial to all parties. The Smart Desk also has smaller features such as recording lectures and a headphone jack, allowing it to encompass all the properties of an ordinary tablet.
We all had teachers hand out paper after paper of notes, worksheets, and tests. This is both inconvenient for students and teachers. Teachers having to print thirty plus copies, and students having to carry a brick size of papers. We hope to resolve this issue with our proposal for the Smart Desk. These easy-to-install desks will be found in all classrooms, giving students access to notes, and any other information they may need. The tablets will be integrated into the desk and once a student sits down, she/he will enter their school id and password, giving them access to their files, notes, and browser.
Proposed Innovation
The two innovations that we are combining are a regular school desk and a modern touch screen tablet. The one question that many people would have is how is this different than giving everyone their personal tablet. The Smart Desk has more benefits to offer than a regular tablet. First of all, tablets can be easily lost or stolen. Stealing a Smart Desk would be a major obstacle considering the weight and size. Also, the Smart Desk will always stay in the same class unless it is necessary to move it. This makes misplacing the Smart Desk close to impossible. Since the Smart Desk would be in most classes, it would save students the burden of carrying around heavy laptops, tablets, or other gadgets. This platform will be available through wifi, making information easily accessible. You will never have to worry about charging the desk because it will always be fully charged and ready to use. We will be installing extra outlets and using power strips to manage all the extra cords. You do not have to worry about the common occurrence of running out of battery from your laptop or tablet. Chargers can be easy to forget, take up space, or can break easily due to exposed wires. Charging stations tend to be overly packed with students and can lead to delays and unnecessary stress the average college student does not need. It takes a student about 2 hours to fully charge their laptop, which is a waste of productive time. While having a constant supply of power, the Smart Desk eliminates visibility of bulky and exposed wires that could lead to injury. As a result, having a Smartdesk can save students from spending money on electronics to bring to school. Personal electronics such as tablets and laptops are prone to damage. The Smart Desk combats this possibility. The tablet in the Smart Desk will be given a software update every couple months to keep up with modern technology. In addition, it will regularly delete any viruses or defects using antivirus software.
A Smart Desk is not an ordinary desk that you find in colleges. It’s focus is to address all needs while also having the capability to be adjusted as per the user’s liking. This desk will be comfortable for your back by allowing you to adjust how far back you need to go. It also comes with a usb port that can be used to charge your personal items or to connect flash drives. There will be two usb ports available with the each desk. This feature allows you to store any documents, music, videos, etc to your personal phone or flash drive. The Smart Desk also has a headphone jack, allowing you to listen to music or videos.
Losing data or insufficient storage issues are eliminated since you are able to retrieve all your data from your cloud account. You are able to access all documents using your phone, tablet, or laptop when your are not in school or not using the Smart Desk. You can also store data into your account using your personal device. You are also able to connect a device to the Smart Desk via Bluetooth. The desk will also come with a wired stylus so you can take notes on the tablet while you are in class. The construction of the desk itself will consist of sturdy high quality plastic. The screen for the tablet will be protected by a thin plastic screen that will protect it from damage. Also, the Smart Desk will be water and dirtproof. This protects the tablet from getting harmed. You would no longer have to worry about a spillage destroying the desk. Regular boring school desks only act as a place where books are placed. In contrast, the Smart Desk comes with many features and functions that will help college students succeed.
Technical Description
The overall innovations had three major parts: the tablet, desk, and chair.
Tablet
The tablet that our team has decided on using is fifteen inch Windows, tablet that will be integrated into desks. The manufacturer of these tablets- is the company Intel.
Design of the tablet
- The Smartdesk will provide a 15 inch LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). These types of displays provide for crystal clear images. The full resolution of screen is 1980 x 1080. The display brightness is 250cd\m2, basically this an optimized brightness, and does not more energy. The touch screen has the following capabilities:
1. Five-wire resistance – accurate and stable operation in the liquid, such as overflow and splash wet application environment,
2. Infrared touch screen -Supports multi-touch applications up to 32 touch points. Accurate with short response time.
The color of the display will be matte black, and have an IP68 certification level. This means that if a student does spill a drink, it will not get into the hardware and cause any issues.
Hardware
Inside the tablet, will be a Intel Celeron Bay Trail CPU, running at 2.0 GHz. The tablet will offer 4 Gb of RAM, which allows for students to open up multiple applications and browsers and still run great. With 64 Gb of SSD storage won’t be an issue.
Desk
While the desk itself is the major component, it is composed of the upper flat surface and the legs.
Design of the desk
- The desk itself is composed of flat surface into which the tablet will be integrated. This upper surface with be made of Walnut wood with its measurements being 22”x 17”x 2”. The edges of the desk with be rounded of to a radius of 1” in order to prevent sharp edges that can cause pain in accidents. The wood surface will be coated with a coat of resin to prevent chipping and grain damage.
- In addition, another major component are the legs of the desk which are x shaped and made iron. This composition of metal allows the legs to be strong and sturdy. These legs will stand at a height of 25”.
Figure 2: Legs of desk
Hardware
The attachment of the upper flat surface to the legs will be done through countersunk screws with a phillips head in order to create a smooth design and chic overall look. The tablet will be embedded into the wood and attached with hinges that allow for the tablet to be adjusted to user’s sight.
Chair
This last major component has two sub-components being the legs and the seating surfaces.
Design of the chair
- The Virco ZROCK18 chair is set at 18” seat height. It has a chair width of 20”, depth of 22-¾”, seat height of 17- ⅝”, and overall height of 30-⅝”. The diagram below explains these measurements in accordance to where they fall on the chair.
Figure 3: Diagram of Chair with measurements
- The legs of the chair are made from stainless steel. The protruding legs of the chair will be installed into the legs of the desk at a distance allowing for students to sit and get up safe and comfortablely.
- There are two seating surfaces. The first contacts your back and the second which is where you actually sit. Both seating surfaces are contoured to maximize comfort. There is also some movement in the surfaces which increases comfort level.
- These mating surfaces are attached to the legs of the chair through round head universal screws.
Hardware
The chair will be attached to the legs of the desk through drilled holes into the legs, allowing for the chair to be inserted in and fixed.
PROCESS
Time
As the engineers planning this, we hope to take the first three weeks in order to set budgets, recruit more engineers and designers, and create a schematic for the prototype. Meetings will take place twice a week where we will compile research and ideas. We will address questions and reach out to schools that might be interested in the testing phase and purchase. We will have a solid outline and official proposal, which will also be sent to investors in this project. After, we plan to start creating an effective prototype with the help of proper materials and labor that will then enter testing for the next month. We will test, and troubleshoot the desk for any malfunctions. We will also make any improvements that we might see fit on the prototype. Once we have our prototype finished, we will manufacture the Smart Desk before distributing to our clients. Once we see that it is effective and accomplished all our goals, we hope to start revolutionizing the educational experience of college students.
Materials
The materials for the Smart Desk will include the three major components, the tablet, the chair and our own desk. Our tablets will be coming from a third party company. We will be producing our own desks in house. We expect our tables to be the best of quality, so our team will be using walnut wood. Walnut is a high quality type of hardwood and is known for its strength, straight grain and its rich chocolate brown color. Walnut is a very versatile wood, and will be a great addition to our innovation. Furthermore the high quality of wood, will allow the smart desk to be used for long term without being damaged.
The legs of the table will be iron. These legs will be X shaped. This is because as legs of the Desk wear out over time, there can be an imbalance causing the desk to rock back and forth. An X shaped table would eliminate that problem. The style of the legs could be described as modern, simple, industrial, and mid-century.
One of the major components of this innovation will the tablets. There will be 15 inch pc integrated into the tables. This will give students access to any school related item they may need. This can include but is not limited to: note taking, access to handouts, and taking quizzes and exam.
For the chair, our team will be using the Virco ZROCK18. This chair enables a great range of motion allowing the student to tilt forward or back, to adjust their sight in accordance with the tablet. The wood and legs for the chair will be purchased from a wholesale website and made by us. The tablets will also be bought in bulk from our third party supplier. The chair will also be bought online from a school supplier. Overall, the the wooden look will pair well with the table resulting in a brighter and modern look that compliments classrooms.
To conclude, we will also need some smaller materials, such as cables, wires, screws, bolts, etc. These materials will assist in the composition of the the chair, desk, and tablet to produce the Smart Desk.
Costs
The initial phase in creating this innovation will be completed through the manufacturing and testing of 10 Smart Desks. This limited number will create ease in the testing process while also allowing us to check thoroughly. The costs are broken down into the table below.
Table 1: Costs to produce one desk.
| Components of the Smart Desk | Cost for single unit |
| Iron Legs | $12 |
| Walnut Wood surface | $8 |
| Chair | $123.85 |
| Screws | $1.30 |
| Tablet | $300 |
| Total: | $445.15 |
This will be multiplied 10 times for a final cost of $4451.5. Our budget is $500,000. This includes finding a space for the mass production of these desks once the testing phase is complete. In addition, it will also be used to fund the labor power in the later stages of production.
Figure 4: How the budget will be spent?
LABOR POWER
First of, we will work as a group to make a prototype. We will first produce 10 Smart Desks to make improvements or fix any malfunctions. We will achieve this by renting a warehouse and start testing for the next few months. We want to be able to have a perfect prototype before we release it into colleges. If the prototype is successful then we will rent a factory with using some of the money from the investments. We will next have to hire employees. We would need to hire engineers, technicians, supervisors, delivery men, and sanitation workers. In addition, we will need to hire lawyers to draw up contracts with all our suppliers, investors and possible consumers. It can take another few months to get the place running and have everything in order. We will have to start slow and see the success we obtain after our first year. We will start a test run in a local college and record feedback from students. Feedback on what they liked and disliked can allow us to improve which will help tremendously. Feedback from students and professors are important since they are our main customers.
If the Smartdesk becomes successful, we hope to expand into different states all over the United States.
Conclusion
The Smart Desk proves to be a necessary innovation in this world of changing technology. It is a compact and versatile desk that addresses needs of the classroom while also pushing students towards success. Its three major components are essential in its construction. We hope that it addresses all the concerns previously mentioned and proves to be a useful tool in education.
Sources/Links for purchases
