Ethical issues in engineering design - 3TU.Centre for Ethics and ...

Ethical issues in engineering design
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Units a year 100 000
Consumer price 12 000 euro
Maximum speed with full payload 130 km/h
Maximum acceleration (0-100 km/h) 25 sec
Fuel consumption 2,5 l/ 100 km
Range 400 (+100) km
Interior height 1150 mm
Exterior length 3300 mm
Exterior width 1550 mm
Exterior height 1570 mm
Ground clearance 400 mm
Wheel-base 2500 mm
Wheel-span 1415 mm
Wheels R15/80/135
Wheels arches R325
Turning radius 10 000 mm
Aerodynamic drag coefficient 0,25 Cd
Frontal Area 1,8 m 2
CdA 0,45 m 2
Based on the design requirements given in table 4.1 the design process can be
classified as high level and radical. The reasons for this classification are
discussed below. At this moment European family cars usually weigh about
1200 kg, even the two seats Smart has an empty mass of 720 kg. The design
requirement to produce a sustainable car with an empty mass of less than 400
kg is what makes the design radical. This is radical in a functional way.
Structurally, it was not certain whether the normal configuration could be used
or not, whether some parts of the normal configuration could be used was
something that had to be decided on during the design process.
A concept or prototype of a complete product is, automatically, a high level
design process. At the lower levels, especially on component level, some parts
can be (adapted) existing parts; other parts will need to be specially designed. For
example, during the design process the decision was taken to use an existing
engine (car or motorbike engine) because developing a new engine would be too
time and money consuming. This engine could, according to the DutchEVO
design team, then be combined with a light hybrid system to recover braking
energy. A sketch of the DutchEVO, made during the design process, is shown in
figure 4.1.