Component 3 Creating a Prototype and Testing Plan - Key Terms

Term

Definition

Accuracy

1. The closeness of a measurement to the actual value of the quantity being measured. 2. The condition or quality of being true, correct, or exact; precision; exactness.

Accurate

Correct in all details.

American National Standards Institute (ANSI)

1. A private, non-profit organization that coordinates the development and use of voluntary consensus standards in the United States. 2. The acronym for the America National Standards Institute.

American Standard Testing Methods (ASTM)

American Standard Testing Methods (ASTM): A testing method that defines the way a test is performed. The result of the test may be used to assess compliance with a specification. The ASTM is an international standards-developing organization that develops and publishes voluntary technical standards using a consensus process for a wide range of materials, products, systems, and services.

Analysis

A systematic examination of a problem or complex entity in order to provide new information from what is already known.

Calibrate

To check, adjust, or determine by comparison with a standard.

Change Order

Documentation of a change to a design after the design has been finalized.

Construction

The systematic act or process of building, erecting, or constructing buildings, roads, or other structures.

Control

An arrangement of chemical, electronic, electrical, and mechanical components that commands or directs the management of a system.

Control Group

In a multiple group experiment, the control group is the group which is tested without any modifications.  The control group exists to validate the changes which may occur in other groups that are tested using a proposed hypothesis.

Data

1. Raw facts and figures that can be used to draw a conclusion. 2.Information organized for analysis or used as the basis for a decision; numerical information in a form suitable for processing by computer.

Data Element

An individual value or bit of information.

Data Set

A group of individual values or bits of information that are related in some way or have some common characteristic or attribute.

Dependant Variable

In research, variables that are a consequence of or dependent upon some outside condition. 

Evolution

A gradual development.

Experimentation

1. The act of conducting a controlled test or investigation. 2. The act of trying out a new procedure, idea, or activity.

Fabricate

To make by art or skill and labor.

Finite Element Analysis (FEA)

A computerized numerical analysis technique used for solving differential equations to primarily solve mechanical engineering problems relating to stress analysis.

Formula

A mathematical relationship or rule expressed in symbols.

Frequency

The rate at which something occurs over a particular period or in a given sample.

Function

The action or actions that an item is designed to perform.

Functioning Prototype

A model intended to finalize the operational elements of your invention before it goes into production.

Hand Tool

A tool powered by human muscle rather than a motor or engine.

Histogram

A graph of vertical bars representing the frequency distribution of a set of data.

Incremental Testing

Testing components or subsystems in isolation that will be integrated into a larger system.

Independent Variable

Independent Variable: A factor that is measurably separate and distinct from the dependent variable but that may still relate to the dependent variable.

Interpolate

The process of using a graph of collected data points within its own range of data to predict an outcome, in lieu of actually performing the experiment at the interpolated value.

Margin of Error

A statistic expressing the amount of random sampling error in a survey's results. The larger the margin of error, the less confidence one should have that the poll's reported results are close to the "true" figures; that is, the figures for the whole population.

Material

The tangible substance, such as chemical, biological, or mixed that goes into the makeup of a physical object. One of the basic resources used in a technological system.

Material Cost Analysis

The process, whether explicitly or implicitly, of considering the total expected material costs against the total expected benefits of using one type of material over another or in using one or more actions in order to choose the best or most profitable option.

Median

Referring to the middle term or mean of the middle two terms of a series of values arranged in order of magnitude.

Mock-up

Also referred to as an Appearance Model. A model or replica of a machine or structure for instructional or experimental purposes.

Mode

The value that occurs most frequently in a given data set.

Model

A visual, mathematical, or three-dimensional representation in detail of an object or design, often smaller than the original. A model is often used to test ideas, make changes to a design, and to learn more about what would happen to a similar, real object.

Normal Distribution

Normal Distribution: A function that represents the distribution of variables as a symmetrical bell-shaped graph.

Optimization

The process of fine-tuning data, software, processes, or designs to increase efficiency, improve performance, and produce the best possible results.

Output

The results of the operation of any system.

Parameter

A fact or circumstance that restricts how something is done or what can be done.

Pneumatics

A type of fluid power that uses compressed air or other neutral gases.

Power Tool

A tool, usually itself a machine and usually power-driven, used for machining. Examples include hand-held electric drills, lathes, milling machines, shapers, planers, hobbers, drill presses, jig borers, and others.

Qualitative

A description or distinction of an object or idea that is based on some quality rather than on some quantity.

Qualitative Data

Values that possess names or labels.

Quality Control

An aggregate of activities (as design analysis and inspection for defects) designed to ensure adequate quality, especially in manufactured products.

Quantitative

A description or distinction of an object or idea that is a measurement based on some quantity or number rather than on some quality.

Quantitative Data

Values that represent a measurable quantity.

Range

The measure of variation that is the difference between the highest and lowest scores.

Refinement

The act, or the result of refining a design or design idea; the removal of impurities or a high-class style improvement.

Reliability

1. A quality of a measurement indicating the degree to which the measure is consistent; that is, over repeated measurements would give the same result. 2. The probability of satisfactory operation of the product in a given environment over a specified time interval.

Repeatability

The property or quality of a test to give consistent results in repeated measurements.

Safety

The condition or feeling of being safe; security; certainty.

Sample

Portion, piece, or segment that is representative of a whole. A set of elements drawn from and analyzed to estimate the characteristics of a population.

Scale Model

An enlarged or reduced representation of an object that is usually intended for study purposes.

Skill

An ability that has been acquired by training or experience.

State of the Art

The current upper limit of technical development in the field being considered.

Statistical Analyses

The mathematics of the collection, organization, and interpretation of numerical data. The employment of statistics or the principles of statistics.

Statistics

Collection of methods for planning experiments, obtaining data, organizing, summarizing, presenting, analyzing, interpreting, and drawing conclusions based on data.

System

A group of interacting, interrelated, or interdependent elements or parts that function together as a whole to accomplish a goal.

Test

Examination, evaluation, observation, or trial used (under actual or simulated environmental or operating conditions) to determine and document capabilities, characteristics, effectiveness, reliability, and/or suitability of a material, product, or system.

Test Criteria

Benchmarks or standards against which test procedures and outcomes are compared. The plural of criterion is criteria.

Test Procedure

A particular method in which a product or piece of equipment is placed under every day or extreme conditions and is examined for its proper function, durability, etc.

Test Reliability

The degree to which an experiment or evaluation procedure gives consistent results each time it is employed.

Test Validity

The degree to which a test procedure measures what it was designed to measure.

Tool

A device that is used by humans to complete a task.

Trial and Error

A method of solving problems in which many solutions are tried until errors are reduced or minimized.