(Mechanical) Design Process

So there's a new game out. You've been assigned a team and a robot or mechanism to design. You've been given unlimited funds limited funds and resources. How do you get from no ideas to a working concept?

(While this is a mostly mechanical guide, the core principles apply to any engineering discipline.)

1. Understand the problem.

2. Brainstorm every idea you can.

3. Sketch some designs. Build sketch models. Do some (very quick!) CAD.

4. Filter out the best ideas.

5. Develop the ideas. Flesh out the mechanisms until you understand the major elements of your design.

6. Prototype and iterate, iterate, iterate, repeat, and iterate.

Build!

Evaluate!