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The design should also take into account how it will be built. Ie will it be built by people that actually understand how the object they are building works, or do they not fully understand it ? Designing something from scratch (bottom-up approach) is a lot more difficult than just piecing together a set of parts (top-down approach). An example of a top-down approach is what William Kamkwamba {{W|William Kamkwamba}} did when building his wind turbine (he used commercial parts). However in practice, it often yields little efficient machines/objects. The only upside (besides being less difficult to do) is that it is also less labour-intensive, and often cheaper (ie parts can be attained from local salvage sites (ie junkyards, municipal waste sites,...) Designing something yourself, and having each part purpose-built ensures that optimal efficiency can be attained (ie in the wind turbine example, the dynamo/alternator would need to be sized according to the bladed rotors). | The design should also take into account how it will be built. Ie will it be built by people that actually understand how the object they are building works, or do they not fully understand it ? Designing something from scratch (bottom-up approach) is a lot more difficult than just piecing together a set of parts (top-down approach). An example of a top-down approach is what William Kamkwamba {{W|William Kamkwamba}} did when building his wind turbine (he used commercial parts). However in practice, it often yields little efficient machines/objects. The only upside (besides being less difficult to do) is that it is also less labour-intensive, and often cheaper (ie parts can be attained from local salvage sites (ie junkyards, municipal waste sites,...) Designing something yourself, and having each part purpose-built ensures that optimal efficiency can be attained (ie in the wind turbine example, the dynamo/alternator would need to be sized according to the bladed rotors). | ||
A method in between both is the use of kits or manuals. Kits are a sort of top-down approach (uses pre-made components), yet as the components are all pre-made specifically for a design (rather than coming from different devices) it still yields a efficient design. | A method in between both is the use of kits or manuals. Kits are a sort of top-down approach (uses pre-made components), yet as the components are all pre-made specifically for a design (rather than coming from different devices) it still yields a efficient design. Manuals are a sort of bottom-up approach. This as the device needs to be made entirely yourself, but the manual still explains exactly how this needs to be done (and thus, little understanding of the object one wishes to built needs to be had by the builder). Appropriate technology organisations could supply in both. | ||
== See also == | == See also == |