Learning Targets
- Continue prototype construction and integrate key parts or subsystems.
- Check alignment, fit, stability, usability, or core function.
- Prepare the prototype for user feedback or performance testing.
IED Unit 5 • Lesson 5.10
Prototype Build Day 2: Integration and Refinement
Focus question: How do engineers refine a prototype so it is ready to be tested by a user or evaluated with data?
Mission Briefing
Today’s Plan
Use this page with the lesson presentation, your engineering notebook, and the tools or evidence assigned for Integrate and Refine the Prototype.
Success Looks Like
You can integrate subsystems, refine the prototype, and prepare it for testing.
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Opening Prompt
How do engineers refine a prototype so it is ready to be tested by a user or evaluated with data?
Connect your response to the decision, evidence, or quality standard required for Integrate and Refine the Prototype.
Reveal: useful engineering move
This lesson is ready to move forward when the evidence meets this standard: The prototype can be tested safely and the team can state its current operating limits.
Core Skill
What We Are Practicing
Integration is where separate parts become a system.
Refinement should focus on readiness for testing, not just appearance.
A prototype is test-ready when the team can explain what will be evaluated and why.
Your Task
Integrate and Refine the Prototype
Complete subsystem integration, improve usability and reliability, and prepare the design for formal testing.
- Complete remaining assembly and subsystem connections.
- Check fit, movement, access, and user interaction.
- Correct obvious safety or reliability problems.
- Identify what is ready for testing and what remains limited.
Quality check: The prototype can be tested safely and the team can state its current operating limits.
Lesson Interactive
Resolve Prototype Integration Problems
Match each interface problem to a corrective action, then identify the issue that must be handled first.
| Integration issue | Best corrective action |
|---|---|
| A wire flexes sharply where it enters the moving housing. | |
| The linkage rubs the frame near the end of travel. | |
| A fastener cannot be reached after the cover is installed. |
Correct the cause of each interface problem and prioritize user safety before appearance.
What You Will Submit
Test-Ready Prototype Check
Submission standard: The prototype can be tested safely and the team can state its current operating limits.
Resources
Lesson Resources
Lesson 5.10 PowerPoint
Use the lesson slides for guided practice, interactive checks, and the exit ticket.
Introduction to Engineering Design
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