Exploiting Polarization: Designing More Effective Sunglasses
Students design prototype sunglasses to meet technical design objectives.Copyright 2014 Yinan Chen, Wikimedia Commons (public domain) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gfp-sunglasses.jpg
Students apply what they know about light polarization and attenuation (learned in the associated lesson) to design, build, test, refine and then advertise their prototypes for more effective sunglasses. Presented as a hypothetical design scenario, students act as engineers who are challenged to create improved sunglasses that reduce glare and lower light intensity while increasing eye protection from UVA and UVB radiation compared to an existing model of sunglasses—and make them as inexpensive as possible. They use a light meter to measure and compare light intensities through the commercial sunglasses and their prototype lenses. They consider the project requirements and constraints in their designs. They brainstorm and evaluate possible design ideas. They keep track of materials costs. They create and present advertisements to the class that promote the sunglasses benefits, using collected data to justify their claims. A grading rubric and reflection handout are provided.
Engineers are often challenged to create more effective and efficient versions of existing products and concepts, for instance the wireless network. Due to the demand from so many users and bandwidth-hungry applications, data sharing networks have increased from 3G to 4G LTE, and now a 5G data service is in development. This next-generation network aims to use 28 GHz to 64 GHz frequencies with shorter cellular coverage radii that tends to attenuate completely through humans and walls. In order to provide faster data sharing rates at an acceptable cost, engineers are researching ways to redirect the beams nearly instantaneously via antenna arrays on the end system and packet switches (routers). Engineers often use the engineering design process to conduct experiments to collect data as part of refining prototype designs and preparing them for release.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Apply their knowledge about light polarization and attenuation to design and create improved sunglasses that reduce glare and light intensity, while providing protection from UVA and UVB radiation.
- Apply engineering design principles to evaluate the effectiveness of designs.
- Understand the basic steps of the engineering design process.