Laser Triangulation for 3D Shape Estimation - Essay Example

Laser Triangulation for 3D Shape Estimation Introduction The project was designed to bring forth a low cost system that is capable of utilizing laser triangulation for 3D shape estimation and inspection of simple components. In designing this project, the groups went through variety of process all harmonized together towards providing a cheap system. The background for the project was that as the result of coming up with a low cost system, the quality production by laser triangulation could be improved and the bulkiness during operation reduced. At the end of the project, the group was to come up with a device and test it on a few components to access dents within a system. Consequently, this case provides an in-depth critical and analytical overview of the processes followed in order to make the process a success. The areas to be accessed include the utilization of project planning and control methodologies, accounting structures, efficiency of team building and application of formal management techniques in making the project productive. 1. Project planning and control methodologies applied In the first phase of project planning, the team made use of Gantt chart to help in effective mapping out of the activities considered critical for the completion. In which case, the team considered Gantt chart useful in giving a chance for aligning important tasks, which could be carried out in parallel; and most of all aligning them sequentially. The tasks were aligned in order of their completion, with the first to be finished put as the first. In which case, the first task was Task analysis, meant to take one day, and the last was reporting, which was meant to go for almost half of the duration required to complete the project. Through the Gantt chart, the team was able to evaluate the trade off on the basis of scope, cost and time scales meant for the project. As the result, the team was able to manipulate the end date of each task and that of the overall project to suit the resource constraints. The group was efficient in controlling the resources used, through utilizing the three major aspect of a Gantt chart: predicted use of time, actual use of time, deadline for submission. In this scenario, the team determined the activities which were deemed to be finished after deadline; for instance, the team realized that they could not finish the final design in time to move on to the manufacturing state. Consequently, they had to apply proper management strategies to ensure that the slack time to be placed for completion of the project did not interfere with the completion of subsequent activities. The team preferred a Gantt chart for this case since it was easy to monitor and report on progress of the project, in pursuant with the aforementioned objective. Milestones and establishing control for the schedule was an important process in monitoring the project. Gantt also served as a basis for carrying out a critical path analysis in MS Project, to help in deducing the critical tasks that must be completed within the project. After mapping out all the activities, the group also integrated the use of Work Breakdown Structure to helping breaking the team’s work into manageable components. The WBS was used efficiently in defining the scope into manageable tasks that could help the group to better understand the project. The major categories defined include: Research, Design, Matlab and Report and from these the smaller deliverables for each were defined. The budget and work fraction for each deliverable was then calculated. However, in using the Gantt chart, the team had trouble in depicting the relative priorities of every activity. In addition, it was also not possible to assign priorities to resources incurred on each task. The Gantt chart and WBS was only able to assign priorities based on the float amount rather than depicting their value to the project. For instance, the team was able to succinctly indicate the time taken for a task but could not effectively communicate the number of people required for completion that particular task. As the result, the team considered this as an indication of ambiguous impression to stakeholder, especially if there was no other back up data; hence the need for alternative. Plausible alternative for Gantt Chart As the result of the aforementioned limitation of the applied process, the most suitable solution for the team was to use additional techniques besides Gantt Chart. Therefore, a precedence diagram (PERT chart) comes in as a major player that could have been used to smoothen the curves. In which case, by using a precedence diagram the team could have been able to isolate complex inter-dependencies existing between the tasks, in the process of identifying most critical activities. Further, the PERT also indicates relative priorities associated with each activity, hence communicating much information about the tasks. In summary, applying PERT chart in combination with Gantt chart is a proper alternative that the team could have used in identifying the tasks, whose completion are crucial for the project’s success. The PERT chart provides a graphical overview of the project’s activities in terms of network diagram made up nodes. The nodes are a representation of the events in the project. 2. Accounting structure In ensuring suitability of the planning process for designing a low cost system, the project’s team made use of various cost-efficient ways for the application of resources in the execution phases. The major strategy preferred by the team is application of horizontal analysis in evaluating options. One of the ways that team ensured use of suitable planning and accounting structure in execution of the project was through horizontal analysis. In which case, this involved identifying the various options available for executing each phase of the project and then comparing them against each other. From the total score obtained for each option, the team was able to determine the most appropriate option to increase the productivity. The project was intended to be as cost effective as possible through focusing on possibility of minimizing the cost and amount of materials used in the major sectors of the project. First, the team focused on ensuring that each task was completed by the cheapest and time-effective materials. As depicted in the project, by including a table of initial costs, cost per unit and manufacturing time per unit the team was able to prioritize the less cost oriented technique for manufacturing process. In which case, the team focused on comparison of the available options on the basis of the cost and time expected to be incurred by each of the options. For instance, in the manufacturing process, we researched a number of different glues and compared their strength, cost and suitability for use. Upon comparison we concluded that the most appropriate glue will be ‘Titebond iii’. This ensured that the most effective material was used in the completion of the process. The horizontal analysis was much preferred by the team for efficient application of the resources, since it gave a comprehensive evaluation of each option to be used by the team. This guaranteed the team that they were using the reliable, cheaper and readily available materials that could assure of the completion of the project. Given the presence of the materials we all needed, it was easy to compare them and choose the most effective. Even though the option of comparison proved suitable for the project, a limitation arises on the use of this strategy in controlling the actual costs. The process seems to be limited on evaluating the options towards achieving a cheaper costs while not focusing on controlling the budget used in the process. It does not allow the team to control the actual costs in the process of incurring during the project. In this way, the team could not determine the fate of the budget nor make any adjustment. This indicates that the team would need an alternative that could help in achieving less cost and at the same time controlling the costs. Proper alternative The other alternative that the team could use to achieve effective results, for the application of resources, is WBS in combination to project accounting. The team could have made use work breakdown structure to facilitate efficient and effective project accounting. In the first phase, the team could use WBS to identify the activities to be done by each individual within the group. The major processes identified to be identified by the team for cost efficiency are manufacturing and assembly sectors. The team is then to categorize these as the major project segments, which can then be divided into smaller segments to reach a status where it’s the responsibility of one individual. Intuitively, the WBS could help in providing a clear picture of the project, which then facilitate the accounting process of the project. Project accounting is suitable because it allowed the team to match the expended costs versus the projected cost related to a task. As the result, the match achieved allowed the group to ensure they were on budget. In which case, even as the project progresses the team could then use the cumulative costs associated with the already completed tasks to determine whether the project remains on budget. From this, the team have the chance of making adjustment to suit the available resources. This is a proper mechanism since it ensures that the team uses less cost and at the same time regulate the budget. 3. Approaches to Team building The team was much considerate of the working relationship towards achievement of the goals. The team consisted of various segments, as shown in the work breakdown structure, which forced the team to work diligently towards achieving the aim. By using the WBS, the project was split down into manageable pieces to allow each individual to contribute in a way. As an evidence, some were involved in initial designs, others in cost analysis and others in implementing the design. Together, all these worked towards the success of the project. More efficiency was achieved by working well as a group and by maintaining good communication within the team which allowed us to individually rotate roles when needed. This made it possible to accomplish our goals which we achieved every week. We were also able to problem solve well as a team which meant that any obstacle we needed to overcome, we would discuss them in our group meetings to decide what we needed to do to progress onto the next stage of the project. The team worked very well as a team and accomplished the aims of the project. We produced a main design, from 5 initial concepts. The MATLAB code was written and tested. We could see that the script was working because it produced an image which matched the scanned object. All aims that were set by the team were achieved throughout the week with the aid of a Gantt chart which showed the team where each group was focusing their time on. In terms of orientation, the team focused on people oriented approach to help in effective management of the members. In which case, the team members did not only focus on getting the project done but also focused on capacity building to ensure that each derived knowledge from the design process. This was a sensitive project which required various design process including CAD and the use of MATLAB. Consequently, every team member was willing to volunteer for every task, just to ensure that they derived knowledge from the technical aspects of these fields. Depending on the personal strengths and preferences we divided into two separate groups; ‘CAD’ and ‘MATLAB’. Further, those members who had more expertise in the design could also volunteer in the case where the assigned members were not capable of performing. The team preferred this approach, rather than task orientation because it ensured growth of each member in the process in a way that after completing the project each could have a chance of presenting on the same in front of a panel. Every team member was consulted in the process to avoid chances of conflicts arising. Limitation exhibited by team orientation Even though team orientation proved viable for the group, it was a limitation in effectively organizing completion of a task. Given that there was room for the volunteering every member was free to give hand on any task they deemed they could involve in. However, this acted as the source of problem. For instance, in some case some individuals volunteered to carry out particular tasks even in a case where other colleagues had more experience than them in the matter. As the result this acted as loophole for poor performance in some cases where people with less expertize volunteered in sensitive tasks. As an alternative, which could have helped in solving the situation with team orientation, the team should have adopted a balance between team orientation and task orientation. This could have involved not only availing chances for volunteer and listening to the team members but also ensuring that each member was doing what it takes to meet the project’s objective at an effective and minimal cost. In which case, each team member should have been scrutinized to ensure that they do the right thing. Personality assessment In order to ensure that every team member was involved effectively, the team applied the use of personality assessments. Personality assessment was instrumental, through team building sessions, in ensuring that there is complete understanding between the members. This was especially applied in the process of assigning responsibility to each member. The project was broken down into manageable chunks and in the process there was need to assign skillful members for each activity. Through personality assessment, the team derived significant value in determining how each member could be utilized and the best way in which the project manager could communicate with the team members towards getting best outcomes. In essence, this proved of use to the team since each member was consulted to determine the best part of the project they could blend in. As the result, there was efficiency in terms of harmonizing members in establishing a low cost and efficient project. Further, from personality assessment, the team leader was able to determine best way in which the team members could be effectively managed to work in the design of the low cost laser triangulation. Conflict management In the process of establishing a strong team, the group took the initiative of setting up succinct process of managing conflicts in the event that it happens. Intuitively, the team preferred this strategy of conflict management to ensure that there was clarity presented to the team on the course that should be taken to provide working solution. They considered that the storming phase is usually characterized with exchange of ideas especially where each of the team members contribute to the development of the project. In the case where conflict arose, each member was involved in providing solution to the ensuing situation while ensuring that the stake of each conflicting side is taken into consideration. This way the team could recover fast from an event of conflict occurring within the team and therefore start moving towards the major objective. 4. Project management techniques used The team members organized themselves by majorly following the provision of Agile Project Management. In which case, the Agile project management was preferable because it helped in modeling a successful working system for the design. In which case, the team worked together in achieving the aims of the project by chiefly rely on human interaction management whereby most of the activities were carried out through collaboration. Consequently, the team deemed it fit to use agile technique to implement the design of the system. Considering this, the team broke down the project into series of small activities, which were then executed based on the demand of the situation. For instance, the completion of the Initial Design (task) coincided with the completion of Analysis of Initial Designs (subsequent task) because the nature of the tasks were almost related. Hence, in the process of completing one task the team could have proceeded to executing another task provided it was related to the ongoing. This way, the team was able to save enough time for pursuing subsequent activities. Further, the team had time to frequently test the ongoing project developments at every stage, especially for the two: MATLAB and Design. This gave assurance of quality at the end, given that any deviation discovered within the tests were dealt with in the process. Financial planning In the process of making the project work, the team had to put in place a financial planning strategy that would ensure proper regulation of the available funds. The team considered that creation of a financial plan, depicting all the resources to be spent in designing the laser triangulation was of major function. In which case,. the team mainly relied on the use of Gantt Chart already aforementioned, in managing financial activities of the project. The Gantt Chart was the only reliable option at the moment since it could act as at least a substitute of complicated accounting tools. Given the nature of the project, having only one scope and scheduled for less than one year, the team did not see the need for a dedicated accounting system. In addition, there was no sufficient expertize to manage this accounting system. Consequently, a MS project was used to create a Gantt chart containing the various details of the project, the resources and the duration required to meet the needs. From these, the team outlined the various expenses related to the project and how the needs shall be met. This allowed for breakdown of the various activities into individual elements. A system was then created meant for allocating invoices for the various equipments meant carry out CAD. However, the team experienced slight inefficiencies with this type of financial planning given that at some point it was forced to leave out some crucial part of the project. For instance, the team was unable to undertake recalibration of the scale images because of the unlimited funds. it were for more funding, the team would furthered the project by making several improvements such as allowing for automatic recalibration, that would have been efficient in terms of time. Consequently, the team should have prepared before-hand for these type of shortages. Further, the team was also unable to finish the final design to move on to the manufacturing stage. This still can be contributed to loopholes in the financial planning processes. Alternatives In order to avoid problems arising as the result of inadequate funds, the team should have embraced contingency planning. As can be evident in the WBS diagram used by the team, the project involved many activities implying that their completion was unforeseen. The team should have expected some activities to slack down due to longer time taken and inadequate funds. Project contingency planning would have been a better alternative for the team in avoiding such unforeseen circumstances. Even though the Gantt chart with help of the WBS gave out a detailed description of the how the activities would be completed, it was not effective in preparing the team for fall-back actions. Through contingency planning, the team would have a leeway for time and funding to help in fixing or rectifying any deviating activity. For this instance, the team should have spared more funding and timing for the Design stage, given that it was the most involving as seen in the WBS. By reviewing the weight of each stage, contingency planning allows for the team to assign enough resources in case of emergency. Another better alternative was to seek for sponsorship before initiating the project. This could have been instrumental in assuring the team of availability of funds for supporting every stage. This could have involved drafting a project proposal to the intended sponsors, informing them about the nature of the project. Sponsorship serves as an effective alternative that could have been used in making financial planning a success. This is a form of fund security, which guarantees the completion of the project in a quality manner without issues of inadequate funds, as witnessed by the inability of the team to generate extra codes for recalibration of the scale images. 5. People management The series of activities within the project required every member’s participation, both in decision making and carrying out the activities. As the result, the team adopted the bottom-up approach to ensure that the project was successful. This entailed involving every member in the development of the project, from the start to completion. Through the number of meetings carried out at the end of each phase, the team had the opportunity of integrating each member in the process. As the result, the members were reminded of their responsibilities in completing the project. This was an instrumental step in making each to stick to the scope of the project. Further, the team created proper communication channel among its members ensuring that there was proper flow of information in the group. This aided in modeling a situation whereby everyone was aware of the required improvements and the working methods required for the road. Proper flow of information presented a platform whereby any inefficiency within the system was detected as fast as possible and thenceforth dealt with by all the team members. Further, the team also focused on offering support to each other whenever possible, especially in undertaking the technical parts of the project. The team was divided into two groups, with each group assigned to a specific task: one on CAD and other on MATLAB. By setting this two groups, the team achieved the required balance of work by ensuring that there was enough numbers for each task. In addition, the two groups could also interact with each other in cases of emergencies. In the process of undertaking these activities, each group offered valued support to each member ensuring that everyone was actively involved. Before assigning the tasks to each group, each member was evaluated on what type of skills they have in relation to the available tasks. This was instrumental for the success of the project since it ensured that each group has enough number of expertise that could aid in training and developing the other members of the group, in line with the subject activity. This was especially critical for the MATLAB activity whereby only few members had adequate knowledge to tackle the codes. Alternative for people management Even though the team was successful in implementing people management, rewarding achievements could have worked even better in meeting the major objective of the project. This would have set a platform for the two groups to compete against time and quality. The first group to finish their activity in time and quality manner could have been promised of a reward. As the result, much could have been realized from the groups and the individual members because the rewards serve in triggering motivation. Conclusion In conclusion, the team applied various project management strategies in the process of accomplishing the aforementioned objectives. First, the group was efficient in controlling the resources used, through utilizing the major aspects of a Gantt chart with aid of a Work Breakdown Structure. Still, by using a precedence diagram the team could have been able to isolate complex inter-dependencies existing between the tasks, in the process of identifying most critical activities. In addition, the project’s team made use of various cost-efficient ways for the application of resources in the execution phases by ensuring that the most efficient tools were used. The team worked together in achieving the aims of the project by chiefly rely on human interaction management whereby most of the activities were carried out through collaboration. Additionally, In the process of making the project work, the team had to put in place a financial planning strategy that would ensure proper regulation of the available funds. In effective people’s management, the team adopted the bottom-up approach to ensure that the project was successful. This entailed involving every member in the development of the project, from the start to completion. Read More