[Nia_Beth]

So I'm an A2 student and budding engineer wanting to do a meaningful project creating something that will benefit people in someway, but I'm having trouble with a good idea that has an element of mechanics and possibly electronics.

What everyday problems do people have that they feel should get solved? For example a cooling system for a laptop - mine overheats like crazy!!

[Dmon1Unlimited]

My headphones get tangled when I take them out of my pocket. It's as if they made it their life's purpose to annoy me

Spoiler:

Show

Though I already know how to solve it, I'm surprised retractable coil headphones aren't mainstream

[Herr]

(Original post by Nia_Beth)
So I'm an A2 student and budding engineer wanting to do a meaningful project creating something that will benefit people in someway, but I'm having trouble with a good idea that has an element of mechanics and possibly electronics.

What everyday problems do people have that they feel should get solved? For example a cooling system for a laptop - mine overheats like crazy!!

Try designing something that would lower energy cost like your heating bill for example

[SofiaSalento]

Getting back pain from studying - all the time

Never know what to wear - haha would love a clothing match computer thing like in the film 'Clueless'!

Dropping my phone, although it hasn't broken.....yet

Scratching CD's

Loosing things


I don't know if that helps an engineering student but hopefully it can generate some ideas!

[clarusblue]

Some kind of keyring that makes a noise and flashes etc if you press a button.

So if you lose them somewhere in the house you can press the button and find them.

[gribeiro94]

Oldie but goodie: how obsolete standard door keys are. No one has come up with a good alternative yet.

Just walk around and think of what frustrates you and other people - if you stimulate your mind to have ideas you'll have quite a few at the end of the day.

[PinkMobilePhone]

(Original post by clarusblue)
Some kind of keyring that makes a noise and flashes etc if you press a button.

So if you lose them somewhere in the house you can press the button and find them.

Keyring key-finders have been done a VERY long time ago. You've never heard of them before? They're always in bettaware catalogues.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tobar-Keyfin.../dp/B000246JIQ

[clarusblue]

(Original post by PinkMobilePhone)
Keyring key-finders have been done a VERY long time ago. You've never heard of them before? They're always in bettaware catalogues.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tobar-Keyfin.../dp/B000246JIQ

I genuinely thought I'd thought of something groundbreaking haha

[geetar]

I'd love to be able to teleport to places, rather than having to drive/walk/take the train, etc. Maybe you could look into that

[Jellytots122]

The laptop overheating thing is a big problem with me... Maybe a special icepack for a laptop, you put it under it and then put it in the fridge/freezer to re-cool it?

[carnationlilyrose]

(Original post by clarusblue)
I genuinely thought I'd thought of something groundbreaking haha

There used to be a type which responded to you whistling for it. A teaching colleague had one and you can imagine what happened when the kids found out. It responded to quite a few different noises... She got rid of it really, really quickly.

You might consider some of the lifehack requests on reddit:
http://www.reddit.com/r/lifehacks/

[Formerly Helpful_C]

(Original post by SofiaSalento)
Getting back pain from studying - all the time

Sort your posture out.

[johnaulich]

I'd LOVE to be able to phone my wallet. The number of times I've almost attempted. What's that number again... oh, yeah.

[Nia_Beth]

Thank you guys for the suggestions - I went to the lesson today and did a mindmap of ideas and problems.
My teacher recommends that I incorporate mechanisms to achieve the higher mark (especially for Engineering).
One other idea is based on an actual problem I have - I have three guitars which are stored in various places in my bedroom and take up quite a lot of space individually - I was thinking of a guitar tripod thing that could hold up to three guitars, that had a mecahnism so it could collapse and be stored when not in use, and had a compartment (with smart grease, like a glove compartment) that could store my picks- cus I ALWAYS lose them.

What do you guys think?

And I still like the idea of the laptop cooler, and if I were a qualified engineer with the technology, I'd sooo make the key finder, but integrate it with an app on your phone so you could send a signal to it
Thanks looooaadsssss . You guys are amazing

[gribeiro94]

(Original post by Nia_Beth)
Thank you guys for the suggestions - I went to the lesson today and did a mindmap of ideas and problems.
My teacher recommends that I incorporate mechanisms to achieve the higher mark (especially for Engineering).
One other idea is based on an actual problem I have - I have three guitars which are stored in various places in my bedroom and take up quite a lot of space individually - I was thinking of a guitar tripod thing that could hold up to three guitars, that had a mecahnism so it could collapse and be stored when not in use, and had a compartment (with smart grease, like a glove compartment) that could store my picks- cus I ALWAYS lose them.

What do you guys think?

And I still like the idea of the laptop cooler, and if I were a qualified engineer with the technology, I'd sooo make the key finder, but integrate it with an app on your phone so you could send a signal to it
Thanks looooaadsssss . You guys are amazing

You've just discovered how the creative process is like, now you need to keep it alive.

I love the tripod idea, yet I'd be surprised if that didn't exist already. Nonetheless, if you can make it better, it's still original. Best of luck man.

[truechristian91]

laptop heating or earphone tangling would be two great ones

[little_wizard123]

How do people not realise that key finding devices or laptop coolers haven't been invented yet!?

The alternative to a door key is brilliant though.

[Nia_Beth]

(Original post by gribeiro94)
You've just discovered how the creative process is like, now you need to keep it alive.

I love the tripod idea, yet I'd be surprised if that didn't exist already. Nonetheless, if you can make it better, it's still original. Best of luck man.

Thanks for your feedback. I did some research and found some really basic and plain tripods, for mainly guitars. I'm intending on making something similar, but that can store other instruments, such as claranets, trumpets etc, and also hold my guitar picks and drum sticks. One issue I have is whether this idea is marketable, so I'm gonna call a music store and ask them tomorrow, and also if there enough multiinstrumentalists for this to be a large scale problem tbh.

I mean, are there any multiinstrumentalists on this thread???

[avéry]

I can't remember which show it was, but a character mentioned a service that you ring when you've lost your mobile. You put in a number and it makes your phone ring even when it's on silent.