3 ms·

I imagine it will vary widely depending on the complexity of something. The more complex something is the more likely you fail to predict some things accurately

I imagine it will vary widely depending on the complexity of something. The more complex something is the more likely you fail to predict some things accurately, so based on this conversation it's difficult to tell whether someone is exceptional or not, as exceptional would be when you are able to do more complex designs accurately than most other folks.

xyzzy123 5y ago
I find when I imagine mechanical designs I can get a reasonable intuitive grasp of mechanism and kinetics. It might be the way my mind works but for me I "feel" the parts more then see them. But I can't visualise with accurate dimensions, and for me I find that matters a lot in terms of manufacturability. Even very simple designs I usually end up making several iterations on paper or in cad. It's only after dimensioning, doing some basic calculations (say, will this bit be strong enough), matching to available stock and parts, double checking the tooling I have to make sure I can actually make the things I've drawn, looking for interference and so on that I know what the design is really going to look like. People who are really good, I think, naturally design parts to minimise setup time and with the jigs and workholding they'll need to make them in mind. I'm not there yet... I still snooker myself on workholding or order of operations reasonably often.
aidenn0 5y ago
Here's a story I heard about how people fail to imagine things they do daily: Have someone who knows how to drive sit in a chair, close their eyes and pretend to be driving. Ask them to make a lane change. Most people will turn the wheel slightly, then straighten it. A real lane change requires turning the wheel in the opposite direction to keep from moving past the lane you merge into. Being able to see details like that in your head is highly exceptional, IMO.

xyzzy123 5y ago

I find when I imagine mechanical designs I can get a reasonable intuitive grasp of mechanism and kinetics. It might be the way my mind works but for me I "feel" the parts more then see them. But I can't visualise with accurate dimensions, and for me I find that matters a lot in terms of manufacturability. Even very simple designs I usually end up making several iterations on paper or in cad. It's only after dimensioning, doing some basic calculations (say, will this bit be strong enough), matching to available stock and parts, double checking the tooling I have to make sure I can actually make the things I've drawn, looking for interference and so on that I know what the design is really going to look like. People who are really good, I think, naturally design parts to minimise setup time and with the jigs and workholding they'll need to make them in mind. I'm not there yet... I still snooker myself on workholding or order of operations reasonably often.

aidenn0 5y ago

Here's a story I heard about how people fail to imagine things they do daily: Have someone who knows how to drive sit in a chair, close their eyes and pretend to be driving. Ask them to make a lane change. Most people will turn the wheel slightly, then straighten it. A real lane change requires turning the wheel in the opposite direction to keep from moving past the lane you merge into. Being able to see details like that in your head is highly exceptional, IMO.