#all math is correct (i made google sheets do it) but the numbers inputted are subject to human error

[stormseattle]

Mentioned I was working on something, this isn't that. But here are some fun facts I found while digging through the WNBA website and doing far too much math!

Years of experience DO count years where a player played on hardship contracts, but NOT a year where a player played no minutes in the W.

The Wings have the most rookies of any current team with 5 (Jaelyn Brown, Lou Lopez Senechal, Jacy Sheldon, Stephanie Soares, and Sevgi Uzun)

To go along with that, the Wings have the least years of experience between all of their players---35 years between them. The Fever is second-last with 38.

The team with the MOST experience is the Sun with 71 years total (thanks to the vets that Alexis Morris wanted to 'hang it up')

The Sky have half of all 4th year players in the league currently

Alysha Clark is the only 12th year player, Courtney Vandersloot is the only 14th year player, DeWanna Bonner is the only 15th year player, and Diana Taurasi is of course the only 20th (!!) year player

Much more detailed info & stats (plus a couple of my observations) under the cut bc I don't need to be the WNBA color of the sky post

Most experienced player on each team:

Mercury: Diana Taurasi (19 years of experience)

Sun: DeWanna Bonner (14)

Liberty: Courtney Vandersloot (13)

Dream: Tina Charles (12)

Storm: Nneka Ogwumike (12)

Aces: Alysha Clark (11)

Lynx: Kayla McBride (10)

Sparks: Layshia Clarendon (10)

Mystics: Stefanie Dolson (10)

Wings: Natasha Howard (10)

Sky: Elizabeth Williams (9)

Fever: Damiras Dantas & Erica Wheeler (both 8)

Total Experience Years:

Storm: 56

Dream: 60

Sky : 46

Sun: 71

Fever: 38

Liberty: 52

Mystics: 48

Wings: 35

Aces: 65

Sparks: 46

Lynx: 45

Mercury: 65

Most of each experience group:

Most Rookies: Wings (5)

Most 2nd Year Players: Lynx (4)

Most 3rd Year Players: Dream, Fever, Mystics (3)

Most 4th Year Players: Sky (3)

Most 5th Year Players: Liberty, Wings (2)

Most 6th Year Players: Aces, Lynx (4)

Most 7th Year Players: Sky, Mystics, Sparks (2)

Most 8th Year Players: Dream, Sun, Liberty, Mystics (2)

Most 9th Year Players: Mercury (3)

Most 10th Year Players: Storm, Aces (2)

Number of players in each experience group:

Rooks: 20

2nd Year: 20

3rd Year: 16

4th Year: 6

5th Year: 8

6th Year: 18

7th Year: 12

8th Year: 9

9th Year: 12

10th Year: 7

11th Year: 6

12th Year: 1 (Alysha Clark)

13th Year: 2 (Nneka Ogwumike, Tina Charles)

14th Year: 1 (Courtney Vandersloot)

15th Year: 1 (DeWanna Bonner)

20th Year: 1 (Diana Taurasi)

I'm hypothesizing the drop for 4th year and 5th year players is because of COVID. It's interesting that there's the same number of 4th year players and 11th year players.

The Lucky Covid 4th Year WNBA Survivors:

Chennedy Carter (Sky)

Dana Evans (Sky)

Michaela Onyenwere (Sky)

DiJonai Carrington (Sun)

Temi Fagbenle* (Fever)

Aari McDonald (Sparks)

*Temi wasn't drafted in 2020 or 2021, but she does have 3 years of experience so she's part of this category. She was drafted 35th overall in the 2016 draft.

[yeheun-hcde451]

A3: Laser Cut Elephant Shelf - 2½D Object Prototyping

Process Date: January 17, 2017 - January 26, 2017

2½D Object Prototype Definition

The dimension we are required to make is actually referred to as 2½ D, for two reasons. The first reason is that we are creating object prototypes that are a mix between creating a 2D and 3D object. In other words, we are using 2D shapes to create a 3D puzzle. The other reason has to do with using laser cutters, which can be used to cut both 2D objects, such as cardboards and mat boards, along with 3D objects, like glass and thick materials.

According to Prof. Kientz, “the ½ refers to the fact that a laser cutter can operate in more than just 2 dimensions, in that we can cut through solid sheets, but we aren't creating a 3D model.”

Assignment Scenario

For this project, you will design and build an animal (real or imagined) 3D toy puzzles. Your design must satisfy these 5 requirements:

must be cut from a single sheet of 18" x 24" chipboard

must not use any glue, tape, or other fastening materials to assemble

must be able to be dissembled into pieces that can be stored flat and transported (as in a backpack)

animal must be made of at least 4 individual pieces

must make use of 1) full cuts and 2) etching and/or rastering (e.g., adding stripes or spots on an animal)

Product Idea/Design

Prior to figuring out what I wanted to design, some decisions I had to make were what kind of animal I would design, how big it would be, and how many pieces it would require. After digging through google search and Pinterest, looking for the perfect “laser cut animals”, I ran across this design, which stood out to me the most since it was versatile. Not only would I be creating an animal, but a tool that would hold books and pencils. However, the real challenge would be to draw out the correct dimensions, in making my product replicate the picture as much as possible.

Initial Sketches and Notes

I went through four distinctive iterations. The first step involved me sketching out the shapes, laying out parts of the elephant in order to visualize the different pieces on as a 2D item. It also enabled me to plan out where to make the slits on the parts, in order to have all the pieces fit holistically.

The second step involved sketching out the parts to scale on a regular printer paper then cutting them out. In other words, it was the prototype of the prototype of the prototype. By doing so, I was able to trim along the curves and edges for the shapes to fit accordingly and get an idea of how well it will work. It was an easy way for me to measure without having to use math, though it did require multiple trial and errors.

After I finally figured out the exact shapes and cuts the shapes on paper, scanned parts and drew outlines using Adobe Illustrator’s pen tool. Once converting that into the Rhino software, I did a test run using a scrap board, to see if the parts were cut as I wanted on the laser cutter. It was a good thing I did a test run because I found out that I mixed up the colors that indicated which how the laser would cut the lines. As shown on the image below, I accidentally colors the fold line to red and the slit cut line to blue, when it should have been the other way around. In doing so, the poor elephant’s ears got cut off and the slit was just an indented line, making me cut it with scissors. It was an easy mistake, but without the test run, I would not have been able to catch the mistake.

2½D Object Prototype

After a series of pre-prototyping and implementing, I created a final version of the product, trying to make it the best version as well. I tried to finalize scaling the pieces, in addition to adding some detail onto the elephant.

Analysis

Overall, the object prototype was found to be effective. The following are the results and input I received from users who were involved in trying to assemble the pieces together, and potentially make the products better.

What about the design worked well?

The pieces were distinct and big enough to tell apart from each other, as opposed other products with smaller, detailed pieces that could have either gotten lost or confuse participants putting them together.

Slits created on each part was measured well to hold everything together. I think the biggest reason for this success was from creating a paper prototype and manually measuring out the slit length and width, before converting and calculating them on the software, to be laser cut.

What about the design needed improvement?

The scaling was a little off (some parts were not as big or cut the right size) and measurements were not as precise as I wanted them to be. In other words, the size of the pieces did not replicate the photo to reach its full desired level.

Should number the parts and/or have order of instructions on each piece, maybe located next to the slits. At the same time, the pieces should have been straightforward enough for the participants to put together without hesitation.

Conclusion

The purpose of this assignment is to give me an experience with designing and building a 2½D object using a laser cutter. Since I already had prior experience with using the laser cutter, I tried to challenge myself by creating something more detail-oriented. So far, I think this prototype was the most time-consuming out of all, mostly due to the various amount of steps that needed to be taken in order to prefect the precise measurements. Although the final product could have been better, I am happy with the version I came up with.