Thoughts on The Importance of Frugal Engineering

This week the most salient article for me was, “The Importance of Frugal Engineering”. The reason this piece struck me the most was because I had a really hard time with the underlying concept of frugal engineering. In order to understand the concept better, I took apart the functionality of the Tata Motors Nano. My natural inclination was just to take my understanding of what a car looks like and how it functions and trim the cost down with these ideas in mind (and this is the exact antithesis of frugal engineering). Many of the innovations from this vehicle are not ideas I would have considered because I have a rigid idea of how a vehicle should look and function. For example, I wouldn’t have suggested removing the adjustable capabilities from car seats because in my mind car seats have to be adjustable. Continuing with that mindset, cars must have two windshield wipers and two side view mirrors. These car “must haves” are simply expectations for a car, not necessarily the realities for how a car must always be built. Still, as Seghal, Dehoff, and Panneer suggest, the line between expectations for engineering a project and the possible realities for that projects are blurry, especially when approaching project with an understanding of what the project has looked like before, on a more developed market, or both.

While the frugal engineering projects the authors highlighted were intended for use in other countries, there is definitely a need for frugal engineering projects in the US. I chose to look into projects around a concept that has been a pain in my neck that last few weeks. Before coming to Heinz, I lived in rural Upstate NY, with limited internet access. Since, coming to Heinz, I have had no internet access (installation date is Friday… hooray).  For the last couple of weeks, I have joked about being of the grid, but much of rural United States is actually (permanently) off the grid due to a variety of reasons (internet cost, computer cost, lack of reasonable internet connection). A good remedy for this problem is RACHEL pi. It reminds me a bit of Raspberry pi. RACHEL pi  “servers include copies of educational websites as they existed in the recent past.  By storing copies of websites directly on RACHEL devices, no internet is required and there are no monthly subscription costs. When a RACHEL server is turned on, a RACHEL server emits a wireless signal… This signal however, only provides access to the copies of websites stored directly on the RACHEL device.  Any device with a web browser (a laptop, desktop, tablet, or smart phone) can connect to RACHEL's wireless signal.” (1) Currently, RACHEL pi has been utilized in the US as a mini library of educational texts to be used for prison education programs (2). 

1) RACHEL pi website - https://racheloffline.org/collections/rachel

2) Erasing Barriers to Technology in Prison Education - http://nwspecialcircumstances.org/