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Revision as of 05:25, 19 February 2007

Executive Summary:

The primary purpose of the Automatic Card shuffler originally was to take away the burden of one shuffling cards in a card game. What usually takes place in a card game is that players would take turns shuffling the deck of cards in order to rearrange the previous order that the cards were in. This action was to ensure that each player recieves an even hand when the cards are dealt out evenly. Now assuming that we live in an ideal world, the cards would be shuffled evenly so that neither player wouldn't have an unfair advantage. In reality the chances of the cards being shuffled evenly on a consistent basis are very slim. One factor could be the simple fact that some people cannot shuffler as good as others. Furthermore some people cannot not shuffle at all. As a result, there isn't really a pattern that the deck of cards follow after a person shuffles them due to human error. The Automatic Card shuffler serves if not to completely eliminate, then reduce this error as much as possible. This would be very important for a casino setting because players are not allowed to shuffle the cards. In this case the players wouldn't have to feel that the dealer is trying to cheat them because the card shuffler would eliminate that speculation.

Customer Needs/Requirements

There are certain customer needs which the automatic card shuffler should perform: speed of shuffling, battery life, the noise when shuffling and adequate level of mixing. It has to be carefully designed, as they can generate biased shuffles otherwise cards produced from automatic shuffling machines is the subject of considerable interest to both gamblers and casinos.

In terms of customer, we found that most of the users expect to save time from shuffling during the card game. In addition, for continuous use over the maximum amount of time the battery, the design of the automatic card shuffler needs to be light-weight, so the user can bring or move it when them personally from place to place. Easy to use is also one of the expectations from users. People use the card shuffler to save their time from shuffling (one or more decks), the procedure of working with product should take less effort than doing by hand. While the shuffler is processing, the sound produced by the shuffler needs to be as low as possible to ensure the game quality.

The automatic card shuffler mimicked people, cutting the deck and interlacing cards to perform riffle shuffles. Typically, an automatic card shuffler pulls cards one by one from the bottom or top of a deck and slides each card into one. Most of the card games require cards to be shuffled randomly which means the shuffler has to perform great randomness of final product. If the cards aren't properly shuffled and their distribution isn't truly random, the advantage could be even greater

List of Customer Needs and Product Requirements

Function:

• Shuffles cards (playing cards).
• Speed up the shuffling process.
• Shuffles cards for people who can't shuffle.
• Eliminates the possibility of someone cheating whiles shuffling.
• Stacks the cards nicely after shuffling.
• Speeds up the game (people don't have to take turns shuffling

Inputs/Outputs

• Cards (Inputs)
• Batteries (Inputs)
• Tray (Inputs)
• Shuffled cards (Output)
• Cards stacked neatly in tray (Output)

Use

• Place Batteries (2) in the card shuffler.
• set the card shuffler on the table.
• Set the card shuffler to where everyone can see.
• devide the deck of cards in half.
• place one half on the right of the card shuffler.
• Place the other half of cards on the left.
• Place tray in card shuffler.
• Tray goes in the bottom slot of the card holder.
• Press the button to initiate shuffling process.
• Botton located at the bottom in front of the tray slot.
• When shuffling is complete, remove tray and retrieve cards.

Different Use/ Use Scenarios

• Poker
• Spades (game)
• Speed (game)
• Parties

List of Parts

Part #	Part name	QTY	Function
001	Small Screws	4	Holds top plastic screen in place	Small Screw
002	Medium Screws	3	Located on bottom of case in triangular formation, under the card tray	Medium Screw
003	Large Screws	8	Located along other perimeter on botom of case, to hold case together/hold the gear train case	Image:Team04 LargeScrew LargeScrew.JPG
004	Clear Top Cover	1	Located on top of case in between card decks, provides slot for them to slide through. Also, keeps the rest of the deck in place while shuffling is in progress	Image:Team04 TopCover.JPG Clear Top Cover
005	Operating Button	1	Contacts metal piece beneath to complete circuit allowing both motors to operate	Operating Button
006	Circuit Wire	5	Setup in series and connected to the battery. Circuit completed when part 005 is pushed and held down	Circuit Wire
007	Motor	2	Initiates the power to make the gears rotate in order to shuffle the cards	Motor
008	Rubber Gripper	2	Increases the friction force to grab the cards into the tray	Rubber Gripper
009	Spur Gear	2	Changes the direction of gear rotation and creates more torque	Spur Gear
010	Offset Gear	2	Makes contact with deck of cards from underneath	Sector Gear
011	Gear Case	1	Covers and protects the gear train mechanism	Image:Team04 GCase.JPG Gear Case
012	Battery Compartment	1	Transfers the electrical power into mechanical power	Battery Compartment

Functional Operations

Before we tested the card shuffler, we took it apart in order for us to see how the shuffler functions and made the following assumptions:
1. There are two gear train systems.

• One motor is driven by batteries, which in return powers the other motor.
• The two motors are connected to each other by two wires.

2. Each gear train has its own motor.
3. For syncronization, there are two modified gears, both of which have teeth on some portion of itself.
4. One of the modified gears has its teeth pointing down, while the other modified gear has its teeth pointing up.
5. We assumed this was important because when a person places cards on both the left and right side of the card platform, one card would be lifted up while the other would be touching the surface of the card platform.
6. The card that remains in contact with the surface of the card platform is carried by a fat gear that is driven by a motor when the user presses the shuffle button.
7. This motor is powered by two "C" batteries.
8. After this card carried into the center slot with the tray, the modified gears are now in alternate positions, and the same process is repeated for the other card on the other side of the card shuffler.

Design for Environment

Our major area about the impact of environment and the automatic card shuffler are batteries and the plastic body decompositions after throwing away.

In order to run the current automatic card shuffler, users will need to insert two "C" batteries. Most users will choose the non-rechargeable batteries to save the cost. After using for couple times, we need to buy and change another two batteries. Batteries contain hazardous materials that may get into the environment. For example, cadmium and lead enter soil and water from landfills and enter the air via municipal waste incinerators. Recycling the batteries has become an issue to normal users since it is not as easy as a can of soda. Batteries can be recycled at the household Waste collection facility which may not be convenient for most users. This will result people just throw it directly without recycling. Using the automatic card shuffler without batteries will be a positive impact for the environment.

After users decide not to use the automatic card shuffler and throw it away, that is another potential to takes up space in landfills and become harmful to environment. Since plastics are so durable that they will not rot or decay as do natural products such as those made of wood. As a result great amounts of discarded plastic products accumulate in the environment as waste. It also presents the additional problem of being difficult to burn. We think by using the better material to help by producing less pollution is an important are for our product

Failure Mode and Effects Analysis

The following chart emphasizes the most sever failures that can occur with the product. Although none of these failures could cause a complete termination of the functionality of the product, they would cause the user to become completely dissatisfied with the product, thus coercing the user to stop the usage of the card shuffler. The point of this analysis is to ensure that the user is free from as many annoyances that would cause he /she to stop using the product.