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Paper helicopters?

Phil_Kay

Anyone got experience of using the paper helicopters experiment in teaching DoE? Do you know of any good resources on this? Any tips or tricks for making it as simple and effective as possible? Any things to avoid?

I've never done the experiment but have heard about it.

I would also be interested to know if you have any other simple, hands-on practical experiments for demonstrating DoE. The "statapult" is a classic but I am looking for something that does not require special equipment like that.

Thanks,

Phil

Accepted answers

ledi_trutna

I've used the paper helicopters many times to demonstrate DOE.

The template ususally has 4 designs on it, 2 levels of rotor length and 2 levels of rotor width.

You need scissors to cut along the lines to build 4 helicopters. Then you can decide to add another factor to make a simple 8 run 2 cubed design or not. The other factor to add might be one where you fold the bottom part, or add a paper clip to the bottom to weight it a bit. Or the third factor could be an operator who is dropping the helicopter.

Back when I did it, I had a supply of stop watches for measuring the time, but now most smart phones have a sufficient stop watch function.

As Mike said, dropping from a height is very important. If you just get the tallest person in the room to drop it, the flight time will be too short to get good measurements. I did have some classes where we had someone stand on a chair or a table (but this was not very safe or good to do). You are trying to maximize the flight time. There will be measurement issues like deciding when exactly to stop the stopwatch - when it touches the ground or when it stops spinning.

The exercise is best done in a team - you need at least 3 people per group, but could use more if you have to run the helicopters up and down stairs.

I'd be happy to talk to you more about how to set up the experiment for a group. How much time do you have to conduct it?

I'm assuming Mike can find his template - I have one somewhere but would need to scan it.

And fyi - I developed the catapult to be used in DOE classes and later SPC classes, so I could talk for days about how much fun that was! But yes - it requires a lot more stuff and space. (Someone I shared the catapult with renamed it the statapult and that name has stuck. My catapult design has many more continuous factors for doing DOE.)

All comments

MikeD_Anderson

I’ve done it. I’ve also got templates for the exercise. It’s fun. It’s best conducted in a stair well or open lobby where you can get really high up. I need to sanitize them. I’ll post them after I get them cleaned up.

M

ledi_trutna

I've used the paper helicopters many times to demonstrate DOE.

The template ususally has 4 designs on it, 2 levels of rotor length and 2 levels of rotor width.

Back when I did it, I had a supply of stop watches for measuring the time, but now most smart phones have a sufficient stop watch function.

The exercise is best done in a team - you need at least 3 people per group, but could use more if you have to run the helicopters up and down stairs.

I'd be happy to talk to you more about how to set up the experiment for a group. How much time do you have to conduct it?

I'm assuming Mike can find his template - I have one somewhere but would need to scan it.

Phil_Kay

Thanks, Ledi.
That is all really helpful.
I had heard that having a good drop height is really important.
I guess you can use this experiment in lots of ways. But how have you used it and what have been the main learning outcomes that you are going for? How much guidance would you normally give the trainees?
One other question... have you ever run this with high school students?
Regards,
Phil

Phil_Kay

Thanks, Mike. It would be great if you have the templates. I have found some online but if you have some that are tried and tested that is better for me.

I found quite a good description of the experiment here:

http://www.minitab.com/en-us/Published-Articles/Teaching-DoE-with-Paper-Helicopters-and-Minitab/

(from some software provider called "Minitab" apparently)

ledi_trutna

How much guidance you give the trainees depends on how much time you have to conduct the experiment.

If you have less time - I give more detailed instructions. If I have more time, I let them figure it out more.

I like at least 2 hours, and have used 4 hours for this exercise. But could compress it to 1 hour if necessary.

The main learning objective from my point of view is for the students to practice the design of the experiment, conducting the experiment and the analysis of the experiment. The critical piece here is conducting the experiment because you can create other exercises where you design and analyze, but we assume people know how to conduct the experiment. Actually conducting one shows you many are lacking in this skill.

I've sent you another email with more details - and we can talk tomorrow.

Jordan_Hiller

Sam Gardner presented a poster at Discovery a few years ago on this topic. He developed a virtual trebuchet with a JMP Add-in to assist with data collection.

https://community.jmp.com/t5/Discovery-Summit-Europe-2016/Using-Physical-and-Computer-Based-Models-to-Teach-Design-of/ta-p/23602

https://community.jmp.com/t5/JMP-Add-Ins/Virtual-Trebuchet-Simulation-DOE-Teaching-Add-in/ta-p/23546

I have mixed feelings about this. While it's nice to avoid fiddling with physical objects, I think it can give beginning DOE students the false impression that you should use software to collect data for your physical system.

alisa_h_lowery

Hi Phil-

Attached is an exercise I created to use with Green Belts to illustrate MSA & DOE. It only requires a smart phone, and two types of round balls. Let me know if you have any questions and want to use it.

DOE Example.docx

louv

Phil,

Getting on this thread kind of late here in Tokyo but I wanted to share the pdf from George Box on this experiment.

Lou

Box Helicopter.pdf

Box Helicopter DOE.jmp

Phil_Kay

Thanks, Jordan. That is really useful to know. I agree with your concerns about using in silico experiments for introducing DoE. I like the idea of an experiment that you can properly get your hands on. However, there have been times when I have wanted a computer simulation.

Phil_Kay

That looks great, Alisa. I bet that worked really well. I like the simplicity.

Phil_Kay

Great. Thanks, Lou. I think I had that paper in a filing cabinet when I was at Fujifilm. I have lost it since. It is great to have the original source material!

Ryan_Lekivetz

I had some success using a template that Byron had been working on, might be worth reaching out to him to see what he has - I was able to use it for an AP Statistics course in high school, and it seemed pretty easy for them to do. As others have mentioned, teams and enough height are key...

Phil_Kay

Thanks, Ryan. Ledi apparently has a template with 4 helicopters on 1 page, which is ideal because we might be looking to put the template in a magazine as a cut-out.

Peter_Bartell

We used the paper helicopters extensively in our Six Sigma Black Belt curriculum at Kodak. If you'd like to chat about our experiences, set up a teleconference. There are numerous twists and turns (bad pun I know) to the experience. Looks like you have templates. But if you'd like to see the one we used...I've attached.

Helicopter Templ.doc

ledi_trutna

I found my template, which looks a bit different than yours. I'm going to write up some details about how I have run the experiment, and will run it by you for your ideas too Peter - if that is okay. I've attached my template so you can see how it is different. It is a 2 x 2 full factorial for rotor length and width all on one page.

paper helicopter template.pdf

Peter_Bartell

The Kodak template was very flexible. We taught screening through RSM with that template. Groups were free to augment as well...one item that we included in the 'kit' that was provided to each group were paper clips. People found out pretty quickly that attaching a paper clip on the tail, at the bottom, as a categorical factor was very influential at stabilizing flight in a downward fashion, which in turn engages the rotors very quickly, and even with the added weight, it ALWAYS maximized flight time with the paper clip. We included different color paper and suggested that perhaps they should include paper color as a blocking factor. Digital stop watches were included as the timing mechanism...but the team had to come up with a dropping process, measurement system etc.

We were purposely pretty vague in our exercise set up instructions because we felt that the teamwork dynamic of using DOE as a problem solving method was equally important, if not more important, than the mechanics of using JMP, setting up a design, analyzing the results. Many a spirited discussion had to be referreed by us instructors...ask Lou Valente. On more than one occasion I can remember Lou telling everybody in his group something along the lines of, 'Hey this is what happens when you do this for real...there are often times no easy answers...we just try, learn, and advance.'

Phil_Kay

For my purposes this template is ideal because I can get more helicopters per sheet. I like the other ones with markings for experimenters to set their own factor levels for width and length but I think we are aiming to keep it more simple than that. Thanks, Phil

DonMcCormack

Since we're still on the topic, I though I'd include the attached docs. Further back than I'd care to mention, Ledi and I were presenters at a 1/2 day CE class on using toys to teach DOE. I'm including the materials we developed for the helicopter. I'm also including a draft of what was suppose to be part of a paper that never materialized. It has a nice write-up of the helicopter's history, use, references, and additional factors that can be considered.

helicopter - draft 12-16-98.doc

JSM 1998 (DOE with Toys workshop) (2).zip

ledi_trutna

Wow Don,

I'm impressed you have electronic copies of something we did 20 years ago! Nice write up and presentation at JSM.

Phil_Kay

This is great, @DonMcCormack. A wealth of information. Great to have the history as well. Thanks, Phil.

louv

Peter,

A trip down memory lane. Attached are the JMP files from Mark Hill and I. They are the initial 8 factor screening and the RSM.

EK 8 Factor Helicopter.jmp

EK Helicopter CCD.jmp

Byron_JMP

This is a good template to use for the lab.

If you precut the strips and the middle part of the wings ahead of time, the lab can be completed by just tearing the wings to length.

Helicopter DOE Lab Template.pptx

Byron_JMP

this is the slide deck i use in the paper helicopter workshop

Helicopter DOE Lab.pptx

Byron_JMP

This is the data set from Box Hunter and Hunter

George Box Helicopter Paper.jmp

Phil_Kay

Thanks for all of this, Byron.
Cheers,
Phil

Byron_JMP

The paper helicopter DOE-Lab is really fun to do with customers you have a good relationship with. It seems to work best with around 6-12 people and it takes about 2-2.5 hr. The best part of this is that there are always outliers, and there is so much variation introduced by how people launch and time the helicopters that its difficult to predict exactly how the experiment will turn out. The data analysis part gets pretty exciting sometimes and people walk away with a lot of practical experience about what can go wrong in a very short amount of time.

Peter_Bartell

@Byron_JMP Couldn't agree more. I taught the Kodak Black Belt helicopter module dozens of times around the world to Kodakers, suppliers, and customers. Varying degrees of DOE expertise from @louv at expert, experienced practitioner level, to thinking DOE was a female deer. The animated discussions, disagreements, variation, failure modes, and ultimately getting through the exercise with some nice helicopters was without question a significant learning experience for all.