Question: What was the best thing you have ever designed?

Eleanor Sherwen answered on 10 Mar 2016:

My favourite product I’ve designed so far is a wireless data unit for an underground laser scanner – I am pleased with it because I worked on it basically alone beginning to end, which is slightly unusual, and it is a small simple product but gives an important improvement so it was a big success.

The scanner itself, the Void Scanner, is used in a mine to make a map of the ceiling. The data goes through a cable to a laptop. The miners blast some of the ceiling in, to get the ore, then they have to scan again to check if any loose rock is still up there. This is a dangerous point in the process and before it was tricky because the cable was only 13 m long, so someone might have to go right near the dangerous bit of roof with the laptop. This little box had a wifi relay in it so instead the operator could be up to 100 m away in the safe area.

I did the box & panel drawings, the sealing, graphics, and I was particularly pleased I did the electronic circuit and components because this is something I used to be pretty bad at, but my work on improving my electronics paid off.

I hope I will design better and better things as I get more experience!