I'm going to be doing a product design paper next semester, in which I have the lion's share of 6 months to make a half decent prototype then demonstrate it at the end. I have the knowledge and resources (CnC machines, 3D printer, CAD experience, etc) to make a decent variety of things. The problem is coming up with something that isn't shit.
Ideas I trashed are:
Supercapacitor powered toy car - Can charge fast as all heck then romp around for maybe a minute or two, could be a good toy for kids since it wouldn't need to spend ages charging.
Problems - Every man and his dog are making supercapacitor powered toys on Youtube, and this would have fairly limited scope for design process write-ups and design refinement, if I really wanted to this could be done in a week or two.
Coilgun
Problems - No real advantages compared to a firearm, probably won't be allowed to make a bootleg weapon, horrible idea.
HUD Diving Mask - A diving mask with depth, gas pressure, etc displayed in a HUD for the user, a few of these have being produced commercially but none have really been successful for various reasons.
Problems - OLED technology isn't quite there in regards to embedding a screen in the lens, furthermore even if it was my place of study lacks the tools for me to embed an OLED screen in a lens and embed other circuitry in silicone (for a half decent prototype I'd basically need to manufacture a diving mask as well).
In short I'm looking for a half decent idea that isn't pathetic/useless or way too ambitious for a 6 month project with relatively limited tools at my disposal.
Feel free to use this thread if you're in the same boat or just want to do a project for fun.