Q2.

) An engineer wishes to know the best parameters in making a paper

helicopter. A good helicopter is one which stays in the air for a longer time, so
the response variable would be flight time as measured from the time the
helicopter is dropped from a height of 2 meters until the time it hits the floor.
Three factors determine the flight time of the helicopter namely, the paper type
(light or heavy), rotor length (4.5 cm vs 6 cm) and the leg width (2 cm vs 4 cm).
In MINITAB, select 2 replications for your experiment. These are the results that

obtain for the flight time:

a) Analyze the data in MINITAB using DoE.

b) Interpret the results.
c) What can be concluded from the results?

ANOVA analysis

Full Factorial Design

Factors:
Runs:
Blocks:

3
16
1

Base Design:
Replicates:
Center pts (total):

All terms are free from aliasing.

3, 8
2
0

Factorial Regression: Flight Time versus Paper, Rotor Length, Leg

Width
Analysis of Variance
Source
Model
Linear
Paper
Rotor Length
Leg Width
2-Way Interactions
Paper*Rotor Length
Paper*Leg Width
Rotor Length*Leg Width
3-Way Interactions
Paper*Rotor Length*Leg Width
Error
Total

DF
7
3
1
1
1
3
1
1
1
1
1
8
15

Adj SS
231.000
189.250
72.250
36.000
81.000
35.500
20.250
6.250
9.000
6.250
6.250
45.000
276.000

Adj MS
33.000
63.083
72.250
36.000
81.000
11.833
20.250
6.250
9.000
6.250
6.250
5.625

F-Value
5.87
11.21
12.84
6.40
14.40
2.10
3.60
1.11
1.60
1.11
1.11

P-Value
0.012
0.003
0.007
0.035
0.005
0.178
0.094
0.323
0.242
0.323
0.323

SE Coef
0.593
0.593
0.593
0.593
0.593
0.593
0.593
0.593

T-Value
20.24
-3.58
2.53
3.79
-1.90
-1.05
1.26
-1.05

P-Value
0.000
0.007
0.035
0.005
0.094
0.323
0.242
0.323

Model Summary
S
2.37171

R-sq
83.70%

R-sq(adj)
69.43%

R-sq(pred)
34.78%

Coded Coefficients
Term
Constant
Paper
Rotor Length
Leg Width
Paper*Rotor Length
Paper*Leg Width
Rotor Length*Leg Width
Paper*Rotor Length*Leg Width

Effect
-4.250
3.000
4.500
-2.250
-1.250
1.500
-1.250

Coef
12.000
-2.125
1.500
2.250
-1.125
-0.625
0.750
-0.625

Regression Equation in Uncoded Units

Flight Time = 10.5 - 5.5 Paper - 1.00 Rotor Length - 3.00 Leg Width
+ 1.00 Paper*Rotor Length
+ 3.75 Paper*Leg Width + 1.000 Rotor Length*Leg Width
- 0.833 Paper*Rotor Length*Leg Width
Alias Structure
Factor

Name

A
B
C

Paper
Rotor Length
Leg Width

Aliases
I
A
B
C
AB
AC
BC

VIF
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00
1.00

ABC
Pareto Chart of the standardized effect

Main Effect Plot for Flight Time

Interaction Plot for flight Time

Optimization Plot

As for the prediction

Multiple Response Prediction
Variable
Paper
Rotor Length
Leg Width
Response
Flight Time

Setting
Light
6
4
Fit
21.00

SE Fit
1.68

95% CI
(17.13, 24.87)

95% PI
(14.30, 27.70)

The optimization plot shows the affect of each factor (Paper, Rotor Length, Leg
Width) on the responses or Flight T Maximum. The vertical red lines on the graph
represent the current factor settings. The numbers displayed at the top of a
column show the current factor level settings (in red). The horizontal blue lines
and numbers represent the responses for the current factor level. The plot shows
that with a Rotor length factor level of 6, the predicted flight time is 21s.
c) What can be concluded from the results?

Based on the data we collected, the main effect plot for flight time represent the
paper and means graph are inversely proportional. The light paper has shown
the highest value of mean of flight time which is 14s. Besides, the lowest value
that recorded by the heavy paper is 5s. The length of rotor (cm) is influenced by
the value of mean. It is showed when the increase of rotor length causes the
increase in the value of mean of flight time. The rotor length is increases from
4.5 cm with 10.5s of flight time to 6.0cm of rotor length with 14s of flight time
mean. The leg width shows the same trend with the rotor length graph. Narrow
leg will give shorter flight time with the value 2 cm of leg width with the value of
flight time means is 5s. Wider leg will give longer flight time with the value 4cm
of leg width and the value of means is 14s. So, we can conclude that the rotor
length and leg width are directly proportional to the mean. From our analysis
with Minitab indicates the optimal helicopter settings are lighter paper, longer
rotor length and wider leg width. To design an even better helicopter, we could

repeat the entire DoE using even lighter paper and longer helicopter blades. A 6
cm wing may be bigger, but that does not mean it will be better.