The Understanding of Theory and Practice-The AEC Routemaster bus.

The Understanding of Theory and Practice-The AEC Routemaster bus.
The Routemaster bus was designed to replace the old trolley bus system, because after the war, more people chose to travel by car, as this allowed them to travel around the country more freely. This meant the trolley buses were being used less and less, so the idea was to build buses that could also travel more freely, instead of being attached to rails and lines.
To begin designing the AEC Routemaster, the designer must have thought about ideas for the design. The process would have involved research into the old trolley bus, and consulting engine manufacturers like AEC, about designing and creating an engine for the monstrosity of a vehicle.
As the bus was designed in 1908 by Merger, and then the first post-war bus on route in London was in 1847, I don’t think they would have used computer graphics or CAD, but they would have used hand skills, which involved measuring scale by hand and technical drawings showing the design from all angles.
This may have then been crafted into a scale model, by a model maker, so they could get an idea of how it would look, and whether it worked. This may have been made from wood, clay or even plaster, as just a rough version, and then made into a neater version.
Then next stage, after making it work in model size, they would have started manufacturing the parts. This would have been a production line in a factory, and then the pieces of the bus would have been put together.
After the production they would have started testing there design in full scale, to see the safety side of the design and see if it was safe to carry people. This may have taken some time, before they found a way of making it safe for crashes etc. And would involve a lot of research also.
My object falls into these categories of making, as described above; Design, and Model making / Craft and Manufacture.
From researching into the ideas, theories and making practice, I have started to understand what goes into the creation of an object and how complex it is. I think the relationship between ideas and making is a pretty strong relationship, because to design, you have to know what goes into the making part, and whether it is possible, to be created or not. Designer and maker constantly have to ask each other questions, and talk about ideas.
With the design of the Routemaster bus, they also had to talk to the engineers, of the AEC engine, to create an engine suitable for a bus, which would withstand the travelling, and the size of the bus. This would mean trials and testing, to get an idea of what type of engine. They would also need to look at how they would include the engine into the design, as the trolley buses, didn’t have an engine as such, as they ran from the electricity along lines above the bus.
(Research done using AUCB library, from books and online, stated in bibliography; see bibliography). (522 words)
(please be careful, as this blog only conatains information from research!)