Need some advice on my research (mechanical engineering)

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======= Date Modified 25 14 2010 15:14:23 =======
Hi!

I'm in need of some advices, especially from those who have encountered similar experience as me.

My research is on designing a new mechanical mechanism. I had made some calculations and then had fabricated the mechanism. Unfortunately it doesn't work as I hope. I think there are 2 possible ways of solving this problem:-
1. change my calculation and fabricate the mechanism again
2. add a new component
If I choose (1), it will consume so much time and money again and it might not work again, where I should be working on the next stage of my research by this time. If I choose (2), the design will lost the main characteristic that I would like to achieve, which is to use as low number of components as possible.
Is it common that people refabricate their mechanism after 1.5 years of working on it? Should people stick on their initial idea? Or does people usually loosen the design requirements and just move on with what they can achieve?

I will discuss with my supervisor about this, but I also need your opinions

Thank you very much.

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