Anti-Squirrel Garden Bird Feeder.

My project began to be based on the idea of Biodiversity. Mainly to accommodate biodiversity within garden birds.

As we began the project, to help guide us we were tasked to create a user profile. I decided not to waste too much time on this stage, however set the scene for who it was and what kind of environment this will be in.

I then looked into what kind of birds would be using this, or more to the point what kind of birds I wanted to be using this.

I then highlighted one of the biggest issues with this product, the squirrels. They have always had an ability to get where typically you wouldn't expect. They also are not deterred by material. They will eat at anything to get what they want. Therefore, I needed to be smart about trying to prevent them from getting to the food laid out for the birds.

After some ideation, I came to the concept of a drop platform. The idea is that the platform would be held up by the force of a compression spring, being able to hold the weight of an average garden bird (a blue tit being the bird I mainly designed for). However, it will not hold the weight a larger sized bird, or a squirrel. The spring will compress under the weight and the platform will drop.

With this concept made and the final design nearing completion. I wanted to make sure that this would not harm the squirrels. Researching them, I found that will not be harmed from falling at a small height.

After finalising the design, we created the illusion of it being a product on the market.