The Portable Playing Field is designed for the sports fanatic who wants to play wherever they want and whenever they want. Not all athletic fields are available to play on or at a near enough location. Setting up cones or flags or using natural boundaries can leave room for argument and cause obstructions to the flow of the game.

The design process began by defining requirements of the field. Some functional requirements include being portable, reusable, and durable and creating a visible boundary for athletic contests such as football, soccer, ultimate frisbee and lacrosse. With the variety of sports the field should be versatile in shape and size. Issues of safety are addressed as well as a desire for efficient and uncomplicated assembly.

From the requirements the design problem was divided into individual functions that the field needed to perform. With the functions defined concepts for the individual functions are created to solve them. Many ideas are brainstormed for each function and listed in a table called Morphology.

Conceptual designs are drawn from the Morphology by combining concepts for each function into one large design that performs them all. Several different combinations are formed from the many possible functional concepts including those fastened to the ground by a screw and a breakaway device made of Velcro. The concepts are evaluated against one another by how they best fulfill the requirements, the feasibility of construction and cost concerns in a Decision Matrix. The Decision Matrix verified the concept originally chosen to pursue was the correct decision.

The concept chosen was a system of thin fabric lines that span between and fasten to anchors that firmly plant into the ground. The lines are white which contrast with the green grass or brown dirt and 3 inches wide making them visible. The Anchor is made of two steel L-brackets combined to make a square that is held to the ground by long nails driven through holes in the brackets and into the ground. The line attaches by Velcro around one side of one anchor and a ring magnet sewn to the opposite end of line holds to another anchor. This magnet provides a unique anti-trip mechanism. The force of the magnet is strong enough to hold the line on when at rest but a lateral force, such as a person tripping through the line, easily slides the magnet off the anchor. The magnet reattaches and the game goes on. The magnet was tested against different thicknesses of Velcro for the force needed to pull the line off of the anchor and passes convincingly.

Some redesign issues include more attention being paid to the safeness of the field. The brackets being made of metal could do damage if fallen on so the first step in preventing this was decreasing the size of the brackets. Smaller brackets were found and the next issue was coating them with something soft. Rubber was the first choice, but a failed attempt at coating the brackets and magnets resulted in resorting to duct tape as a means to soften them. Duct tape proved effective and a soft coating was added as well as countersinks for the nail heads that were originally protruding upwards.

Initial testing of the Portable Playing Field is positive. The field assembles with the use of one tool in 4 repeatable step. Stepping and jumping on the lines leaves them in place but as soon as a leg is tangled the magnet releases and injury avoided.