11-23 Week Progress

Everyone is getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving this week. Milestone 7 was due on Monday. We were asked to demonstrate working Most Critical Module, and the outline of plan for the rest of manufacturing, and we made some significant progress.

First, we created the scissor linkage, which we will use for our MCM. We considered the linkage to be MCM because our machine's primary functional requirement is to block the opponent using the linkage. The plates are made out of acryllic plates. We cut out 12 plates and assembled them with screws and nuts.


Then there was the assembly of the cart. We made many connecting pieces and bearings for the base of the cart and shafts. One problem we encountered was that the sizes are different for the gears and the wheels, so mounting shaft was a big issue. Also, alignment of holes was also unexpected when we mounted the base to the cart.

Progress Report Week 11/16-22

This was a very busy week for all of us on the team. Tuesday was Tay's birthday and he had two two tests that day including the 250 Exam we all took. At least three of us also had tests on Friday as well. Even so, we still had work to do for the project being that we had three finished parts due Friday.

We chose to begin work on our MCM, the cart. This module is described in detail in the previous post. The parts we chose to make were pretty simple because they are the first ones we made, so it was a learning process for all of us. We cut the walls out of plates to the necessary size and added necessary details. Some of the things we learned were the importance of drawing correct lines and communication. Also we learned the importance of checking your work to make sure that everything is how you think it is and how the machines in the shop work and their limitations.

Then Michigan football embarrassed the U for the 6th straight year. Hooray for basketball season.

Some important images from the week:

11/2 Week Progress Report

Things Completed:
The most important task this week was to complete MS6: Most Critical Module. We successfully finished it, with a few more details to go over in the upcoming team meetings. See below for MCM details:

We did our analysis on the cart, which we will use as our defense mechanism. The reason this is our most critical module is because our strategy is more defense-oriented, and the mechanism will be more critical in determining the result.
CAD model:
This is a very simple cart design, with the usual essential gear, shaft, wheels, and cart body. The two plates in the middle of the cart is used to secure scissor linkage. We plan to mount the scissor linkage on it in a certain angle so as it falls down, it will act as a blockage for opponent.
Drawing:
Analysis was done on how much traction the cart can endure. We're counting on a higher friction on the cart so opponent can't push us over. And we also calculated the shear on the scissor linkage. This is to see how much force the linkage can take before the joints fail. Lastly, we did how much time it takes to release the linkage to the slot, and the dimensions of the linkage to determine area of blockage.

Bill of materials:


Manufacturing Step-by-step


To do list:
1. Finalize the pump design
2. Modify the bill of materials for specifications
3. Discuss manufacturing of linkage plates or purchasing them?



Next week will be a long week.