The updated schedule:
Modify Bucket - 2/12/09
(includes addition of felt to the bucket to prevent scratching of sides)
Modify length of arms - 3/12/09
Decorating cart - (8/9) /12/09
Experimenting - (8/9) /12/09
Competition Day 10/12/09
Nov 29, 2009
Disaster struck! On the day of testing, the one thing we were sure wouldn't fail us was the shaft-arm as it remained solid the entire 3 weeks ever since it had been manufactured! We now have to go back to the drawing board and redesign the shaft arm!
We have drilled additional holes in the arm to allow us to have adjustable arm lengths. The Cart is almost complete. The toughest portion was getting the flexible tubing on the threaded 1/4'' shaft. We secured it with zip-ties to prevent slip. We built a supporting structure to house the controller on top of the motor. The leads will simply be plugged into the controller and it should be ready.
We have drilled additional holes in the arm to allow us to have adjustable arm lengths. The Cart is almost complete. The toughest portion was getting the flexible tubing on the threaded 1/4'' shaft. We secured it with zip-ties to prevent slip. We built a supporting structure to house the controller on top of the motor. The leads will simply be plugged into the controller and it should be ready.
Nov 22, 2009
MCM due
MCM due. Let's see how we fair in that. The arm seemed to be rotating in the hole but the spring hasn't been attached and neither has the auxiliary motor been added so no luck checking it out!
The bucket has been design so that it can cradle the ping-pong balls easily. We tapped holes into the collapsing arms and drilled holes in the bucket's backface to allow us to attach them together.
The bucket has been design so that it can cradle the ping-pong balls easily. We tapped holes into the collapsing arms and drilled holes in the bucket's backface to allow us to attach them together.
Nov 15, 2009
Bucket!
The bucket template has been cut out on a bandsaw has been bent out of steel on the vice. It wasn't a very accurate process considering the vice available wasn't excellent but it still looks pretty decent!
We used a feature in solidworks to get the template. This process is similar to opening a cube and making it into a 2-d shape. We measured dimensions of this drawing and proceed to the cutting.
We drilled holes into the rear using the #43 drill head and corresponding holes into the bucket arms which we further threaded. Threading did not go well the first couple of tries since the head kept breaking. Eventually we succeeded.
We used a feature in solidworks to get the template. This process is similar to opening a cube and making it into a 2-d shape. We measured dimensions of this drawing and proceed to the cutting.
We drilled holes into the rear using the #43 drill head and corresponding holes into the bucket arms which we further threaded. Threading did not go well the first couple of tries since the head kept breaking. Eventually we succeeded.
Nov 8, 2009
Manufacturing is under-way!
The main arms that are to be connected to the auxiliary motor has been cut out on the waterjet, all shafts have been cut out on the bandsaw. The key portion of the main-shaft will be cut out of Acrylic on the laser-cutter. The defensive cart will be made in the second-portion of the 5 week manufacturing plan.
We shall start making the bucket at the start of next week. It shall be bent out of the 0.039'' steel plate on the vice. We found out that welding was not allowed and the vice available for bending was not the most accurate one.
We made a slight-modification to reduce the weight and hence the quantity of aluminium used. Rather than have a solid block, we opted to make two 2-d arm shapes and coupled them through the use of pillars which will be press-fitted into the arm itself.
We shall start making the bucket at the start of next week. It shall be bent out of the 0.039'' steel plate on the vice. We found out that welding was not allowed and the vice available for bending was not the most accurate one.
We made a slight-modification to reduce the weight and hence the quantity of aluminium used. Rather than have a solid block, we opted to make two 2-d arm shapes and coupled them through the use of pillars which will be press-fitted into the arm itself.
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