Cole Harlow, Axay Patel, Sky Zhang, Nick Gerdes Progress Report Week 5
Group G- Instr. Dr. Schrock, GTA Sheena Marston February 2, 2017
Week 4
Situation
This week the team had two primary goals. The first was to finish any calibrating and becoming familiar with the reflectance sensors and the second was to begin a design for our AEV. To start the design process team members discussed some of the considerations that would influence the design. Then each of the team members brainstormed and created a design of their own. Next all of each of the team members presented the design they had created and briefly outlined the influences that helped to create their design and how their design addressed some of the various aforementioned considerations. Finally, the team members agreed upon a final design created plans for it.
Results and Analysis
Axay Patel: Each team member created a unique design for the AEV. Axay’s design was focused on keeping the AEV light in weight and have the motors as close as possible in order to increase propulsion. The front of AEV tapers to a point where the magnet will be placed. The problem with this design is the possibility of unstable movement due to the motors being very close. Also the components do not have much room to be shifted in the design if center of mass becomes an issue. The components used in this design will primarily be the materials provided in the kit, with the white base plate fabricated to fit the design
Figure 1: Axay’s design
Nick Gerdes: My idea was based off of a F-22 Raptor fighter jet. The swept wing design is very aerodynamic and sturdy but the issue that comes with that is weight. The design has a lot of surface area and is big in general. This would make the AEV large and heavy which are not good to create high efficiency levels. My design called for a fairly long length and width but a short height (excluding the t- shaped wheel bracket).
Figure 2: Nick’s design
Tianyang Zhang: My design is created to improve AEV in several ways. First, it has a T-shape hanger, which is more stable and reliable than the L shape one. Second, the Plane shape cover, which can cover the whole board including Arduino and Battery, can decrease air resistance. Finally, the extra weight can help stable the AEV, help it keep balance while running through the rail. The plane shape cover should be built by 3D printer using plastic, so it can get enough strength in relatively low weight.
Figure 3: Tianyang’s design
Cole Harlow: The main feature of this design is that it is aerodynamic as possible in both directions. The battery and Arduino will be stored on the inside of the AEV shell. This shell will be shaped similar to the bow of a ship on both sides. By doing this it is hoped that the AEV will be able to move through the air with minimal air resistance. Additionally, this design places the AEV has close to the track as possible, this decision should result in a greater stability around corners. Finally, in my design the motor is placed high up on the AEV so that it none of its power will go towards creating a torque that could decrease the efficiency of the AEV while also decreasing its stability. Finally, if possible my design hopes to utilize the servo to reverse the motor. This would allow the team to save weight by using only a single motor and would also allow the AEV to use the most efficient propeller orientation regardless of the direction it is moving in. Due to its simplicity it may be possible to modify many of the parts in the AEV kit to be used with this design. If this turned out to not work the main body would need to be 3d printed from some kind of plastic.
Figure 4: Cole’s design
The team based their final design off of Cole’s original design. The main differences between Cole’s drawing and the final design are that some of the protrusions on Coles designs were deemed unnecessary and taken away from the design. Hopefully be getting rid of these points the AEV will be the more energy efficient. Our final design features an overall shape that will be aerodynamic going both ways on the track. The design is also very symmetrical which will also provide good balance.
Figure 5: Final design
Takeaways
- In order to complete the final design, the team needs to determine the impact of motor orientation on the vehicle and the orientation of the components to have a balanced center of mass.
- Before brainstorming a design, it is important to consider the limitation and requirements of the design being created.
- The T shaped holder is the preferred holder for the AEV design.
Week 5
Situation
The first task of the lab will be to develop an Arduino program that gets the AEV from its starting points to its first stop which is just before the gate. The program will then be tested statically on the desktop stand. This step is important because it’s crucial to work in parts. Getting the AEV from initial point to first stop is just the first step. After the Arduino code has run, the AEV’s data from a run needs to be recorded. A matlab program will extract the AEV data from the run. Next, that data must be converted to physical parameters. For example, marks must be converted in inches. This is important because to analyze the data, it needs to be in terms of numbers you can work with. Next different energies must be calculated using the given equations. These numbers will then be plotted. These steps are important because energy is a central tenet to this project and a graph/ plot is a great way to represent the data.
Weekly goals
- Complete Progress Report for Lab 03.
- Complete and improve the idea sketch made in Lab03.
- Complete Lab 04.
- Complete Lab 04 Progress Report first draft.
- Finalize a plan for the AEV
- Update Website as needed
Weekly schedule
Table 1: Week 2 Schedule
| Task | Teammate(s) | Start Date | Due Date | Time Needed |
| Regular group meeting | All | 2/4/17 | 2/4/17 | 1.5hrs |
| Add description to sketches | All | 2/4/17 | 2/6/17 | |
| Lab 2 Progress Report final draft | All | 2/7/17 | 2/7/17 | |
| Lab 2 procedure | All | 2/8/17 | 2/8/17 | 2hrs |
| Regular group meeting | All | 2/11/17 | 2/11/17 | 1hrs |
Appendix
Team Meeting Notes 12pm-1:30pm, Thompson Library, all members
Purpose of This meeting: Complete this progress report and create a weekly schedule to determine what needs to be completed in the upcoming week
- Tasks Completed From last meeting
- Project report for 1/29/17 was completed and turned in ( all members)
- Team members brainstormed designs and decided upon a design (all members)
- Team tested the AEV on the test track (all members)
- Team analyzed and utilized data collected in lab 3c(all members)
- Tasks to be completed for next week
- Complete lab 5 and understand the concepts it presents (wednesday all members)
- Update portfolio website( Sky Zhang saturday 12 pm)
- Complete a progress report for lab 5 (saturday 12pm all members)
- Decisions made by the group
- The team will use the 3030 motor configuration in its final design
- Additional meeting will be held on tuesday after class to finish this progress report and add details to designs.
- Reflections from previous Assignment
- Only roadblocks from this lab was the uncertainty of what traits of a design would yield the best results
- No deadlines were missed in previous week
- No work was substandard, or differing expectations, or other conflicts
- In the future it would be beneficial for students to only need to dimension and calculate a weight for the final design. It would also be useful for the team to be given a greater understanding of how to calculate the weight of the AEV.