Creative Design Thinking

Lab 3 Deliverable:

AEV Preliminary Design Sketches

Mark’s

The areas of emphasis in this design are: limiting weight, maximizing aerodynamics, and simplifying the build.  By orienting the body parallel to the L-shape arm, drag on the AEV should theoretically decrease as opposed to a perpendicular orientation.  Additionally, the propellers are mounted on the front and backside instead of sticking out from the sides.  By using only the bare minimum of required parts to operate the AEV, the weight is also reduced.  A con to this current design is it can’t mount to the opposite side of the board from where the Arduino controller is mounted.  Either a new mounting method needs to be implemented or an additional part needs to be added on.

Anuj Kothari’s

This design’s main feature is its simplicity and focuses on using as little as possible. In order to create a more aerodynamic AEV with less drag, I decided to make a relatively flat and simple design. This concept only uses one large piece at the bottom which holds the motors and the end and consists of the arm  that holds the wheels. In addition, I decided to put the Arduino NANO on one side and the battery on the other to help create a better balance.

Zane Aziz’s

The emphasis of this design was to limit weight, design with 3d printing in mind, to relocate the motors so that they don’t go past the edge of the body, and to relocate the board and battery to the undercarriage to allow for more space on the top deck. The motors were relocated to the underside, and were attached via long arms with supports to allow for blade clearance. It was designed so that it was possible to 3D print in 4 pieces, the arm for the track, the main body, and 2 arms to mount the motors on. By 3D printing the parts, the weight of the vehicle can be reduced by removing unnecessary mass from the reference AEV. The location of the board, battery and motors beneath the track arm allows for a lower center of mass, and thus a more stable AEV. Some pros of the design is that it is light and cheap to make. A con might be that it might not be very sturdy, some of the materials are quite thin and may break under higher loads.

Jacob Schweizer’s

This design focuses purely on the visual appeal of the design, since I lack a true understanding of aerodynamics. My design takes influence from the biplanes of yesteryear although I feel that my colleagues will produce far superior design since this project favors efficiency and therefore, aerodynamics. I imagine the main body of the plane as a shell that holds the LiPO battery and the Arduino board. The motors for the propellers will mounted inside the wings since the propellers are on the wings. The pros of this design are its appeal visual aesthetic and the interior placement of parts. The cons of this design are its disregard of aerodynamics and the lack of concern for efficiency.

Team Sketch

The final design focuses on being small and light, with an emphasis on being easily 3D printed. The right side view is designed to be printed as a single flat part, with motor mounts being printed separately. The part will feature the proper holes to mount the reflectance sensors, wheels, motors, Arduino and battery. Pros of the design include being very light and cheap to produce. While some cons could be the very thin overall width, but this can be compensated for with stronger materials used in construction.