Below are all of the individual concept designs along with the final one being the team concept design.
Sketch 1 (Tom)
This design was created with the idea of distributing the wait fairly, while using as few items as possible to reduce the weight to a minimum, using as little power as possible. The design was also created with the thought of having as little surface area as possible on the front, the side moving forward, to reduce the drag that would produce.
Sketch 2 (Anna)
This design’s main goal was to distribute the weight of the motors, the Arduino, the support arm, and the battery as evenly and symmetrically as possible. The propellers were oriented towards the back, equidistant from the center of the vehicle to provide an equal amount of thrust from both. As an outward appearance consideration, the hollow hood was designed to slide on and off the machine, and to house the Arduino within it once properly installed. This consideration was purely based on the aesthetics and appeal of the design, to keep harsh-looking circuit boards and wires more concealed. However, this aspect could prove to be problematic if the hood is not able to be removed easily, because it would hinder the access to the Arduino while testing if any quick adjustments need to be made.
Sketch 3 (Kate)
This design intended to optimize weight distribution and minimize drag. By using a slimmer base and mounting a slick hood on it, the design is very appealing to the eyes. The hood providing more aerodynamics and the surface area on the side that moves forward being very small, it reduces air resistance making it a very power efficient design.
Sketch 4 (Elliot)
This design features a thinner model profile, with the AEV’s components secured vertically to the main board. Such an orientation will provide lower aerodynamic resistance as well as reduce to cost of the overall project, due to using less of the provided materials. However, the models strong focus on functionality and performance makes for a lacking aesthetic design.
Sketch 5 ( Team design)
This final team design consolidates the aesthetic aspects of Anna’s and Kates’ design and the functionality and accessibility of Elliot and Tom’s. The hood is still the front of the AEV, but the Arduino, motors, and batteries are located closer to the caboose, so to not obstruct them by the hood and the support arm, and to make them easily accessible for adding code and doing maintenance work throughout the testing process. The T-shaped horizontal base provides security to the components and allows for a horizontal two propeller set up towards the back. The weight is very equally distributed between the support arm towards the front and the motherboard, battery, and motors at the back. The hoods geometry provides an aerodynamic feature that makes up for the possible drag that may arise from a horizontal board. The hope is to build a minimalistic hood of lightweight material so to not laden the vehicle with extra weight and add a large additional cost for 3D printing materials.