The objectives of lab 03 were two learn two ways of creative design thinking, become familiar with components from the AEV kit, learn the basics of orthographic drawing, and brainstorm on individual AEV concepts which can be found here. Creative design thinking is a skill that all engineers need to have in their careers. It is used to develop unique and effective solutions to important problems that engineers are tasked with solving.
Snigdha chose this design (Figure 4) because the curved shape provided the AEV to have less air resistance. This results in it being more energy efficient because it uses less power to run. But, this design would make it heavy, thus having more maintenance costs. Nan chose this design((Figure 5) because the fastigiate design can reduce the air resistance on AEV, which can make the AEV faster with less power. It’s helpful for energy saving. And the shape of this design is pyramid, not cone. It’s much easier to make and maintain. What’s more, the shape of the design is symmetrical so it has a good balance, which will enable passengers have a comfortable trip. At last but not the least, the two motors and propellers are placed on the front and back of the device. And there is room for air flow between them, which further reduces the air resistance on AEV. Eli’s design was developed after the design((Figure 6) of a train. The motors of the AEV are stacked in order to maintain a thin body with a streamline front. Jack’s design was(Figure 7) developed using basic ideas from that of aircraft and propeller driven vehicles. The propellers were positioned evenly on the far ends to provide even propulsion when the vehicle travels but also provided some unbalanced transportation. The cost of this vehicle is less than 150 and makes it relatively easy to build but has its flaws. The design also uses a triangle base structure to provide more aerodynamics and help balance the weight. The arduino and battery are positioned in the middle to help balance the weight and allow the vehicle to travel the most efficient on the tract. This designs main focus points are efficiency, speed, and cost. The final design that we decided to use was Eli’s because from the concept screening and concept scoring tables, his was the best. It was energy/cost efficient and was good overall.
The materials consist of: 2 motors (20), Arduino Nano (100), 3D Printed front (24-44), 2 propellers (1.0),2 count sensors + connectors (8), wheels (15), t-shape (2.00). Total cost: 170-190. These were the main materials of this project and most of these are store bought and printed out.