Backwards Looking Summary
Situation
Lab 7 consisted of the team orally presenting project progress to the class and lab instructor. The four main topics discussed were design concepts, concept screening and scoring, final design and the next steps the team is taking. The priorities for the team going forward were decided to be balance, efficiency, easy Arduino access, semi light weight, safe and easy to maintain. These categories were chosen to focus on because the previous labs showed the importance of these design characteristics.
Results and Analysis
The team has already made the decision on which singular craft to test, as seen in figures A and B, because there is not enough time to test multiple designs. The team chose to rate each design based on six requirements: balance, efficiency, Arduino access, weight, safety, and maintenance. Balance and efficiency were the most important aspects to the team, the AEV’s center of gravity should be very close to the middle of the craft and the vehicle should be energy efficient. The team also thought it important that the craft was relatively simple in design, which would allow for easy access to the Arduino, make the craft light-weight, and be easy to maintain.
It was difficult to accurately determine how each design would be, especially in terms of efficiency, so the team made estimates based on the data that they gathered in lab 4. If given more time the team would have liked to test each design to further support their decision. Based off of the concept screening and scoring and personal design preference, the team decided to select Quinton’s “RV” design to further test.
Moving forward, the team will be focused on especially on fixing the bugs in their initial design- first with the servo motors and wings as that is where they suspect they will have issues with construction. The reference AEV did not have servo motors, so the team will be unable to test that aspect until they have parts. However, the team has plans to create and test a code for their craft.
Takeaways
The team was able to share their initial project with the class and see how the other teams are moving forward as well. It was helpful to the team to view the other presentations as some of the other teams had different and interesting ideas.
Tables and Figures
Figure A. Concept Screening
| Criteria | Reference | Alyssa | James | Quinton | Ryan |
| Balance | – | + | 0 | + | + |
| Efficiency | 0 | 0 | + | 0 | – |
| Easy Arduino Access | + | – | – | + | + |
| Semi-light weight | + | + | – | + | + |
| Safe | 0 | 0 | 0 | + | – |
| Maintenance | – | 0 | + | + | + |
| Sum +’s | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| Sum 0’s | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Sum -‘s | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Net Score | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| Continue? | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
Every design was given either a plus or minus score, or a 0 if it was neutral. All of the designs had both positives and negatives and many of the designs had similar aspects, so none of the scores (save for Quinton’s) were much higher than the others. The team chose the two highest scoring designs to move forward.
Figure B. Concept Scoring
| Quinton | Ryan | ||||
| Criteria | Weight | Rating | Weighted Score | Rating | Weighted Score |
| Balance | 20% | 4 | 0.8 | 3 | 0.6 |
| Efficiency | 35% | 2 | 0.7 | 2 | 0.7 |
| Easy Arduino Access | 10% | 3 | 0.3 | 4 | 0.4 |
| Semi-light weight | 15% | 3 | 0.45 | 4 | 0.6 |
| Safe | 10% | 4 | 0.4 | 2 | 0.2 |
| Maintenance | 10% | 3 | 0.3 | 3 | 0.3 |
| Total Score | 19 | 2.95 | 18 | 2.8 | |
| Continue? | Develop | No | |||
The weights were based off of what the team found most important (balance and efficiency made up over 50%). Again, each design had its high and low points and the scores were very similar in the end. The team liked the overall design of Quinton’s and chose that one to move forward with.
Forwards Looking Summary
Situation
In lab this week, the team will continue working on the AEV project, specifically data analysis. This upcoming lab will be the Performance Test 1. Different concepts will be tested by the group during testing, such as the servo motors and the code to make the AEV run the track properly. The team will examine these closely to determine how to proceed forward in the decision-making. The group will test different strategies to accomplish the goals.
Weekly Goals and Schedule
The team will evaluate the preliminary design of their AEV and make changes so they will have a craft to run some initial tests on. They will also begin preparing their Preliminary Design Report.
| Date Due | 3/9 | 3/9 | 3/28 |
| Task | PT1 Progress Report | Assemble/evaluate AEV | PDR |
| Team Members | all | all | all |