Final Week - Pictures!

I understand that we are not required to do our usual blog post this week, but check this out:


Our project is all over the Design Expo publications! Here are some more pictures from Facebook:

Final WEEK - Exciting findings

The most exciting finding of the entire project was that it worked!!! During the design expo we were able to proudly display our working prototype. In addition it actually worked at one point much better than we had anticipated. We got the motor to displace a charge onto the capacitors and then on to the phone's battery for 20 seconds without adding another pull! This was a huge surprise. Previous testing had shown that the displaced charge only would last a second or two after pulling.

Another great finding was that people were extremely satisfied with the weight of the case. While they did mention they didn't really like the bulkiness, they still loved the fact that it was about the same weight as current battery cases on the market, and that the projected cost was about a quarter of the cost of the battery cases.

Final WEEK! - Challanges

Having successfully designed, prototyped, and presented out product, "Clutch".
The only challenges left is to reflect and learn from this experience, and to determine whether or not to take the next step and make actually dive into the consumer market and attempt to find investors. However, to do this, more work and testing would need to be done on our current prototype.
Nonetheless, we have been able to meet all the previous challenges set before us, and have learned a great deal along the way!

Week 12 - What's Next

We have a few things to finish up before the design expo. First, the circuit board must be soldered together with a cell phone charger properly configured. Next, we should assemble our 3D printed case shell, create the handle and string mechanism and assemble the whole thing with the spring attached. We need to finish our poster by adding some validation data and the business plan, print everything and attach it to a piece of foam core. For the design expo, we will need to plan our demonstration and business pitch. It seems that everything is now coming together, but we need to put together a few more things in order to be sure that it runs smoothly.

Week 12 Team Update

This week, the team accomplished a lot in terms of productivity towards manufacturing. The team was able to finish machining several components in the student machine shop, and also able to test the functionality of the device. This was done by hooking the Pololu DC motor up to an oscilloscope to see if it produced enough voltage to feasibly charge a phone It was confirmed from testing that the motor could output much more than the needed voltage. Because many of the orders took several weeks to arrive, it was a slight rush to get the components to arrive on schedule and Also accomplished was the final submission of the case design to the 3D printer, which is on schedule to be completed before the Design Expo. The team is on task with the high probability of completing the project before the expo and having a working demo at the booth. Still to be done is make sure that the harnessed energy can actually charge an iPhone with a working charging circuit, and integrate all components (including circuit board and mount plate) into the 3D printed case.

week 12 -Eciting Findings

Although a stressful realization, it was still interesting to learn that to charge an iPhone, providing the right current and voltage is not really enough. A special circuit must be made so the iPhone realizes and accepts a charger.
Another exciting finding was that we were able to makes some of our parts even smaller, while machining them and still maintain our stress tolerances. More specifically, we were able to make the part that hols our clutch spring a little bit smaller, saving space, weight, and reducing the materials used!

Week 12-Challanges

Our biggest challenge now is to ensure that our device, the "Clutch" is assembled, tested, and ready to go in time for the design expo. Currently all of our parts are in, and most of the "Clutch" is assembled. However, it is still not 100% completed, and we also still have to get our 3D printed housing, and then lay carbon fiber over it. We also will have to test it and ensure that the iPhone accepts it as a charger, via circuits, and ensure that it successfully charges the iPhone.