Week 11 - Status

Design expo is scarily close, and while we are on track to finish I am still nervous about the timing. We still need to machine a few simple parts and are still waiting for our clutch bearing to come in. If that bearing isn't here on Monday we might be in trouble. However, the majority of the work left for the prototype is assembly, and we are signed up for machines on Monday and Tuesday. We also have all of the components we need for the circuit board except for the iPhone cable. I don't know if there is going to be a more complicated wiring system to connect the charging cable, but I intend to put together the rest of the circuit tomorrow.  The CAD of the case shell has been submitted to 3D print just a little while ago, and we were told that it should be done by the end of the week. Brian is working on the poster, and David has volunteered to handle our business plans. It seems that everything is on track to finish, but nothing has come together yet. Hopefully in a few days we will have a poster, a working prototype and a partial business plan for the final report!

Week 11 - What's Next

We are so close to design expo!!! We have all but one of our parts in, and this next week we need to assemble and test our prototype. I am concerned that we won't have very much time to fix things if they don't work on the first try, but Dr Luntz (who I spoke to on Friday) seems to think that our testing will run smoothly and that replacing parts should be easy if something breaks. We also need to get our poster together and printed. We seem to be right on track, but time is very tight.

Week 11: Exciting Findings

The biggest development this week was finding out just how small some of our parts were. It was a definite concern for us that, if the parts we ordered turned out to not really work with the dimensions we needed, we would have to reorder and wait for everything to show up again. However, we were pleasantly surprised by the size of the motors, but even more so by the Zener diodes, which were much smaller than we anticipated. This helps us because with our size restrictions limited to the size of a standard phone case without becoming cumbersome, the smaller the parts, the better. The challenge of it is being able to assemble it all without breaking anything.

Week 11-Challanges

Rolling through week 11, our biggest challenge is now assembling and testing our product in time for the deign expo! As we begin this process we are finding that assembling our spring system, designed to ensure that after the user pulls on our string connected  to the motor shaft, the string is retracted back in to the case. However, this is proving to be harder than anticipated due to space, time and the type of springs we can use in our system. Another challenge is going to be to test our electronics. Due to our teams lack of experience in circuits this may prove to be more time consuming and harder than we anticipated. We are still optimistic, and hope that this will not take too much time. Nonetheless, ensuring that we obtain he most efficient system, mechanically and electronically is not going to be easy!

Week 10 -What's Next

The next week will be used to manufacture and assemble the components of our device. The machine shop will be used to mill the base plate, pillow blocks and motor mounts. The electronic circuit that will be used in the device must also be configured. Then the transmission, motor and electronics can all be assembled after all the necessary components arrive. Hopefully there will be time this week to also test each part of the device to ensure it functions properly. While this is being done a member of our group will also be working on the business plan and financial analysis before completing the conjoint analysis.

Week 10 Exciting Findings!

As we prepared for GR3, and surveyed which colors people liked and found reliable or fun, we found that mot people found black to be the most reliable. We also found that engineers found the carbon fiber print to be the most reliable. Nonetheless, it was interesting to see a correlation between the color and reliability, instead of material and reliability.
Another interesting finding was how well we anticipated our needed space inside the phone case! While designing the CAD it was nice to see that we did not need to redesign to many things in order to accommodate  all the internal components.

Week 10: Project Status Update

The team has passed Gate Review 3 and is now ready to begin construction. A design for the case shell has been designed and CAD, and further manufacturing process development is underway. It was decided that the best option for manufacturing the case will be a rapid-prototyped ABS part via 3D printing, and then capped with carbon fiber for rigidity. Because the device will see up to 25 lbs of force distributed over where the motor is mounted, basic FEA analysis has been done on the case shell to ensure it will not suffer from fracture or yield during normal use. The carbon fiber cap also makes sure of this. 

Part orders have been placed from Mouser Electronics, Pololu, and McMaster. Upon arrival of these components, the team can get in the machine shop and begin manufacturing the parts needed to conduct testing on the motor setup. Manufacturing plans and diagrams have been developed for quick manufacturing in the ME student shop, which will decrease time required in the shop. The team also scoured for materials that can be used to build the case this week in and around the ME X50 assembly room area. 

Currently being worked on is cost analysis,conjoint analysis to choose the best consumer preferences for the device, and the business plan.