11/16-11/29

In the past couple of weeks I have been gotten the quote from Vanderbend and been taking inventory of some parts I did not know we had. I compared the parts to our designs and some of them look like they could be used and we may not need them to be manufactured. This could save us a good chunk of change. The issue right now is if the manufactured parts have warped at all while in storage. I am also unsure if it is made of 6061 aluminum or 5052 aluminum. Even if the components measurements are within our specified measurements, if they are made of the 6061 aluminum, the parts may not last as long. When bending 6061 aluminum, the material will usually try to return to its original shape over time. 5052 aluminum is less likely to do this. The quote we got from Vanderbend would be using the 5052 aluminum.

11/9-11/15

Last week I got in contact with Scott at Vanderbend. We are still waiting to hear back with a quote, but we do know that the track would be made from 5052 aluminum as it is better for forming, according to Scott.

I got a better idea about what the other groups are doing during our 1/12th scale team meeting. It appears that all of us have slightly different ideas, however, because we are communicating we are starting to see future problems and we have ideas on how to solve them. For example, the controls team and positioning team are still testing which sensors they want to be using. This could affect how much clearance the bogie will have from the track. As the track team, we know if they use a sensor that leaves minimum clearance, we would have to put a bit more work into the track. (essentially we would have to counter bore certain bolts) If the teams allow for more clearance, the track has a bit more space for mounting brackets.

I also spoke with the full scale team about a manufacturing meeting. I let them know that I was having trouble coordinating the different groups, and informed them they are free to take over. Since then, I know Winter has made significant progress on getting something coordinated.

I also spoke with Eric and relayed the information to the 1/12th scale team about financing our project. We all have a good idea on how to go about funding this project. This is an important time because all the groups are looking at what it would cost to actually build their respective projects.

11/2-11/8

At this time I have contacted Vanderbend and have created a bit of a dialogue with Scott Bryant. I sent them drawings of the parts we would need manufactured and waiting for a quote. I sent him an overall design to give an idea of the larger project and then each part that needs to be manufactured. Then each part would have to be replicated either 4 or 8 times.

I am also trying to get several groups together to meet with Vanderbend to see if we can get some advise and feed back on our designs. I have a lot of different groups giving me different information and different times. The nature of the task and situation got me a little bit frustrated, and I only made small steps in coordinating these groups, my group, and Vanderbend. My focus has been on my other classes and work. I plan to approach each group today and inform them of my progress or lack of progress. From there I plan to see the best method for us to move forward and accomplish our goals before our deadlines. At this time I think my group is still a bit ahead of schedule, but less ahead of schedule than we have been. I am assuming that is the case for other groups, but I cannot speak on their behalf.

10/26-11/1

Last week during class, the 1/12th scale subteams did presentations again. This time was more informative for us as I could see where other teams are in relation to us. At this time we are trying to get manufacturing started. I know we have an in-house fabrication team, and I talked with them and they seem far enough along that they could be manufacturing parts for us in a timely manner. We as a 1/12th scale track improvement team will still be pursuing professional manufacturing options just in case the fabrication team encounters set backs.

I am trying to coordinate with several groups to meet with Vanderbend. At this time it has been challenging to get several people together from several teams. I have contacted Vanderbend to get a running dialogue going, but at this time we do not yet have a meeting scheduled.

10/19-10/25

This week I have drawn up a couple sketches that would connect the modular pieces together. It was something we overlooked, but it does not hold us back or put us behind schedule. Our group also had a meeting with Eric Hagstrom, Professor Furman, Ron and Ned. It was helpful to talk with them and touch base on the direction of our project in relation to Spartan Superway as a whole. In the meeting, a tour of Vanderbend Manufacturing came up.

I attended the tour to get an idea of how manufacturing is performed. It was particularly eye opening as it made me realize the major difference between designing something and building it. All the major manufacturing methods were very interesting, however, I did not see any specific tools for manufacturing the track to our specifications. I talked to a sales associate and they assured me they they could manufacture the track for us. I got the contact info of several representatives of Vanderbend and plan to meet with them soon. I need to coordinate with my group when all of us would be able to go to their manufacturing center and speak with some of their skilled workers in designing the track. I think it would be particularly helpful to have the manufacturers give some input on the design.

Throughout the week, the brackets I drafted on Wednesday has had a lot of discussion within our group. This was because the upper guide track has a very limited amount of material to work with. As a result we discussed several iterations to try and secure the guide way to the bracket. At the moment every iteration has some pros and some cons but we think our final iteration will work, but is not ideal. We may try to revise it further next semester.

This bracket connects parts of the loops and will need to be bolted together for assembly and disasembly. This was a very quick draft I drew. Jez has drawn in it in Solidworks this past week.

10/12-10/18

Our general meeting time on Wednesday was a lecture with Professor Agarwal about technical writing and the final report. With the lecture, I do not think I learned anything particularly new, however it was helpful to review specific details in writing. A simple example would be the guidelines on writing a number or using the numeric value. Generally it is not an issue, but it can help the writing flow better when done properly.

Over the course of the week, we have been working on the CAD design and FEA. So far, it appears that bracketing the upper and lower tracks on the corners could be redundant. We have decided for now that it is unnecessary but I will be looking into again when we build our rapid prototype. I do agree with my team's analysis and choice to move on. I just believe we had some reason for it in the first place. I expect that when we build our rapid prototype we will quickly find that computer analytics was correct, however I would like to double check as long as time  allows it.

I talked with the fabrication team. The more complicated bends that we are asking for should be feasible according to them. The fabrication team is planning to construct a press and dye type of machine to shape the aluminum. From what I got from them in our conversation, that is their goal, however simpler methods may need to employed.

I also talked with the mechanical bogie team and positioning to see how we want to implement sensors onto the bogie and onto the track. The space between the track and bogie is very limited and the positioning team wants to insert corrugated steel into the track. At first we looked at how we could fit all the sensors on a certain part of the bogie and work within very limited tolerances. Then realized we have some additional places the sensor could be placed on the bogie allowing for more tolerances. I briefly presented the idea of making the track wider, but everyone involved, including myself, did not like that idea because the amount of work it would require from everyone would be overwhelming.

10/5-10/11

Most of my time and effort has been exerted in the multitude of writing assignments that come with working on senior project. The essay in ENGR 195A and the essay and presentation in ME 195A. Upon completing them, I have taken a step back from senior project for just a few days. This was only temporary and in the past 24 hours, there has been a need for more communication with my group and the whole 1/12th scale team. I have made little progress on the track personally, however, I have maintained communication with other groups to remain in the loop and allow others dependent on me to make progress.

Going forward we need to complete FEA and start building the rapid prototype. I know that many parts are available in the design center. What I am not sure about as we begin to think about what needs to be order, is how do we, as a team, get funding. Is there a form we need to submit to someone? Someone to talk to? I know we submitted a proposed budget but I'm not sure what our approved budget is. I will probably ask during the start of class when Eric does announcements.

9/28-10/4

On the 28th we saw a number of presentations. We saw where other groups are at along their design process. I don't think our group is behind in comparison with the other groups, however, I believe other groups have completed more work than we have. I have been making some hand sketches over the last week to give some design ideas and those sketches are in process of being drawn in SolidWorks.

A majority of my time spent for this class in the last week has been revising the presentation that we will be presenting on October 5th. It's also been spent writing an essay for meeting Mechanical Engineering major requirements. The essay had me researching a number of societal issues the Spartan Superway could be addressing. It was good to think about very different types of problems the project could solve. From this point forward, its time to get focused on the project itself and spend most of my time and energy actually working on the project.

Individual Blog #4 9/21-9/27

This week has been all about getting prepared for the presentations. We spent a majority of our class time on Wednesday creating an outline for the presentation. It has been asked that the presentation is done in evidence-assertion method, which is newer for our group. We researched the previous year's work to get a better understanding of what we should be presenting.

We did meet up outside of class as a group several times this week. All of which was to get ready for the presentation. We studied the rubric and further refined the outline to bring it more to a presentation format. Before we had the questions clearly defined, then we started to come up with some vague answers. These answers have been better understood by each member of the group so we can strongly present our ideas and intentions.

After our presentations, the group plans to focus on drawing CAD models and detailed designs. Everyone in the group will be working on the designs until completed. Once the designs are done, we plan to repair the existing track and test out some of the new design implementations. We have given ourselves a direction for the semester and for the year. How we plan to get there had some debate, but I conceded my ideas so that we as a group will be working together more. Both as a team, and on our tasks.

September 14

Last week, I went to the design center early and started messing with the assembly of the track. There were numerous things I learned. There were a number of things the track had already completed that were good designs. There were some issues that needed to be addressed and re-designed. There were also things I believed to be issues, but were actually able to be fixed with just a few tools.

Things that I found that were relatively flawless were that the vertical supports were a simple, working design. They were redesigned last year and I see no reason that they need to be designed again. I put a mechanical bogie on the Eastern side of the track and found that were not many alignment issues. The Eastern Loop is functional. The support brackets are adjustable as well. I found that feature to be helpful in resolving numerous alignment issues.

The alignment was one of the major problems our group first found. As I was deconstructing the track, I found that their already exists a method to adjust the alignment. This is very helpful as it means less things to be re-designed.

The track did have a number of problems that would need maintenance or re-designed.  All the screws are either stripped or bent. All of them will need replacement. The locations where the bogie rides on two tracks as it is switching is also an issue. If it is not aligned properly, the bogie will either get stuck or fall. To address this issue I drew a full bracket to increase rigidity. This design is still being discussed.

Week 3

Last week we started to get a better idea of what we would like to accomplish. We talked with Eric to figure out what our responsibilities are. As a group we decided the main priority is getting something to work.

As a result we believe fixing the corners and making the track level is the priority. We know that we would want to make the track more modular, and we plan to do that by making the single loop more symmetrical. The mounting brackets are also a problem as they do not completely secure the track together. We plan to put a small plate on the opposite side of the bracket to make it more secure, however we may need to redesign the brackets.

We can tell the center of the constructed track was built with immense care and do not plan to mess with that part of the track. We also considered making the track have an elevation change for the pick-up/drop-off locations. Due to possible manufacturing complications, and issues it may give the other teams, we decided not to.

Spartan Superway Previous Small Scale Track Issues

Last year's small scale track team simplified the design of the track to make it easier to assemble and transport. Their ideas of attaching the vertical supports to concrete was very simple, which allowed for easier assembly. They set out to make the design modular so that more track could be added easily without a high cost. They were able to create two loops of track, but they wished they could have had four. Completing four loops would show that the design was indeed modular and could easily be expanded. By only completing two loops, the group essentially built a single section of track. From my understanding, the previous year has not yet practically found a way to simply expand the track.

The group also expressed difficulty in the physical manufacture of the track. I think they did a good job of contacting other individuals that had more practical knowledge to help them out. I have used a welder a few times so I have some understanding of what can and cannot be done with a welder. The previous team did express that was an issue for them. I believe that in our teams issue probably will not be the availability of knowledge or experience in manufacturing the track, but we may encounter very challenging issues if we do not have the proper tools at our disposal.

Another issue the team mentioned, but seemed to gloss over, was that if the dimensions of the track were not absolutely right, the bogie would get stuck. Something I would like to look into is if there are any working tolerances the track could have. I expect the tolerances would be governed by the design of the bogie. I'd imagine our team will have to communicate with the bogie teams to see what design constraints and tolerances we have to work with. With that in mind, I would speculate that temperature fluctuations could also create issues for the bogie when going around bends. This may or may not be an issue depending on the bogie and the materials we would be using, but is probably something to look into.