Tuesday, February 28, 2017

3/1/2017 Blog #18

Hi,
this week we created a few utensils that were used to simulate the bogie with its maximum and minimum tolerances. This served the sole purpose of ensuring that the bends were within spec so that the bogie would not fall or get stuck. We also finished up a drawing of the support mount that would fix the support post to one position without moving. It would simply slip onto the pole and then three legs of dimensions 1"x 0.25" would be placed into the three remaining slots. We also began working on the presentation, but that is not our utmost priority right now as we need to finish welding ASAP because the tech shop will be closed starting Friday, March 3 until March 16. We have been maintaining communication with the other teams and attempting to draft a Bill of Materials since time is running out and we are depending on other teams for their numbers and SolidWork files.

This next week, we will be attempting to finish most, if not all, of the welds. We will be working on our papers, completing our presentation, and ordering the last of the stuff we need.



Wednesday, February 22, 2017

2/22/2017 Blog #17

Hi,
this week our team worked out what we need to accomplish with the other subteams. We asked the positioning and controls team to give us a map of where they will be placing their magnets and corrugated metal strips along with its dimensions so that it would not collide with other teams' needs. We also obtained information of what the solar team needs from us (how much aluminum material and what they request of us from the support posts). AJ and Jez went to learn welding this week and did a few practice runs, it is more time-consuming and more difficult than expected. We also did some research on trying to FEA a % in-fill 3D printed part, but we have been fruitless with finding the properties of a certain % in-fill. We managed to fix the 3D printer this week, but the bed of the printer is not sticking and the z-axis is misaligned - we are doing our best to fix it, so we can resume manufacturing the U-brackets that we need.
In this coming week, we will be working on the presentation and everything the rubric asks of us. Also, we will continue welding and should have a proper design for the support that the Solar Team wants. Optimistically, the 3D printer issues will be resolved by this week as well.

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

2/15/2017 Blog #16

Hi,
this week we started marking all of the metals and have cut a few. We ran into a quick problem with dimensions but should be able to fix shortly. Another problem arose, however, and it is regarding the bending of the metal. Kevin from the Track Manufacturing Team took some of the cut metals home to bend, but the bending reacted differently from the previous metals. We have confirmed the metal numerous times and could not figure out why. Thus far, we have researched aging, heat treating, and length of metal, but cannot find anything that answers our dilemma. We will be sending an e-mail to CoastAluminum, VanderBend, and a materials engineering professor of ours to try and find out the answer. Also, we have asked the Solar Team to swap the older metals in storage with our newly bought metals, but even so, we will not have enough material - currently, waiting for them to reply.

Jez and AJ have signed up for a Tig Welding class, officially. Also, we will be working on the support post with the Solar Team today since the design they have seems top heavy. We also established a Gantt Chart for all of the subteams so that we all know what days each team will need to be done with their respective parts because we are heavily reliant on each other.

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

2/8/2017 Blog #15

Hi,
over the winter break, our team ran into a problem when 3D printing the U-brackets because the hot end of the 3D printer broke. And since Jez (the owner of the printer) was not in town, we delayed fixing it until he returned. Other than that, we also obtained a quote from CoastAluminum for some pieces of aluminum. We then obtained approval from Eric to make the purchase.

When we returned from winter break, we followed up on the quote and the parts we ordered - the shipment will be arriving today the 8th of February. We have also set up a tentative Gantt Chart on the white board in the design center to follow for the next month and a half (since we need to be done by the 22nd of March). Jez and Andrew will also be signing up for a Tig Welding class, February 18 for future production. We also coordinated with the other teams to align dates and necessities.

In the coming weeks, we will be manufacturing the new parts for the 12th scale track and solidifying the dates whilst coordinating with the other sub-teams.