5/4-5/10

During this week, a new reliable design for tensioning the belt is planned. Several designs were thought of but there is little time thus a simple yet reliable solutions was necessary to be done. Thus, the construction of a reliable tensioning system will be the last part of our completed bogie. The wheels which required to be reduced a little were modifies and a bigger clearance was obtained. The bogie has been available for the other sub-teams to implement their parts and test for some time. A dynamic test run on the track was done and the results were remarkably positive as the bogie is able to transverse the 17 degree angle as expected. It is very joyful that the system  works accordingly to our designs specifications. A more reliable tensioning system will be finish before Maker Fair. Also, we are getting ready for final presentations this upcoming Friday May 12.

4/26-5/3

Final adjustments are done to the bogie and steering as the finals days approach. A tensioning system is placed placed in the steering. In order to tension the steering a simple solution was implemented. Torsional springs were bought and used to easily tension the timing belts. Although the springs did tension somewhat the steering system, there doesn't seem to be any reliability. We tested the steering and came to the conclusion to change the tension system as the one in place is not of our liking. Also, we grind down some of the shafts from the gear box in order to for the fittings, motor shaft and gearbox shaft will assemble perfectly. We also begin to get ready for the last presentation taking place soon.

4/19-4/24

Throughout this week, all small aspects of the bogie were resolved. all past have been finished and bogie is almost completed apart from some details. fittings to connect the gear box and the motor have been completed. Also, we began helping mechatronics with placement of some of the hardware. Though, one of the shafts  which connects the main wheels did needs to be modified a little as the bearings get stuck. The shaft will be reduced in diameter a little in order for the bearing to pass through. Also, as mentioned in previous blogs, we decided to add wheels to prevent any grinding with the roof. Due to some  discrepancies of the track, we need to adjust our design in order for the bogie to transverse without a single problem.

4/12-4/18

Details noticed around the bogie were necessary to be done. The previous timing belts which were acquired for the bogie were too long thus new timing belts will be ordered. Also, the aluminum blocks which maintain in place some of the wheels will be remade as steel will be more reliable rather than aluminum. With forces acting on the bogie throughout the course of switching and transversing through the rail system, the threads in the aluminum block will fail prematurely. Using steel blocks will be much safer and reliable. Also, the gears in the gearbox were welded together to maintain them in the desired position at all times.

4/5-4/11

The wheels necessary were ordered we were able to see the Dynamics of the system. The bogies were able to transverse the rails. Though the bogies seem to work, there are certain aspects of the track which may interfere with our bogie. The track is not as uniform as it looks and in certain parts the distance between rails changes thus causing a little interference with the top wheels. We will be grinding down the wheels in order to obtain as much clearance as possible. The rest of the parts are working accordingly and as we expected. Also, during this week, presentations took place.

3/29-4/4

Throughout this week, although it may be spring break, we continue to work on the project. The bogie is for the most part completed thus other teams can began adding their subsystems to ours. We were able to supply the bogies and make the available for the other sub-teams in order to finish in a timely manner. Some extra wheels will be order to replace the guiding wheels. We came to realize that the guiding wheels were not big enough to keep the bogie perpendicular to the track and will cause problems. Also, we will be testing the steering to make sure no interference occur when changing rails. Overall, the bogies are almost completed and are available for the other sub-teams to implement and test their system. We hope to start assembling the entire system soon in order to make sure everything will work and also make adjustments if necessary.

3/22-3/28

Throughout this week, some adjustments where done to the bogie. The bottom wheel which prevent the bogie from rotating an undesirable angle were welded in place. The previous test showed that the wheels were placed in the wrong spot thus we needed to placed them further up. Also, once the whole bogie was welded and all adjustments were done, all parts were powder coated to prevent any corrosions. Currently, both bogies are powder coated. The steering will be place on the bogie as soon as a complicated shaft for the gear box is completed. The parts arrived within two days as previously mentioned thus we will be testing the bogie and steering on the track as soon as possible.

3/16-3/21

Throughout this week, we continue to work and build our final project. Most of the parts have been welded in place to ensure that we began to test and fix any problems. We were able to take the current bogie that we have and place it on the tracks to see any problems that may have arise. Some parts were not welded on until we tested the bogie on the rails to accurately place them in the correct spot. One thing of noticed is the since of the wheels, We might need to gather bigger guiding wheels to ensure that the bogie is sits straight and not at an angle. Also, the last parts have arrived thus we will be implementing the steering system soon enough. Overall, we are in the testing and finalizing the building stage. The other teams are dependent of us thus we want to finish as soon as possible for them to work around our bogie. We took our current bogie to the shop in order for the rest of the groups to see where they will fit and how their projects will assemble with our own. Overall, we are making good progress.

3/9-3/15

Throughout this time, the construction of the bogie has been the priority. We have been working at TechShop to finish our project as soon as possible as other teams depend on our work to get their own work done in time. We also want to have a reasonable period of time in order for us to test and resolve any flaws that we may not have yet located. Also, the final parts have been order and should be here some time soon. The gears, pulleys and timing belts are the only parts that we will not be making ourselves. Overall we should be done with proper time to test the bogie and also give the other teams time to test their own parts on our system.

Winter Break - 2/8

Lots of parts have been machined already including all sheet metal parts, most of the gearbox housing, rod ends, and square tubing, and we are getting ready to put welding the main structure together. The parts that still need to be ordered include the gears, fasteners, pulleys, and pulley belts. We will be ordering them within the next few weeks. We will continue manufacturing parts, and will beginning welding everything up soon.