Week 11 - A Tough Cut

This week I focused entirely on the new laser cut prototype. As stated before, making the prototype out of cardstock proved to be ineffective as the material is far to flexible, making it almost impossible to assemble reliably by hand. To respond to this I bought a sample of 1/16 in thick cardboard as it is considerably more rigid and the thickness better represents the metal that will be used. The cardboard was too big for the laser cutter (30''x20'' in for the cardboard vs  24''x18'' for the cutter), so I had to cut it into two panels, the smaller measuring 20''x14.5''.

Throughout the weekend, I spent a lot remaking the design so that it would fit within the 20''x14.5'' in panels and so that the parts can come together in an "altering manner." At first, I made the design in inches, but I then realized that it would be more useful to keep it in millimeters, so I had to convert it that way. Looking over my reference documents, I realized that the thickness of the cardstock was very close to half the 3mm thickness of the metal that would be used (1/16'=1.59 mm) so I tweaked my design it to be half scale. I also experimented with the lengths of the parts so that I could cut a maximum number of parts from the cardstock panel and made sure so that it the ends of the finished product would go smoothly together. In addition, I tried making the design so that it would cut across all of the panel in one pass, but the large number of features slowed my computer dramatically and caused solidworks to crash multiple times, fortunately I realized that the main part of the pattern only took about 1/2 of the pannel, so I could leave it as is and just rotate the panel in the laser cutter.

Finally on Tuesday, I had to cut my new design and show my groupmates how the laser cutter works. Unfortunately, the designated computer was having technical difficulties such as extreme lag (taking a minimum of two seconds to respond to mouse clicks) and difficultly reading usb drives. Still, it eventually managed to work, so I opened DraftSight and uploaded the DXF file. Again, there were some more technical issues, such as the scale being wrong (the DXF file was set to inches) and the lasercutter not cutting all of the lines. Fortunately after some more trial and error with the settings and many passes with the laser cutter, I succesfully managed to cut out all of the parts, each with a set of duplicates. Going forward, I am going to help show the group how to assemble the part and discuss what else we should focus on for the rest of the semester.

Week 10 - A New Essay and Solidworks

This week I worked mainly on an essay for this class. I put in a lot of time and work into it, but unfortunately it took time away from the main project. In addition, unlike the first essay for this class it did not relate to the project (it had to do with how moble technology affects me and the world).

However, I also began designing a model in SOLIDWORKS to imitate a section of a track. The solid works assembly is in full scale (in feet), but the physical model that will be based on it will be 1/12 scale (so 1 inch=1 foot making conversions easy). The physical model will be made primarily from MDF as it will be easy to quickly manufacture in to the beams, but other materials may be used depending on the features we decide to include (IE 3d printed clamps or string cables).

Going into the next week, I will not only work on the SOLIDWORKS assembly, but I will also try making a new beam prototype out of laser cut folded paper parts and foam filling. However, I will need to find a thicker type of paper so that it will be sturdier and simpler to assemble, and I will use the super way building's sheet metal bender to make uniform bends.

Week 9 - Struggles and Success with the Laser Cutters and the presentation

This past week, I finally managed to to make the cardstock prototypes of the beam and clamp with the school's Epilog Helix laser cutter and helped with the presentation. 

For the laser cutter, using the dedicated computer was unfortunately not an option as none of the staff knew how to access it. And so I downloaded the drivers to my laptop and attempted to follow the instructions that were emailed to as well on the official laser cutter website. Over the first two days in the lab, I attempted tried to cut the patter directly from SOLIDWORKS and AutoCAD, and at first the "jobs" (laser cutter paths) seemed to go to the machine, but the laser did not move and I assumed that it was because lack of direct compatibility with the cad programs and the laser cutter. However I also noted that after a while the job just didn't appear and after resetting the machine the laser cutter machine just remained "offline" on the printers and devices page. On the third day I came back with a temporary license for corelDRAW, but the laser cutter was always in "offline" state. I tried reinstalling the drivers, but it wouldn't even let go through with the process. I had then recontaced Mr. Furman, who then contacted IT. The following Tuesday I came back to the lab, and the persons from IT were just finishing setting up a new dedicated computer to work with the laser cutter. When they finished used the new computer to open my .dxf files with DraftSight, and after a little trial and error with the print options and a few air passes, I successfully cut out the pattern on six sheets with no further problems.

As for the presentation, I added several new slides that would explain the new aspects of our column design, reordered and edited some of existing slides for clarity.

Going forward, I will need to present next Wednesday, design several different kinds of support designs to so that the group can make load calculations of these structures, get in contact with other groups to work with Vander-Bend manufacturing, and begin work on the essay.

Week 8 - Significant Developments

This week I began to make a lot of progress on the laser cutter. For one, I finished making the profile of the cuttout after many iterations, and even managed to make it able to be automatically rescaled. In addition, I not only installed the driver to the Epilog Helix laser cutter, I also managed to enter to enter the mechatronics lab where I got the managed to make my laptop connect to the laser cutter. Unfortunately, I do not have access to CorelDRAW on my laptop, so when I tried use SOLIDWORKS and AutoCAD to print and air run of the profile, it was not successful.

Another major development this week is that I proposed to my group as well as the supervisors that we should change our group description from "Full Scale" to Beam Design and Supports, and it appears to be approved by both parties. Basically, I realized that due to the new and experimental nature of the beams and ambiguity of the support system as a whole, it would not be cost or time effective to make a full scale model this year.

For next week, I will aid my group in making our upcoming presentation and I will also try to make the laser cutter work correctly.

Week 7 - For Want of More Information

This week I attempted to learn more about the laser cutter and work more on the printable patterns
I wanted to know more about the laser cutter on campus, such as the times that it could be accessed as well a technical information (the program that is needed to interface with it, bed size and if possible the laser diameter). Unfortunately, the  TAs were not very responsive to my e-mail, though because one of my group mates knew them personally so she was able to get most of the needed information.

Also, the reference SOLIDWORKS object that that was given to us was poorly dimensioned, so I began to make my own version, which could be more easily resealed and patterned for the laser cutter and for general reverence.

Going forward, I will finish the SOLIDWORKS object for next session and create a few more concept designs for supports. Lastly, I will download the laser cutter program  as soon I know which one.

Week 6 - Essays and Presentation

Although this week I did not get to do much work on the design itself, I did a lot of work to help with the “checkup” aspect.

For one, due to feedback from Eric, I tweaked my pages on the presentation, and re-verified dimensions for the current design. Also, I attempted to get information via on using the school laser cutter to make a cardboard/cardstock scale prototype of the beam, but unfortunately did not get a response from the person in charge.

Most significantly, I did the Individual Writing Assignment #1. There I reflected on the Spartan Superway’s larger implications, namely why it is needed, the potential difficulties in implementing it, and how it can affect the city of San Jose, the country and perhaps even the world.

Next week, I will further refine the designs and figure out how and when to use the laser cutter, as well as any other tasks. Hopefully, I will have completed the prototype by next class.

Week 5 - Presentation and Paseo Public Prototyping Challenge

This week, I created the SOLIDWORKS assembly that was going to be the presentation model. In addition to this, I made the presentation slides (and will present tomorrow) for the importance and significance of having a full scale design as well two explaining the SOLIDWORKS assembly.

In addition, on the 21st, my group and I went to the Hammer Theater to see the Paseo Public Prototyping Challenge. In addition to the representative of the PPPC, there were also three guest speakers (from Microsoft, SJSU and the Knight Foundation) who talked not just about what the Challenge entails, but also about the state of Silicon Valley and the San Jose. Unfortunately, with my course load and senior project, it will be much too difficult to participate. Nonetheless, it still was very interesting and I am very glad I went.