Operate - Programming

Operate - to control the functioning of the system ...

 

This is the program which our team member, Darryl, created. This program help starts the car to move to and fro to collect the cans. This program also help us to control the timings. 

Which includes:

• The time of the car moving forward
•  The time of the car stopping to capture the can, 
• The time of the arm rotating downwards,
• The time of the car moving backwards and lastly, 
• The time of the arm rotating upwards to release the can.

This cycle will repeat itself . That was the first program we used. 

On 14th Aug 2013, it was the day we were all waiting for. The day that marked the deadline of this project than we have worked on for 2 months; the day that we can all put an end to everything done; the challenge. 

On that day we decided to meet earlier at 8:30am though the challenge start at 10. We wanted to try out our program, but the program doesn't seemed to work properly. We thought the car was not moving the way we wanted it to be. The arm actually rotated all the way downwards, which is not the way we wanted. So Darryl altered the program a bit. He edit the timing so that when the arm is rotating downwards, the lowest it can go is to the floor and not anything more than that. 

After so much hard work contributed by each and everyone in our group, which included the Programmer, the Manufacturers, the AutoCAD Designer and the Bloggger, our hard work finally paid off and are proud to present our cancan-challenge! 

 

 









Thanks to the mechanism which helped us collected 8 cans in 2 mins! Even though in the end our mechanism only managed to get 8 cans out if the 3 tries, but the process was all that mattered. Through this project, we learnt many little things that actually added up to a lot. Besides the technical knowledge learnt through the task that we are assigned to do individually, we have also learn some non-technical values which are not taught in classes. For instance, we learn to work as a team, to communicate and discuss on how we can make improvement, and most importantly to determine and persevere to the end.

This project is really a great experience, we of us had fun together. We want to thank everyone who gets involved in this project. Thank You!

Implement - Manufacturing

Implement - to construct and manufacture our components individually, the platform and the arm, from the raw materials, Acrylic, and then install them altogether onto the car itself.

Firstly, we drew pencil lines onto the acrylic so that we know the dimensions and where exactly we are suppose to cut it and drill holes on it.

Next, we cut the acrylic into the exact size we wanted using the acrylic cutter machine.

Then, we bent the acrylic, using the heating machine, to create the inverted U-shapped platform and an U-shapped arm. 

We decided to drill 3 holes on top of the platform to secure it onto the car. 1 hole on the right side of the platform and another 4 holes on the left side of the platform to secure the motor to the platform. We also drilled a hole on both sides of the arms so that we can attach the right arm to the platform using a pin and the left arm to the platform using screw.

(This sketch is laterally inverted)

Lastly, we assembled everything together which includes; the screwing of the platform onto the car itself, installing the motor to the left side of the platform, attaching the left side of the arm to the motor and the right side of the arm to the platform using a pin.

Alas, things did not go as planned(as always). We accidentally broke the acrylic while fabricating, but we did not gave up. We redid everything again and persevered to the end.

We have improved our design as it is easier to fabricate and easier to understand too.

We have cut the right side of the platform, and removed it, and bent the right side of the arm inwards as we felt that the acrylic is very stable and we can operate it even if only one end of the arm is screwed to the motor. Moreover, this also helps to reduce the mass and hence improve the speed. And then the other end is held in the air. We think that is helps to reduce friction. 
 

As such, we took the U-shapped arm we have created and bent the right side inwards using the heating machine. 

Secondly, we decided not to drill any holes on the platform. Because we thinks that no holes are necessary as the motor is very secure.
 

We have also changed the number of holes on the arms. We only drilled 2 holes on the left end, which is straight, to tighten it to the motor and the car itself.

We then assembled everything onto the car; the screwing of the platform onto the car itself, installing the motor to the left side of the platform and attaching the left side of the arm to the motor. 

Finally, our fabrication is finished and our car is produced.