Final Blog Post

We completed our machine this past week just before the Balltower Competition. In the competition we made it past the first round, but unfortunately we lost to team Holy Moly in the next round for a spot in the Quarterfinals.

Our final machine turned out very similar to our solid model (shown below). Only minor details were changed due to unforeseen obstacles in the manufacturing stages. For example, we didn't anticipate any difficulties in manufacturing our pincers with the curved shape we had planned while designing our machine. However, after working in the machine shop we gained a better grasp of our manufacturing limitations. We found that it would be much easier to create two identical pincers by bending our sheet aluminum at 45 and 90 degree angles, instead of attempted to give them a curved shape.

Our final machine also turned out to be very robust and very quick. Bracket placement in our machine proved to be very effective at giving it a high level of rigidity and stability. The fact that our machine turned out to be very quick was surprising to us because it is a relatively heavy machine, but the high gear ratio that we used for our double gearbox gave it enough speed to overshadow its weight.

Also, our deployable anchor system turned out pretty good. We had a small problem in fitting the aluminum plate into the system but eventually we figured it out. Also, when we cut the pin connected to planetary gearbox shorter, we achieved to a better result.  

One of the most annoying problems we had was about the soldering of the connection wires of the motors.  Since we haven’t had perfect soldering, the machine randomly stopped on the table, but fortunately we didn’t encounter such a problem in Balltower Contest.

Final Bill of Materials:

#	Description	Use	Dimensions	Supplier	price
1	Brackets	General assembly	1.5" x 1.5"	Stadium Hardware	6
2	Rubber wheels	-	4" diameter, 5/16" bore	Advance Caster & Wheel Company	11.34
3	Aluminum Tubing	Restraint	3" long (3" OD, 2.75 ID), 3" long (2.75" OD, 2.25" ID)	Online Metals	26
4	Wheels	Wheels	4" diameter	Marketplace	16
5	1/4" Acrylic plate	Base Plate	12"x18"	Kit	-
6	Aluminum plate, 1/16" thick	Pincers, Support Plate	12"x18"	Kit	-
7	Architectural Aluminum Tube (Alloy 6063) Square, 2" X 1", 1/8" Wall	Side Chassie	18"	Kit	-
8	Aluminum 90 Degree Angle Stock - 1"x1"x6', 1/4" thick	Brackets	18"	Kit	-
9	Steel shaft, 1/4" diameter, tool steel type "O2"	Axles	12"	Kit	-
10	Flanged SS bearing - 1/4" ID, 1/2" OD, 1/8" Thick	Bearings	-	Kit	-
11	Flanged brass bushing - 1/4" ID, 3/8" OD	Bearings	-	Kit	-
12	E-Clip retaining rings - 3/8" Dia.		-	Kit	-
13	1" ball caster	Back Wheels	-	Kit	-
14	Tamiya 72001 Planetary Gearbox Kit (includes motor)	Restraint Release Motor	-	Kit	-
15	Tamiya 70168 Double Gearbox Kit (includes 2 motors)	Axle Motor	-	Kit	-
16	Wire	Motor Connector	-	Kit	-
17	Electrical connectors, male quick disconnect	-	-	Kit	-
18	Adhesive Velcro, 1.2 pull-apart, 200 cycles, 1" wide 0.188" thick	Control Box Connector	8"	Kit	-
19	Stock fasteners (screws, washers, bolts, nuts)	General Assembly	-	Kit	-
20	Kevlar Thread - 300yd, 28lb Tensile, 0.014" Dia.	Release Mechanism	5"	Kit	-
21	1/4" Baltic Birch Plywood	Restraint Bottom	12"x24"	Kit	-

Final Machine:

Final CAD:

~Pimp My Ride