Friday, December 12, 2014
The Grand Finale!!! (Project Overview)
At the closing of today's Design Expo, our work with the Elastic Tank project had finished. As a team, we were able to form an idea, design certain parameters, prototype the parts, and assemble a working model. There would be multiple changes that differed from our original goal but that was part of the learning process that this project was trying to achieve. Not everything works as it should. In the end, every member of the team was satisfied with the results. It was a very cool feeling to know what had started as a idea had become a working prototype. During today's design expo many great ideas and prototypes were showcased. Many worked, some not quite as the designers had envisioned, but that did not matter. A prototype is not a finished; ready for production product. It is meant to be a working step towards a completed product. We were lucky enough to have our tank work exceptionally well even if our intended goal could not be met. Though the project due date may have been met, that does not mean that the Elastic Tank has seen the dark corner just yet. We have gained a lot of thoughtful ideas on what we could do to make the tank better leading up until today. During the Dean's competition, the events judges and other facility gave us some pointers on what to do with the current product. From the beginning, we knew as a group that we were not going to make a life altering device. We wanted something fun, I mean we are teenagers! We also did not want to back ourselves into a corner with something too specific. So we choose to make a recreational toy, as to have as few limitations as possible. Along with the tank's main purpose being for recreation, it could also be a learning tool for education. The three main lessons that could be examined through the tank are Arduino coding (coding in general really), Solidworks modeling, and trajectory in regards to the rubber band launcher. Had it not been for the judges input, we may not have gotten those 3 selling points. Going into the competition the main point of our tank was for fun, with education being its secondary purpose. However the judges saw its educational potential as its main selling point. We gained that the Elastic Tank could make a great platform for just about anything the user wanted. A feature we had hoped could make it to the prototype (time constraints got in the way) we a Bluetooth motorsheild that would allow the tank to be controlled by a phone. This therefore make the tank remote controlled. From here, things such as sensors (to allow it to not hit objects if controlled anonymously) or a camera (to have it be a mobile camera platform). With so many options available the tanks use can be altered to fit the user's needs as they see fit. This expandablity is what makes the tank have potential, it can do a lot of things with just minimal tweaks. This made us look at the tank in a different light. Without knowing it; we had created a device that could do much more than just shoot a rubber-band and move in a determined path. At the end of the day, we still love what we created. And sometimes there is just no substitute to a rubber band launching tank. It put a smile on our faces, so what more could you ask for??
Code
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ck5b0fyeetpqmil/Elastic_Tank_V1.ino?dl=0
The code that we used for the demo
The code that we used for the demo
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
The Elastic Tank is ALIVE!!!
It was finally completed before the difference makers event. The elastic tank does fire rubber bands but only on a preprogrammed loop designed by Nick. The rubber bands must also be manually loaded before every button press as well. The only thing now is to wait for Friday to present our final product at University Crossing in Mohoney hall to the class. So excited that it works! Great Job Guys!
Monday, December 8, 2014
DifferenceMakers Convention Reflection
Overall, our elastic tank presentation at the DifferenceMakers convention went well. Our prototype was able to move, rotate, elevate and shoot as expected. The elastic tank followed a pre-determined path, rotated its barrel, shot the elastic band, rotated back to its initial position, and returned back to its starting point. Our initial problem we set out to solve with our elastic tank was geared towards education. We wanted to model projectile motion to help solve the problem of younger students not experiencing the interactive part of education. Through this resolution, we hoped to spark the creation of more models, such as ours, to be created to model other educational topics to help students learn. As the competition approached, we altered our problem solution to be a platform for various things. One possibility could be to replace the turret with a camera and it could go places a human can't. This could used for anything, from military use to general household use. Another possibility could be to place a sensor on the front of the elastic tank, so when driven around freely, it won't crash into a wall and break. This feature would work well with the camera. Initially, we had planned to use a Bluetooth sensor to control the elastic tank with our smartphones, but we were short on time for the competition. If time permits, we plan on adding on this Bluetooth feature, which will work great with the camera and sensor attachments.
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
December 2nd
Last tuesday we got all of the ordered parts for our project!
Over Thanksgiving break I took the parts home with my arduino and tried to get the bluetooth shield to work. After much aggravation I was able to get the example programs to work with the shield (my phone seemed to have a hard time finding the shield).
In the end, we decided to drop the bluetooth shield for the December 4th deadline. Perhaps we will get it working for the presentation later in the month.
But, as of now, the tank is able to drive around!!! But we don't yet have the 3d printed parts, hopefully we will get them tomorrow.
Monday, November 24, 2014
Parts!
This past weekend, I was able to get a bluetooth shield, a motor shield, and the gearbox. I assembled the gearbox. I have started to try to figure out how to interact with the bluetooth shield. Hopefully all of the parts will be ready for pickup before thanksgiving. Soon I will post the solidworks models, they have been done for weeks, but I haven't uploaded them yet.
Sunday, November 9, 2014
November 9th. Progress
Today, the entire 3d model is complete and the 3d parts as well as the laser cut parts have been ordered. The off the shelf parts will be ordered as soon as the delays in the spreadsheet are fixed.
We have met our goals for this week!
As for the toy tank, we have decided not to use it and will make our own drive base.
Goal for next week is to have all the parts and start assembly.
We have met our goals for this week!
As for the toy tank, we have decided not to use it and will make our own drive base.
Goal for next week is to have all the parts and start assembly.
Our 3d model. (the real one will have a motor shield above the arduino)
Saturday, November 8, 2014
Saturday November 8th progress
Over the past week, I have used solidworks to make a 3d model of the tank. Its not quite done yet, but I have made all of the parts of the turret. And am currently modeling the drive base and the controls platforms. I will post renders later this weekend
List of parts to order
Drive motor
http://www.pololu.com/product/61
Adafruit motor shield
http://www.adafruit.com/products/1438
WheelsX 2
http://www.pololu.com/product/63
Battery holder
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Pointed-Batteries-Battery-Holder/dp/B00CQKAZES/ref=sr_1_4?rps=1&ie=UTF8&qid=1415485253&sr=8-4&keywords=18650+holder
Batteries
http://www.amazon.com/Ultra-5000mAH-Lithium-Battery-Yellow/dp/B00K9UQHX0/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1415485095&sr=8-13&keywords=18650
EDIT Nov 9
Roller
http://www.pololu.com/product/952
List of parts to order
Drive motor
http://www.pololu.com/product/61
Adafruit motor shield
http://www.adafruit.com/products/1438
Wheels
http://www.pololu.com/product/63
Battery holder
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Pointed-Batteries-Battery-Holder/dp/B00CQKAZES/ref=sr_1_4?rps=1&ie=UTF8&qid=1415485253&sr=8-4&keywords=18650+holder
Batteries
http://www.amazon.com/Ultra-5000mAH-Lithium-Battery-Yellow/dp/B00K9UQHX0/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1415485095&sr=8-13&keywords=18650
EDIT Nov 9
Roller
http://www.pololu.com/product/952
Sunday, November 2, 2014
November 2nd planning meeting
Using this video as inspiration, Josh and I have decided on how we will shoot the rubber bands. I already have the three servos that we will need to fire the rubber bands, change the angle of inclination and a platform to rotate the turret. Because we no longer need any stepper motors, we have hopefully eliminated our need to cannibalise a printer. We have decided to 3d print a structure similar to the one in the video to shoot the rubber band.
Goals for this week:
- Get toy tank
- 3d model everything
- start 3d printing parts
- laser cut acrylic drive platform.
Parts to order:
- 1 Motor shield.
- Bluetooth shield.*
- Rubber bands.
- Battery/power source.
Saturday, November 1, 2014
November 1st planning meeting
November 1st meeting.
Today Josh and myself met to plan how we are going to design, build, and program our toy. We need to decide if we want to have the tank launch things using a rubber band as the propellant. Or if we want to launch the rubber band its self. Hopefully we should have that figured out tomorrow. We have decided that in the event that things fall behind schedule, that we will abandon the driving aspects of the tank, and make it into a stationary turret.
We set out a schedule for when we want to have everything finished and created a list of which parts we need to get for this project.
Schedule:
Parts list
Today Josh and myself met to plan how we are going to design, build, and program our toy. We need to decide if we want to have the tank launch things using a rubber band as the propellant. Or if we want to launch the rubber band its self. Hopefully we should have that figured out tomorrow. We have decided that in the event that things fall behind schedule, that we will abandon the driving aspects of the tank, and make it into a stationary turret.
We set out a schedule for when we want to have everything finished and created a list of which parts we need to get for this project.
Schedule:
- For November 2nd.
- Work on designs for both firing mechanism ideas
- create a list of parts to order/obtain.
- Nov. 9th: Executive summary finished, decided on a firing mechanism, ordered parts, create
- Executive summary finished.
- Decide on firing mechanism.
- Have all parts for the firing/aiming mechanism
- Create CAD models of all parts that need to be manufactured.
- Decide if we want a moving platform or stationary turret, if yes, then order necessary parts.
- For November 16th:
- Assembly completed for entire project. Wiring completed.
- For November 23rd:
- Completed programming and testing.
- December 4th
- Presentation day.
Annoyingly, Thanksgiving happens to take away the last week of this project, ideally everything is completed the Sunday before thanksgiving, but if we need the extra time, we have the weekend after Thanksgiving.
Parts list
- 4 wheels + drive motors *
- Driving platform*
- Power supply (battery)*
- 2 motor shields
- Stepper motor (for pulling back the rubber-band)+
- Some other motor to change the elevation of the gun+
- smooth metal rod and slider for the cocking mechanism to ride on +
+ means we can get this part from a printer that we might be able to disassemble
* means that it is needed for the drive base.
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Monday, October 27, 2014
Introduction
Hello world!
This is our blog, here we will post updates about our project for design lab 1. Our group is made up of Nick Bouressa, Joshua Medeiros, George Kokinidis, and Maximiliano Ottaviano.
This is our blog, here we will post updates about our project for design lab 1. Our group is made up of Nick Bouressa, Joshua Medeiros, George Kokinidis, and Maximiliano Ottaviano.
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