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Team Blog #13

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Blog 2/6/2020

 Progress for this week:
Controls Team:
The iPhone application code is being developed to work with a Bluetooth module. During this process other BLE modules are being considered as well. A bench model that includes all of the electronic components is also in the works. Once this is completed, the electronics will be integrated into the bogie for further testing. 

Guideway Team:
The original plan was to waterjet the unused plywood in the Superway Design Center; however, plans have slightly changed. We will be using a laser cutter instead of waterjet to manufacture components of the guideway. The laser cutter in the Makerspace is more accessible and does not require supervision during use. On the other hand, the waterjet requires supervision by staff members when they are available. To speed manufacturing, laser cutter as shown in Figure 1 was determined to be most efficient.

Figure 1. Laser cutter in Makerspace.

Figure 2. Plywood from Design Center cut by laser cutter is messy.

Figure 3. Material we plan to use with the laser cutter.

We first used the plywood we cut from the Superway Design Center, but the laser cutter struggled and it resulted in an uneven cut as shown in Figure 2 above. The laser cutter has different settings to adjust the speed and power the tool can cut material. Decreasing the power and decreasing the speed still did not work in achieving a clean cut. A classmate recommended to use a harder plywood as shown in Figure 3 to ensure a clean and precise cut using the laser cutter. The team will purchase this plywood from Home Depot this weekend and begin cutting in during the upcoming weeks.

Bogie Team:
Parts of the bogie cabin are being 3D printed as shown in Figure 4 below. Each cabin components will take 8.5 hours to cut using the 3D printer from the Superway Design Center. The bogie cabin consists of three main components that will snap together. The goal is to print 2 complete bogies. 
Figure 4. Components of bogie being cut.


Plans for Next Week:
Guideway team will need to finalize the CAD model of the track and simulate a bogie to ensure there are no interference's. Afterwards, fabrication of each guideway piece using the laser cutter will begin and continue until the entire track is built. The bogie team will continue to print the remaining components of the bogie cabin. In addition, the switch mechanism will be developed and testing will begin once parts of the track are made. The controls team will continue to develop the phone application to work with the BLE module.
Written By:
Shane Fatehi
6 February, 2020

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