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Team Blog #23

SSST Blog 4/29/2020

Progress for this week:

Guideway:

The guideway team has been focused on finishing the y-switch assemblies for the inner and outer loops. The y-switch assembly must be sturdy enough to hold the weight of the pod and easily assemble onto the guideway. The team received good feedback from Dr. Furman for adding a ramp feature to the third rail as shown in Figure 1 below.
Figure 1. Rounded entrance for the bearings attached to the bogie third rail.
Dr. Furman introduced a scenario of a person leaning on the track, the gap between the inner and outer track pieces will cave inward. Corner supports were designed and added to the corners opposite end of the y-switch assemblies as additional support for keeping the guideway rigid as shown in Figure 2. The corner supports will be made from 0.25 inch thick MDF, which can be cut using the laser cutter in the Makerspace.
Figure 2. Corner supports located on opposite end of y-switch. 
In addition, the team is working on simulations showing the bogie traversing the loops and the y-switch is functional. As well as FEA on critical track pieces that may experience excessive forces.

Controls:
The controls team focused on syncing the iOS application with the Arduino. The iOS app ran into issues with using the keyboard to enter station values that resulted in using a different app to troubleshoot. The team plans to continue troubleshooting to find a solution before the project presentation.

Bogie:
The bogie team has been focused on assembly drawings and drawings of individual parts matching the GD&T standards. The final design for the y-switch has been completed as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3. Bogie y-switch attached to the servo motor. 
The y-switch will be made out of PLA using the 3D printer at the Superway Design Center. The bearings will be securely fastened using 6-32 shoulder screws. The servo motor will need to rotate 69 degrees for the inner loop and 115 degrees for the outer loop.


Plans for Next Week:
Next week the team will be rehearsing and preparing for the Senior Project Final Presentation on Friday.

Written By:
Shane Fatehi

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