Author: shuailip

This week, I mainly discusses the quantitative metrics that we need for the design report and help with soldering and debugging the DIY magnetic kit with Chen.  I also continue on doing research about stepper motor torque calculation and magnetic force calculation to prepare for the design metrics.

https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/tools/stepper-motor-calculator/

https://www.kjmagnetics.com/calculator.asp

Risk management wise, due to the failure to debug the center piece of our project (maglev device), the risk is skyrocketing, since many of the tests such as interference and movement are dependent on the maglev device. To get back on schedule, we have decided to leave the finicky maglev device alone and switch to commercial product for more reliability. Luckily, for the gantry system, we decide to buy half-built system instead of building from scratch, which would leave some extra time in our original schedule.

Next week, aside from the design presentations, I will mainly focus on testing the new commercial maglev device with our teammates, and also start building and testing the integrated feeding system using device that match the specs from this week’s calculation.

 

Aside from finishing up detailed schedule and attending proposal presentations this week, I mainly did research on the Arduino software and circuit design for controlling solenoid and stepper motor. The video that I was mainly studying are the following two:

I am currently on schedule for researching to design and feasibility of the go piece feeding system. However, testing for maglev feasibility has been delayed due to delivery issues and we plan to move the maglev testing to next week.

For next week, I plan to mainly perform tests and gather data required for the design of the Go piece delivery system:

• Test for the forces required to push to separate magnets directly sticking together horizontally.
• Test for the forces required to push to separate mock Go pieces (magnets surrounded by non magnetic materials) sticking together horizontally.
• Create a physical prototype barrier as the Go piece (magnet) holder to test for feasibility of pushing to separate and displace the Go pieces.
• After finding out the average forces required to separate pieces sticking together, test for the feasibility of using a solenoid or stepper motor to separate the magnets.
• Figure out the go piece holder’s structure and motor placement after deciding the kind of motor used for piece feeding.