156B Week 9

Overview of Status of Analysis, Design, Fabrication, Tests, etc.

• Injection machine assembled by Mark

• Lever parts being shipped to Mark for testing 

• Mold and mold cage being fabricated for Mark to test 

• Experimental setup built by James  

• Each team member focusing on a key area of the injection machine to optimize. 

• 3D model of the system is currently being designed on Autodesk Fusion 360.

Accomplishments from Previous Week

• Connected with sponsors over Slack.

• Met with Professor Delson to give project updates and asked for advice about project decisions and methodology. 

• Preliminary Design Review Presentation 

• Report Draft 2 Completed 

• Preparations made for experiment to measure:

  • • Time to heat

    • Time to melt plastic 

    • Detect state of plastic

    • Test viability of aluminum barrel  

Goals for Next Week (list names after each item). Use specific and measurable objectives.

• Prototyping for key components.

  • 3D Printed Molds and Mold Cage (Brian) - nylon mold to be 3D printed by Chris.

  • Nozzle and Barrel (James) - experiment with aluminum barrel.

  • Injection Effort (Katherine) - components to be tested by Mark.

  • PID Control and Measurements (Kaleb) - experiment with heating bands.

• Obtain results from experiments and discuss with sponsors during weekly meeting to make adjustments to design as needed.

• Explore variations of precious plastic injection machine done by the precious plastic community. 

Sponsor Comments from Last Meeting and Actions Taken to Address these Comments (indicate date of comments and if via email or in person)

Notes from Andrew during Preliminary Design Review Presentation 

• Mold is for a keychain to hand out to people to increase engagement with the project.

• Chris Cassidy will 3D print the mold using nylon filament. 

Notes from continuous Slack communication and weekly Zoom meeting:

• Mark will test lever design on the injection machine he built.

• Mold cage being developed with continuous sponsor input.

Instructor Comments from Last Meeting and Actions Taken to Address these Comments  (indicate date of comments and if via email or in person)

Notes from the previous meeting with Professor Delson: 

• • Discussed 3D printed mold and mold cage (Brian)

    • Mold and mold cage are being fabricated for Mark

    • Feedback from Stephen Mercsak - choice of material for pins matters, different finish options and difficulty in machining

  • Discussed barrel/nozzle analysis (James)

    • Has built experimental rig, waiting for plastic pellets

    • Consider safety when adjusting set screw and having many weights on top of ram

  • Discussed PID/sensors (Kaleb)

    • Found way to make string potentiometer for ~$7, works better than IMU because there won’t be a lot of noise with it 

  • Discussed linear actuator lever (Katherine)

    • Waiting for Mark to receive parts to test out

    • Considering the chain/hook alternative to bar clamp and strength of structure

• For next meeting:

  • Be in contact with sponsors (Slack channel).

  • Communicate individual work with team (3 weekly meetings).

Comments from Other Students in the Class (indicate date of comments and if via email or in person)

• N/A

Risks and Areas of Concern

• Injection machine will not be delivered. 

• Waiting for delivery of components. 

Resources or Information Required but not Available

• N/A

Schedule

• Weekly Meeting with Sponsors (5/27/20)

• Weekly Internal Team Meetings (3 times a week)

• Weekly Meeting with Prof. Delson (5/29/20) 

Budget (list amount spent and amount remaining)

• Total Budget: $2600

• Amount Spent: $520

• Budget Remaining: $2,080

Progress on Report and Webpage

• Week 8 Updated