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Introduction
Introduction
As the kwadropus team develops the prototype, it is important to document all the resources involved in the building process. As a result, the materials, knowlege, and tools required in the devlopment stage are recorded for future use.
Build Plan
Build Plan
Using an X-Acto knife, the pneumatic tubing will be cut to 2 meters in length, these 2 meters will be cut into 6 pieces, varying in length.
The pieces used between the solenoids will be half the length of the other pieces.
Each tube will be connected to a pair of push fittings.
Each push fitting pair will be connected to the valve of each pneumatic component in the given order:Â
Vacuum Pump Head #1 -- 2-Way Solenoid #1
Vacuum Pump Head #2 -- 2-Way Solenoid #2
2-Way Solenoid #1 -- 3-Way Solenoid #1
2-Way Solenoid #2 -- 3-Way Solenoid #2
3-Way Solenoid #1 -- Suction Cup #1
3-Way Solenoid #2 -- Suction Cup #2
The four sonars will be attached to the Arduino Digital Pins 1-7 (5V and GND Pins will be connected to Arduino 5V and GND Pins)
The sonars will be mounted to the push-connect fittings, using a 3D-printed apparatus
The four solenoids will be attached to Arduino PWM Pins 5-8 & 9-12
Required Materials
Required Materials
This is the current estimation of the total cost of the suction cup pneumatic system. This is noticeably higher than our budget of $100. However, the cost can potentially be cheaper, considering some of the materials are already provided by the engineering inventory.
Tools and Equipment
Tools and Equipment
The tools needed to develop the prototype are all provided within the school's shop. The X-Acto knife will be used to cut the pneumatic tubing to the desired length. The pneumatic testbed will be used to test how each pneumatic component will operate. The 3D printer will be used to design an apparatus to support the pneumatic tubing.
Needed Knowledge
Needed Knowledge
The tools needed to develop the prototype are all provided within the school's shop. The X-Acto knife will be used to cut the pneumatic tubing to the desired length.
Arduino Code: Attachability Test
Arduino Code: Attachability Test
The prototype's first test involves testing its ability to attach and detach to flat and rounded surfaces. In the code bellow, the Arduino will send a signal to activate and deactivate the vacuum pump and suction cup in small time intervals. For this test, the suction team only used a single solenoid set and suction cup.
Conclusion
Conclusion
The most difficult part of this process was acquiring the need pneumatic components for an affordable price. The vacuum pump is significantly over our budget, so multiple vendors were consulted in order to get one donated. As a result, there were alternative pumps that were considered for our design in case the ideal pump was not acquired for the given budget. Many of the parts are very expensive, so eliminating the use of the two head solenoids were considered to reduce the price of the materials. However, because the vacuum pump does not have a check valve, taking away these solenoids would lead to problems operating the suction cups. To remain cost effective, many of the materials and tools such as the sonars and Arduino are provided by the school.
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