Weekly Progress Reports (see sidebar), the Gantt chart, and this Project Management page should be printed out before meetings with the sponsor and instructor.
All team members should be able to explain all items on the progress report.
Place a "*" at the beginning of the title of the active week Progress Report (see * in sidebar).
Project Objectives
Concisely list and prioritize the project objectives and constraints
High Priority Objectives
To design and automate an auto-tensioning spooler to transfer 150 ft of Nafion tubing from a spool of 1000 ft to a separate spool
Ensure no kinking, twisting, or deforming of the material, which would possibly cause the tubing to fail for the desired purposes
Second Priority Objectives
Integrate cutting system into auto-tensioning spooler after 150 ft of tubing has been transferred
Other Constraints and Issues
Spooling should be limited to 150 ft
During each spooling period the 1000 ft tube should be cut into 150 ft pieces.
Tension during spooling
Since the tube is very thin, the tension exerted on the material during tubing should be controlled to avoid deformation.
Layered levels of tubing may exert force on inner layers, which could inhibit filling
Material constraints
Materials such as Polypropylene, Polyethylene, Stainless Steel and aluminum are safe to be used for the spool.
No time constraints for spooling process
Consistency is more important than the spooling duration.
WOW Design Solution
Completely immerse system in deionized water
Simultaneously flow fluid through tubing during spooling transfer process
Risk Reduction Strategy
List areas of risk and strategy that will be used to eliminate risk early in the design process.
material failure modes
set up test bed for failure characterization testing
manually spool tubing onto transfer spool to determine what can be considered a good spool
remove tubing from spool and subsequently fill with pressurized air
submerge in bath of water and visually inspect if bubbles form (leakage)
Intermediate Milestones
Identifying meaningful intermediate milestones is a critical for effective project management. Together with your sponsor identify such milestones, and specify specific performance requirements you aim to meet at each milestone.
Winter Quarter
Week 10
Characterization of mechanical properties of Nafion, and determination of failure criterion of Nafion tubing
Week 11
Preliminary mechanical designs
Spring Quarter
Week 4-5
Electronics development
Choose controllers, drivers, motors, encoders
Moto + transmission, for spools
Motors + transmission, within fixture
Mechanical Development
Design spool/pulley system
Fixture layout + materials
Week 5-7
Final integration
Other electronics, wiring, enclosing
Final materials/parts/enclosure? Housing?
Aesthetics
Week 8-10
Final full system testing + iteration