Overview of Status of Analysis, Design, Fabrication, Tests, etc.
Preliminary risk reduction complete, working toward higher resolution measurements and realistic failure characterization with forced air flow
Setting up test bed for group to perform manual spooling process, which will help us better understand the most important aspects of the system performance requirements
Obtained additional information from RASIRC on the frequency of spool transfer failure, cost of spool, and time resources an automated system would free up
Accomplishments from Previous Week
Risk reduction
Did rough experimental characterization of the Nafion elasticity, verified absolute maximum tension that should ever be applied (but more than we will apply in practice) to be approximately 2 N.
Obtained sleeves+fittings that are used for connecting Nafion to other fluidic components further down the RASIRC chemical process. Sleeves will be partially used for coupling to the spool to get the second spool started
Obtained high resolution load cell for characterizing applied tension with higher fidelity
Project logistics
Connecting with MAE staff to find area to run submerged pressurized air experiment
Manually spooling testbed
Obtained smaller diameter secondary spool
3D printed spool with similar dimensions as what is currently used at RASIRC
Will get video of manual spooling process from RASIRC for better process and constrain visualization
Goals for Next Week (list names after each item). Use specific and measurable objectives.
Set up load cell + amplifier + microcontroller system for tension measurement, and perform characterization. (Anthony)
Finalize on campus location for pressurized air failure tests and begin pressurized failure tests (Pat, Jhon)
Finish setting up manual spooling testbed with 3D printed spools and perform manual spooling procedure. Characterize challenges with actual spooling (Jhon, Iman)
Individual component analysis
motor & encoder selection (Pat)
microprocessor/software selection (Anthony)
material selection (Iman)
transmission selection (Jhon)
Sponsor Comments from Last Meeting and Actions Taken to Address these Comments (indicate date of comments and if via email or in person)
Table dimensions, spool dimensions, and sleeve+fitting part number and information
Description of sleeve assembly process
We cannot do a spool ourselves but Colleen will share a video of her performing the spooling process with us so we can better visualize
Instructor Comments from Last Meeting and Actions Taken to Address these Comments (indicate date of comments and if via email or in person)
Understand what is a good and a bad spool clearly. Action: Discuss with sponsor more details of the performance requirements and current state of the process to understand specific objectives to improve upon
Be able to clearly describe why this automation task is important: Action: Discuss with sponsor and realize that the main objective is to enable tighter consistency on the length (160 +/- 5ft) and free up engineering resources for more important tasks.
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
Insufficient motor torque output
Nafion material failure
currently working on risk reduction analysis for maximum strain that can be applied to material
What does a failure look like?
Where can we use pressurized air?
meeting with Greg and Ian (3/12 9:30am) for potential air and water sources
Resources or Information Required but not Available
N/A
Schedule
Obtain higher fidelity tension data
Perform manually spooling procedure and analyze video of manual spooling procedure
Perform fluidic failure characterization
Update Gantt chart.
Budget (list amount spent and amount remaining)
0 spent
$1800 remaining
Progress on Report and Webpage
Project management set up and GANTT chart uploaded