Iris Box
Haley Colorado, Sebastian Heredia, Celeste Magdaleno, Cate Synnott
Haley Colorado, Sebastian Heredia, Celeste Magdaleno, Cate Synnott
E177: Mechanical Design
Mechanical Design (E177) is a project-based course offered as a technical elective for Engineering majors. In this course, students gain experience designing, analyzing, and fabricating mechanical systems through Analysis Problem, machining activities, and various team projects. As a culminating project, students work in groups of 4-5 for 6-weeks to design and build their own mechanical systems for under.
Iris Table
For our culminating project, the team decided to build a five-petal mechanical Iris Box that opens and closes to reveal a hidden bowl when users turn the table top. The primary goals of the project were to design a complex mechanical system that could be manually operated as well as build a visually aesthetic and satisfying piece of decor. While the project took inspiration an Instagram video by @evanmakes1, all parts were designed and fabricated by the team. For an additional challenge, the team decided to make the box a five sided shape to match the number of petals. With an asymmetrical box shape, clamping to parallel faces for box assembly was not possible. Moreover, spacing internal components five-ways required more thought with part placement in order to ensure physical balance while avoiding overcrowding. Additionally, careful design decisions in terms of materials and size of the system were made to not exceed the $350 project budget.
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