Our team members are Natalie, Stuti, Harshita, and Meera.
Kevin (Natalie): Designer, modeler, builder.
Bob (Stuti): Builder, designer, documenter, and coder.
Stuart (Harshita): Builder and documenter.
Gru (Meera): Builder, documenter, designer.
Our team members learned how to design, analyze, fabricate and control several kinetic sculptures! The kinetic sculptures include individual Pendulum Clocks, a controlled Mini Sculpture and an automated Full Sculpture created by our team.
Design was facilitated with Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools implemented in Fusion and AutoCAD.
Analysis of the dynamics of movement of the sculptures is based on fundamental physics with the mathematical description of motion covered in lectures and simulations facilitated by Working Model 2D (WM2D).
Fabrication is done both manually in the Dept. of MAE Design Studio and automated with Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) tools provided by the LaserCAMM and optional 3D printing, initiated by a Clock Project.
Additional motion control is added to our kinetic sculptures by using Lego NXT sensors, including our specially designed COSMOS ball speed sensor, NXT motors and programming an NXT using RobotC.
Our team webpage gives a summary of both our individual and team effort to make our kinetic sculptures work as designed!
During the very first week, we were all able to manufacture and analyze our very own clock pendulums. We used Autodesk Fusion and AutoCAD to first design our pieces and then the LaserCAMM to cut them out. Finally, we assembled the clocks and analyzed them using a variety of methods including point mass and inertial analysis, as well as Working Model 2D to simulate the motion of the pendulum. This project introduced us to many concepts and was a great introduction for our future projects.
One of our most important outcomes during the third week was the working mini sculpture. Our team succeeded our objective, which was to automate the sculpture to sort marbles into different baskets based on color. A gate opens when the sensor detects a marble, and the platform holding the baskets spins to the right position, dropping the ball into the light or dark basket based on the color value read. We were also able to create a working simulation using online software.
By the end of the final week, we had created an autonomous, fully-functioning final sculpture. Team members worked together to draft ideas, build and code. Ensuring that we incorporated our mini-sculpture in our final design, we created multiple paths for the marble to go through based on its color. We also added an elevating ramp. The final sculpture and presentation brought together everything we learned the past month, incorporating physics concepts, software such as Fusion 360, AutoCAD, RobotC and WM2D, as well as building the physical structure.