Full Sculpture

Requirements

We were tasked with designing a kinetic sculpture that combines sensors, motors, and user input, controlled by a program written in RobotC to carry marbles. First we created a mini sculpture, then integrated it to fit the requirements for the full structure. The specific requirements for our full sculpture were:

Have a working user input (buttons, knobs)
Fully autonomous even without user input
- No marbles fall or get stuck
- Marbles move throughout sculpture indefinitely
Use multiple sensors and motors
Automate sensors, actuators, and user input together using programming

Diagram of our Mini Sculpture

Available Materials

Chaos Kit

The body of our structure used a chaos kit that included:

Poles
Connectors
Marble tracks
Trampolines
Baskets
Elevator chains

We also had access to the marbles that run through our sculpture.

Controller

For our controller we used the LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT Brick. It has multiple ports and could control our various motors and sensors using the programs we wrote in RobotC.

Sensors

We had access to sensors that could read:

Light (color)
Speed
Touch
Sound
Sonar

Brainstorming Process

Our team devised multiple concepts which all had thier own pros and cons. The designs which we considered included a marble launcher, marble color sorter, and a trampoline launcher.

Marble Launcher

The marble launcher is the main design which our team focused on, which takes user input from a touch sensor resulting in a motor launching a marble off a ramp, which is then caught by a basket on a motorized cart.

Color Sorter

The color sorting idea involved a rotating ramp which depending on the color of the marble would turn to divert the marble into the respective basket.

Trampoline Launcher

The trampoline launcher operates on the idea that a trampoline which sits beaneath a ramp will change is angle to launch a marble into different baskets based on its color.

Pugh Matrix

Based on the categories and results in the Pugh matrix our team determined that Marble Launcher would be the most feasible idea which had the most protentional to become a fully functional idea. The categories were weighted to prioritize functionality, since the most important part of the mini sculpture was to be working.

Risk Assessment

The Risk Assessment chart as seen on the left analyzes the relative issues with our mini sculpture. The biggest points of failure and concern are the speed sensor malfunctioning and the motor being overloaded. While the motor overload issue is not particularly a problem, the speed sensor malfunctioning will cause a complete miscalculation by the catching mechanism.

Working Model 2D Simulations

ArmaanWm2d35.avi

HIgh Speed

ArmaanWm2d.avi

Medium Speed

ArmaanWm2d2.avi

Low Speed

Flow Chart

Full Sculpture Integration

Mini Sculpture

Final Sculpture

Full Sculpture Features

Elevator

This allows the marbles to return to the top and go through the sculpture again.

Basket

Basket with a motor and touch sensor to move into position and catch the marble.

Tracks

We have tracks all along our sculpture so that our marble has a path to travel.

Gate

This stops more than 1 marble from going to the top track.

Speed Sensor

This sensor measures the velocity of the marble and lets us calculate the distance the basket needs to move to, to catch the marble.

Team Sign

This sign labels our sculpture so that everyone knows what team built it.

Elevator Stopper

Stopper that prevents the ball from falling out when entering the elevator from the bottom.

Marble Stopper

After the ball leaves the gate, this stops the ball when it falls onto the hitting track.

Problems We Faced

Conclusion

With this full Kinetic Sculpture project, we were able to gain hands on experience with every stage of the engineering design process, from initial planning and risk analysis to prototyping and testing. Through close collaboration and time management, we learned how to divide responsibilities effectively within a team. We became familiar with the mechanical components of the kinetic sculpture kit, and learned how to simulate and refine our ideas using Working Model 2D. Programming the NXT hardware in RobotC challenged us to think critically about control algorithms and their real world performance. Altogether, the project helped us understand how hardware, software, and design tools come together to bring a imagined concept to reality.

IMG_7058.MOV

Pictures of our team working:

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