Design Proposal

Dead Weight

By: Hunter-Robins Mann

The project is called Dead Weight. The intention of this project is to make the gym a much safer and quieter place. The background of this problem is that certain gyms like Planet Fitness do not allow the members of the gym to slam their weights together or slam them to the ground. Furthermore, this can be used in home gyms if you do not want to disturb other people in your house. Even more pressingly though, after research I learned that repetitive clanging of weights in the gym over time can lead to hearing loss and/or hearing problems. The project contains 2 different parts or subsystems. The most important subsystem is the actual deadening system. This system includes the 3-D printed flexible filament, all bearings, and the various items used to attach the ball bearings to the rest of the subsystem. The stopping system is the specific type of deadener that you put first before all of the weights and or deadeners. This deadener is a specific shape and its intended use is so that the weights do not clang against the end of the barbell. It still has the same components as the other deadeners but its placement is very specific. Some of the questions that had to be considered is exactly what material would best dead the sound made by the weights. When this question came up, Mr. Swick, My engineering teacher said that he had some flexible filament that could be used and would do the job perfectly. So, the flexible filament was at that moment, the decided material that would be used. Then, the factor of how I would make the deadeners unique to the barbell. The flexible filament actually happened to be a material that could be designed and utilized with a 3-D printed. I also needed to answer the question of how exactly the project would be easily visible to the user. The filament had several different colors, and a bright neon orange color was chosen for its easy visibility. The expected outcome is to have much less noise created when the weights come in collision with something. The tests will be run by dropping the weight onto the barbell so that it is the same amount of force being applied. A sound meter will be used to record the amount of noise being made by the weights. The testing procedures will be made safe by having all parts of my body away from the weight being dropped.  The potential risk is the filament can break under the pressure of the weight. The sound meter and a table to graph the data are the only things that will be used to analyze the results. 

Bibliography:

Victory, Joy. “Could Your Exercise Program Be Causing Hearing Loss?” Healthy Hearing, 20 July 2021,https://www.healthyhearing.com/report/52610-Could-your-exercise-program-be-causing-hearing-loss#:~:text=Don%27t%20bang%20or%20drop,ignore%20symptoms%20of%20hearing%20loss.

“Let's Talk about Dropping Weights.” CrossFit Heerlen, 4 May 2022, https://www.crossfitheerlen.nl/lets-talk-about-dropping-weights/.

Men's Journal. “9 Workout Habits You Need to Ditch Now.” Men's Journal,https://www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/9-workout-habits-you-need-to-ditch-now-w464628/skipping-your-warm-up-w464631/.

By: Hunter-Robins Mann AM Engineering Swick

Introduction

The project that is being undertaken is called Dead Weight. This project is about the raucous that is caused by the slamming together of weights or dropping them. The motivation for this project is the fact that some gyms like Planet Fitness do not allow the dropping of weights. It is said that the weight dropping or coming in contact with one another is very annoying to the other people that are trying to workout. The people that are expected to use this are gym goers or people that have a home gym. Especially if you have a home gym because you can get a good workout in without disturbing anyone else in the house. The project requires several different systems including; the sliding system, the deadening system, and the end systems. The sliding system will include the 3-5 ball bearings connected to the main systems. This system ensures that the rest of the systems don’t get stopped up by the friction created by the barbell. The next system is the deadening system. This system is what makes up most of the project. It consists of the flexible filament that will be 3-D printed for each side of the barbells. The filament is what deadens the weights as they slide onto the barbell. The last and final system is the end system. This system is a smaller deadener that is intended to be the first deadener put at the base of the barbell. This makes sure that the weight does not come in contact with the iron of the barbell. None of this should be very difficult to accomplish. The only thing that would have to be attained is the average radius and/or diameter of a barbell.

Objectives

The intended function of the project is to greatly diminish the noise made by the impact of the weights. One of the useful ways that the deadners can be utilized is that it is part of a deadener family. There are designs for not only barbells, but dumbbells, deadlift, and kettlebells. There was enough time built into the timeline to be able to have multiple designs for different types of weights and exercises around the gym. Once the idea of deadening the barbell came into mind, so many other uses suddenly seemed doable. The best feature of the deadeners is the fact that you can easily store it by taking all of the used deadners and stacking them. They are also very durable because they are made of a strong flexible material. The only design parameter that could possibly hold back this project is the cost of the materials and production cost. The main objective in this project is to create a safe and quiet environment for people to lift their weights. 

Design Strategy

The first step in approaching the final stage of the project is to brainstorm the different ideas of how this could possibly work. This is partly to have other plausible ideas that could be a fail-safe for the project if the chosen idea ends up not working correctly. This process includes the sketching and light researching of the different designs. To be successful in this step, there has to be many different ideas and designs present. This would ensure that there is a large amount of ideas that can be incorporated into the final product. As discussed before, the three main subsystems are the deadening, sliding, and end systems. 

Plan of Action

The first step in the plan of action is to attain the ball bearings. This should be the easiest part, the only thing is that the right size bearings must be chosen. Then, a flexible filament for printing must also be attained. The filament should preferably be a bright color, or it would somehow have to be painted a brighter color. The bright or neon color is so that the prototype can easily be found and will not be a hazard if left on the floor. The filament would also have to be 3- printed so CADD will have to be implemented. CADD will be used to make the different shapes for the deadeners and the holes for the bearings.

Testing Procedures

The first test that has to be taken is the control as it is said in science.  A test for the noise that is made without the deadener needs to be taken first. The amount of sound that is emitted will be measured using a sound meter and recorded. Then the test with the prototype of the deadener will be taken. The sound in this test will also be recorded using the same exact sound meter and the same distance from the center of sound. The sliding subsystem will be tested by having it be tested individually on the barbell to ensure that it has a smooth go.

Tolerance Analysis

The main subsystem of the project is the actual deadening system. This is the subsystem that will most affect the performance of the project. This part of the subsystem will be thoroughly tested throughout the project to ensure that it works correctly for the end result. 

Cost Analysis

The cost should consist of the price of the ball bearings and the amount of flexible filament used. A pack of 100 ball bearings comes up to about 8 dollars. The printing of each deadener should be approximately 5 dollars. For each set, there will be 6 separating deadeners and 2 end deadeners. This is 3 separators for each side along with 1 end deadener. There is also the actor of labor, but no one is being paid to do this. There may be some other costs that have to be calculated but there is no way to estimate how much the testing process will cost. So the cost of the project should be approximately $48.

Schedule

9/12/22 - Brainstorm completion

9/21/22 - Criteria/Constraints, background info, functionality and cost analysis completion

10/6/22 - Design proposal and forms completion

10/7/22 - Begin construction

10/24/22 - Begin testing and redesigning 

11/3/22 - Construction and testing completion

11/4/22 - Begin working on presentation

11/16/22 - Presentation due date

Bibliography

Victory, Joy. “Could Your Exercise Program Be Causing Hearing Loss?” Healthy Hearing, 20 July 2021,https://www.healthyhearing.com/report/52610-Could-your-exercise-program-be-causing-hearing-loss#:~:text=Don%27t%20bang%20or%20drop,ignore%20symptoms%20of%20hearing%20loss.

“Let's Talk about Dropping Weights.” CrossFit Heerlen, 4 May 2022, https://www.crossfitheerlen.nl/lets-talk-about-dropping-weights/.

Men's Journal. “9 Workout Habits You Need to Ditch Now.” Men's Journal, https://www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/9-workout-habits-you-need-to-ditch-now-w464628/skipping-your-warm-up-w464631/.

“Danica Patrick: Gym Etiquette Tips You Need to Know.” Gym Etiquette Tips You Need to Know | Edward-Elmhurst Health, https://www.eehealth.org/blog/2016/11/danica-patrick-gym-etiquette/.

Davies, Daniel. “Deadlift Descent: Should You Drop or Lower the Weight?” Men's Health, Men's Health, 23 Nov. 2018, https://www.menshealth.com/uk/fitness/a759440/deadlift-descent-should-you-drop-or-lower-the-weight/.