Testing

We tested the saw-tooth mechanism in two ways. The first being strength. To do this we assembled the parts, locked the saw-tooth and the pawl into each other and pushed forward on the handle. Enough force was given that the clamping collar slipped before the plastic yielded. Secondly, we tested the meshing ability of the pawl and saw-tooth. To do this we rotated the handle, pressed down on the pawl and continued with the handle until the teeth meshed correctly. We then applied slight pressure to the pawl and allowed the handle to be pulled in the reverse direction to check the ratcheting ability. The solenoid spring was tested to make sure it could push the pawl up from the saw-tooth wheel. The spring was determined to be too weak to function this way. The results of this were determined to be skewed because the pawl fits too tightly to the mounting post and it was designed to be a free fit. This discrepancy could be contributed by the limitations of the 3D printer tolerance.