Brendan Morman, Shea Swick, Devin Fisher, and Justin Maag

Progress Report #1

Supergroup

2/7/18

Brendan Morman, Shea Swick, Devin Fisher, and Justin Maag

Summary

In the previous weeks, the team recently completed designing and testing each AEV. The designs were the Millennium Falcon, B2 Bomber, X-15, and a Bus. This was completed so the team could narrow down what AEV designs to choose from. This needed to be completed so the team could move forward with two designs to do further testing on. This was done by putting all the AEV designs through concept screening and concept scoring. This process tested the designs for criteria that was important to the team like safety and maintenance.

Results & Analysis

The results of the concept screening and scoring were the Millennium Falcon and the X-15. The designs were very different, so it would be difficult to combine any of the design elements from the two.

Programming Basics

At the start, motor one struggled to accelerate to 15% speed on the first run at the beginning. This is likely just because it had been sitting around for a while and needed loosened up. After the motor got running, it ran smoothly for the remainder of the code and following trials. There was not a problem with the other motor starting up or slowing down. Below is the code along with comments that were used during this test.

Reflectance Sensors

The reflectance sensors are very useful in allowing to make measurements of distance for the AEV. They allow the AEV to run for a certain distance and can cut the motors once this distance has been reached. There is a drawback to this feature, just because the motors are turned off at a certain distance, does not mean this is where the craft will stop. The AEV will continue to roll until friction stops it, or another force stops it. This will have to be compensated for to get the AEV to stop at the desired spot.

Creative Design Thinking

Millenium Falcon X-15

B2 Bomber School Bus

Data Analysis Tool

Power v Distance

The AEV did not travel any distance over this span which resulted in a vertical line for this graph.

Power v Time

The motors accelerate from 0 to 3 seconds, then remain constant for 1 second. They then dropped in speed and remained at that speed for 2 seconds. The speed was increased once again and remained at that speed for 2 seconds before all power was cut.

Below is the code used for this test:

Concept Screening and Scoring

Forward Looking Summary

The next step for our team is to continue the development of the Millennium Falcon and the X-15 designs. Both designs need to be improved upon and checked for any possible errors or flaws. It is necessary to complete the designs for the final decision-making process. The Millennium Falcon will require further testing into the efficiency of a wind tunnel. A small-scale prototype has been 3D printed to be tested in the future. The X-15 requires further development into the durability of the wings and propellers. The propellers are located on the wings where any big impact could easily alter the angle of blades. Further development will be completed for the design of the X-15 to make the connections between parts stronger and less likely to bend or break.

Upcoming Goals

Our goals for the upcoming weeks are mainly concerning what ideas and parts will work best for our AEV. We would like to find the most efficient parts of each the Millennium Falcon and the X-15 through testing. One of the main components we would like to test is the tube for the propellers in the Millennium Falcon. If this is more efficient, then it is very likely that design will work the best for our final design. Another goal for the upcoming weeks is getting some of the some of the general coding procedures figured out. This means we will have to measure and test the sample AEV on the track to find out distances and other measurements that will be crucial to making a successful run with our final AEV.

Forward Looking Summary - Upcoming Schedule

Our team has a very busy upcoming work schedule. Shea will continue writing the code for the AEV, Brendan will continue communicating our ideas to the other sections of the company, Devin will be designing the AEV parts in Solidworks, and Justin will be assembling the 3D printed parts and looking for ways to maximize the efficiency of the AEV.