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12. Machine Week

Task: Mechanical Design, Machine Design

Mechanical Design (part 1 of 2)

  • Group assignment:(Page Link is Here)
    • Design a machine that includes mechanism + actuation + automation
    • Build the mechanical parts and operate it manually.
    • Document the group project
  • Individual assignment:
    • Document your individual contribution.

At the time of planning about this week, each of us are assigned for each work. My duty was Documentation and milestone keeping.

Nishchal

It is a 5-axis CNC setup for product video shooting. We can take beautiful videos of a product using coding. It can use for product reviewing and for making promotional videos. Our camera is moving and rotating by computer control. So we can take awesome camera movements.

Making a Kanban board

After assigning work for me, I made a Page in Notion and added other students.

Then I created a Kanban board and I split works and assigned to each of them.

notion.jpg

After completing each tasks, each students can inform it in their notion pages.

This Kanban board helped us to complete our machine week project in time.

I also helped others for their works.

Purchase

Our plan was to make the Nishchal with low cost frame. So we decided to use Aluminum extrusions.

In the lab, there was a piece of aluminum extrusion. And we referred that size in our design.

After frame designing completed, Arun and me went for purchase. But we couldn’t find Aluminum extrusion with that size. At last we found a store and there were aluminum extrusion with approximate our size.

Then we had to change the design for new aluminum extrusion.

Designing and assembly

We tried to do assembling of a part after designing, and we tested it. So we could avoid a lot of mistakes.

Some of that incidents are given below.

Size of Aluminum extrusion

As I mentioned above, We designed our frames and X-gantry with reference of a piece of a aluminum extrusion available in the lab. So we had changed the whole designs according to size of new aluminum extrusion.

Belt slipping from bearing problem

After designing X-gantry, We fixed belts and steppers on it. Then we tested it with a stepper code. Then we noticed a problem. Belt is skipping in some position. For solving that we tried many ways.

  • Adjusted belt position slightly.
  • Used a pulley of small size.
  • Offset the position of bearing

And yet we couldn’t solve the problem, At that time we thought we cannot complete our project in time. At last we found a solution. Create a small washer around the bearing which will keep intact the the belt.

belt.jpg

Then it successfully worked.

Mistake when designing Z-gantry.

After designing Z-gantry. We milled parts on the ZUND. At the time of assembling we noticed a problem of loose. Aluminum extrusion is not fit to the gantry. Then we noticed a mistake in the design. The gap between flexures was little large. We solved that problem by heating the milled part with hot air.

hot-air.jpg

I could become a part of assembly also. I helped Arun bobby for fixing different parts, and 3d printing and Milling parts.

zund-112.jpg

flexure-1.jpg

assembly-13.jpg

I could also help Minshad babu for soldering connections,

After some nights and days, We finished our work.

assembly-113.jpg

Recognise opportunities for improvements

In design

  • Our machine is very big. We can reduce size by decreasing frame parts.
  • We can design as foldable frame.
  • We can add roll axis also.

In programming

  • By calculating the distance from object, we can program for avoid collision of camera and object.
  • We can make a mobile application for selecting different combination of camera movements.
  • We can set up the machine for identifying a object and take best video of that object.

What I learned

My duty was milestone keeping and documentation. So I could tast most of the processes.

  • I learned how to plan an idea for making.
  • I learned how to design for making something.
  • I learned how to complete a work in time.
  • I learned how to troubleshoot problems during making of a machine.

However these nights and days will become non forgottable.


Last update: July 13, 2022