Individual Assignment:

This week I did some more detailed design and planning for my final project. I considered the turntable belt mechanism that moves the feeding structure, as well as just the feed screw, and the wiring of everything and how it should look.

In the design of the feeding mechanism, I've decided to add a ball bearing where the screw connects to the stepper motor, to secure it and also to relieve the motor of any possible lateral movement. I also plan on securing the whole mechanism to the turntable with some pipe clamps, possibly 3D printed ones.

As I researched more on smart ways for managing wiring, I came across this page with this cool line that basically sums it up "No matter where you work from, untangle here. We've got 3D printed cable management ideas that will bring order to your electronics!". Basically, they list 25 different 3D printed cable management systems. And a few of them caught my eye, the "Cable Spine" basically holds and guides the cables, but still allows for lateral movement unlike the more common cable chain joint found on CNCs and 3D printers.

I plan on using 3D printed wire guides to organize the wiring for my final project as well as some type of protective cover for the wires. The wires connected to the feeding mechanism need to be longer and allow movement because of the turntable. I plan on letting some excess hang on some guides secured at the top that will allow the necessary movement without getting tangled. I was inspired by the CNC's vacuum system we have at the lab.

I also made ghant chart to further plan things out and make sure I'm on track, this also evolved into a plan on a white board that I can easily change and update, you can find the ghant chart and the white board plan on the project development. a lot of the design choices I made this week were changed and improved and for these changes you can check out the final project page, where on stage 1 I explain all of the features and changes I made, as well as the original ideas, then in stage 4 I documented the design and assembly of the final project.