Week 14 - October 10-16

After assembling the cart last week, I decided that I could make the design more stable. Last week I created simple mounts that would allow the motors and shafts to be mounted to the underside of the cart with the mount on the top of the bottom shelf. However, I did not like how this setup created a relatively loose mount. So, this week I made an extra set of mounts. This set was the same as the ones made last week with the only difference being that instead of tapped holes, these have clearance holes. This means that a bolt can pass straight through the holes and then get bolted onto the mounts on the other side of this shelf. This created a sandwich effect of the two plates of aluminum which prevents the components from shift while the cart is in motion. I also cleaned up some of the edges so that if anything is placed on the cart there is less risk of damage from sharp edges (see figure 14.1).

Figure 14.1 - Sanding down the edges of the mounts to prevent damage

Previously, the cart had poles coming from the bottom of the cart where the old castor wheels were connected. In order to remove some weight and to create a cleaner looking product, I used a sawzall (electric hand saw for metal) to cut the old 'legs' off of the bottom of the cart. This removed a couple of pounds from the overall weight of the cart. Figures 14.2-4 shows this process from start to end.

Figure 14.2 - Old legs of the cart which held the castor wheels

Figure 14.3 - Using a Sawzall to cut off the old cart legs

Figure 14.4 - The cart with the old legs cut off flush to the bottom of the cart

With chapters 1, 2 and 4 of the report completed, I began planning and researching for chapter 3. I began by looking at previous teams reports to see what they did in order to get an idea of how we should organize ours. From this I completed the table of contents for chapter 3 which I will consult with our advisor to verify if that is the best way to handle this chapter. I then began to write out the mechanical module section now that the mechanical module is fully assembled and ready to be connected to the control and sensor modules.