MCEN30005 Mechanical Design

Assignment 1 Final Project

“Warman Design & Build” competition

Name Student number Percentage involve in the

project

Weng kit Chan 562440 100%

Cheng Zhang 673822 100%

Qiancheng Wei 634155 100%

Junyan Wenren 582318 100%

Table of Content
Aim and Scope of the assignment
The aim of this project is to design and build 2 devices that consists 1 mechanical devise and 1
electrical or mechanical device that will work together to efficiently transport the payload from start
zone to finish zone over an obstacle of significant height.

In order to achieve the objective we want, we defined the problems using initial appreciation,
morphological analysis and embodiment design. We listed all the objectives with criteria and
constrains. We also have rating and evaluation for each objective. In order to select the best
combination, we analyse using a morphological chart. A good decision table can allow us to achieve
the goal easily. Besides that, embodiment design also can get us on the right tracks such as
materials used, financial resources and also technical support. As it mentioned above, we can simply
find out the best subsystem for the project.

Objective and Criteria

Objectives Criteria
1. Weight
 The system should be light, portable and  Weight (kg)
fast
2. Size
 The system should be space-efficient  Overall dimension, weight, height (kg,mm)
3. Time
 The device reach the destination within a  Time (seconds)
shorter time
4.Reliability
 The system should stop when it reach  Stop or not stop
destination
 The system should be able to carry a  Weight of the load (kg)
certain amount of rice
 Finish the whole track without additional  Power usage (Watt)
power source
 Can be used for multiple times  System life
4. Resources
 Low cost  Cost ($)
5. Ease of operation
 Ease of set up  Time taken to set up (seconds)
 The system should be finish the whole  Rate of success (%)
route
 Easy to operate  Subjective rating
6. Safety
 Should not use any flammable and  Yes/No
explosive material
7. Aesthetics appeal
 Appearance  Subjective rating
Priorities:

 Safety – We have to make sure safety of the student before any objectives are achieved.
 Efficiency – This system should be constructed using minimum cost and also least time.
 Effectiveness – We have to make sure all the student involve in the designing and building

Body of Report

Design concepts

Based on the decision table, the biggest problem for the project is the lifting of the scissors
mechanism. We used 2 different methods to lift the scissor lift. One is using a stepper motor and the
other is using a linear actuator which is a powerful DC motor.

At first, we are using a stepper motors to lift the scissor lifter. However, the most powerful stepper
motor had a maximum holding torque of 700g.com which was not sufficient enough lift the scissor
lifter. We discovered that a DC motors could deliver a greater torque compare to a stepper motor. A
12V linear actuator is an extremely powerful Dc motor. It had a very strong torque which enabled
the system deliver a greater rice payload up to 800grams.

Figure 1: stepper motor Figure 2: linear actuator

Regarding to the driving motors proposed in the embodiment design, we decide to use 2 stepper
motor because this 2 particular DC motor is sufficient enough to deliver the amount of torque we
want. However, as the project progressed, we notice that powers of the 2 motors we bought are
different. We have to adjust it using Arduino so that the system can move in the path we want. In
order to transfer rotation of our driving motors to rotation of wheels, we have identical wheel
connectors were designed to connect the motor and wheels. It was easier for us because the
dimension of the wheel connectors is exactly fit into the motor and wheels.
 Figure 3: 6V DC motor Figure 4: Wheel

We decided to use Arduino Uno R3 chips since it is highly recommended by the lecturer. It also easily
programmed through PC software interface and Arduino language was similar to C language. It
allows us to fully utilize the Arduino chip in programming. The front left wheel and front wheel were
connected to port ????????. The linear actuator which connected to port????? Will receive the same
signal as well.

When the device A was make a turn to left side, the motor on the right wheel will deliver a greater
torque so that it will allow the device to turn left. Once the device A reached to the exchange zone,
driving motors will stop operating and the linear actuator will start operating until the container was
lifted to the certain height. We only use 2 wheels with stepper motor because it is easier to control
using Arduino in programming.

Figure 5: Arduino Uno 3 Figure 6: Adafruit motor shield L293D

Problem and Solution

During the design and the manufacture, we faced some quite serious problem and challenges. Time
management had always been a critical challenge because this project requires teamwork and only
utilising the time during the workshop once a week is too little. If we had some uncertainty about
the devices we were going to manufacture, it is likely that we get lost throughout the process. In
order to prevent this from happening, we tried our best to work together. Self-organisation is
necessary for the cooperation in this project and sometimes sacrifices of other subjects were
inevitable.

We have to admit that maintain a low cost was a big challenge since we are lacking of experience
that intuitively tells which components are needed and suitable. Hence, we only spotted problems of
mismatch after use. Occasionally, we purchased items which were unnecessary. The most serious
case is that we bought a step motor of 12V which we supposed could work but the truth was against
our wish. S this lack of experience in real field leaded to some problems.

After our team members made the decision that a scissor lift is the mechanism we were going to use,
it was agreed that timber and aluminium sheet were the materials we needed. Since this project has
relatively low requirement for the strength of the body, it was assumed that general dimension and
structure which was fixed by bolts or even adhesive tape would be adequate for the mission. Thus,
timbers were used to build all the components of the two devices except the bases which were
composed by a bended aluminium sheet.

When the motion and lift mechanism were building up, we encountered several problems. One is
that the output of the step motor is not sufficient to drive the pulley which pulls the bottom shaft of
the lift inwards. Although a pair of pulleys were set up to magnify the power, it was still impossible
to lift because the initial force in vertical direction the rope can exert was very small (showing in
figure.1). Even if we applied rubber bands to the lift to reduce the resistant force, the situation did
not get improved. Since by then it was 4 days before the final trial redesign this lift mechanism, we
bought a linear actuator which has significant power and weight to deliver this job. This is the easiest
approach to the lift and we had intended not to use it before we ran out of options.

In terms of the issue of motion, the two wheels driven by DC motors cannot run at the same speed
which means our device was unable to move in a straight line. It was better after we altered their
output power separately using Arduino, but the performance of the two motors varied with the
condition of the batteries. At first, we thought it was due to the eccentricity of the mass but it had
no difference after we adjust the layout of the batteries and heavy objects. Finally, we tried to
enhance the power supply to stabilize the motion.
Pre-Trial Performance

We are using 12V DC linear actuator to lift the scissor lifter to a height of 50cm. This linear actuator
is working perfectly during the testing phase of system. We are running the liner actuator following
the certain steps.

1. Uploading modified code from Arduino software to the chip using

USB line.
2. Remove the USB line from the Arduino chip once the code was
upload
3. Turn on the switch which connected to the power supply(12V
battery)

We bought 2 Pcs Smart Car Robot Plastic Tire Tyre Wheel + DC 6V Gear Motor Set for Arduino from
Ebay website. However, on the day before the testing phase, unexpected issue occurred. The DC 6V
Gear Motor not operated as what we want. We notice that the speed of the 2 wheels is different. It
is because the power of the gear motors isn’t the same. It causes us a lot of troubles because we
have to reduce the speed of one motor so that the device can move straight. Otherwise, Device A
will just keep spinning. However, due to lack of timing, we just can’t adjust the motion of the device.
Post-Trial Performance and Evaluation

The 27th Warman Design and Build Competition were held on 17 of September 2014 in a school of
engineering. Regarding to the performance device, it is consider average. During the first run, our
device A was ran out of the track which was a little bit of a letdown to every team members.
However, our device B works perfectly and reaches end zone. During the second run, we adjusted
the power of the dc motor using Arduino so it allows our device A can move straight forward.
However, we don’t have enough time to adjust the power of dc motor to allow the device move in
the pathway we wanted. Hence, we still can’t complete the transfer of payload.

From the start, we were thinking go green as using recyclable and light materials to build our devices.
However, in order to win the competition, we need devices which are precise and reliable. If more
time were given, our group would have adjusted the power of motor to allow the device A moves in
the particular pathway.

For reflection, each group member did their part perfectly as assigned. Everyone turned up during
every meeting and work further on improving the devices. We also brought it back home and work
on it. So the device could be finish earlier than scheduled to test run it before the race day.

Conclusion and Recommendation

To conclude most of the objectives for the project were executed in a given time frame despite our
first trial scores were not met. Our devices were within the specification regarding both the weight
and dimensions. The function component of our two devices which used mechanical system to drive
was able to fulfil the concept of Warman project.

Team management and effective communication skills were important to meet the deadlines. This
approach gives us an opportunity to a real life work and it encourages a lot of team work and also
individual talents. Most important aspect was critical thinking of the project and solution to execute
the design with all safety precautions.