Ready for Paseo Prototyping

At this point, we are doing final touches to get ready for Paseo Public Prototyping.  We ground down some imperfections on the track.  Some of the U brackets extended above the lower track so those points had to be ground down with a Dremel.  Break down has been done for the track and ready for transport the morning of Paseo Public Prototyping.

Building a Loop

For this week, we spent a lot of time prepping the track to be put together.  It took about 2-3 days to get one loop up and built for the bogie to be tested on.  The track still needs to be fine tuned since there are flaws.  Some parts do not have enough clearance for the bogie to run through. Others do not have enough clearance for the top bearings to clear.  There are small issues that can be fixed within the week. Below is a picture of the track that was built.

CAD Design

This week, I worked on revising the bracket to support the posts that will be holding up the solar panels.  The previous design was very bulky and not very aesthetically pleasing to look at. This design was shown in the previous weeks blog. Below is the revisions done for the updated bracket. The middle square tubing is the post that holds up the track. The three outer square tubing are used to support the weight from the solar panel. Not shown in the picture but there is a hole for a set screw to make sure the bracket stays at a fixed height.  The three outer square tubing will be held in by nuts and bolts.

Welding

This weeks update is pretty small. At this point we are finishing up welding the brackets to the bottom and top rails.  Once done, we can start assembling the track. I also did a CAD design for a support bracket to help the posts that will carry the load of the solar panels. This is a very rough design and will be revised in the next week or so. Shown below is the design. The design is quite bulky.  Since this will be 3D printed, the part will have to print at an awkward angle to fit my printer bed.

Set Backs

This week we are getting prepped for welding. We are double checking all our dimensions since there is no easy way to undue a weld. We encountered problems along the way such as our straight pieces on our bends are not long enough.  So we made the call to cut them short.  This should not be an issue for other sub teams.  I made the changes to the track so other teams have a visual of the change. This also makes the overall dimensions of the track smaller. Roughly becomes 10 ft by 10 ft.  3D printed was put to a haul since filament ran out.  The track should be up within a week.  We planned to be done by March 1st but we went through some set backs.