Project Narrative

Assembly of the hopper mechanism in depositing position

Assembly of the hopper mechanism in transferring position

Duration of Project: January 8 - March 4

Project Summary: To design an automated system for sorting recycling. The team was split into two sub-teams, computation and design, and I was a part of the latter.

Main Objectives:

• Design a mechanism that transports and dumps containers
• Create a properly constrained assembly model of the mechanism
• Create fully dimensioned engineering drawings of each part
• Display correctness and functionality of designed system
• Integrate both sub-teams solutions

Problem Statement: Design a system for sorting and recycling containers that aids sorting facilities by identifying and classifying contaminated or non-recyclable materials to increase the percent of recycled material.

Constraints:

• Solution must fit within a certain area of the hopper
• Must use either a linear or rotary actuator
• Solution must not exceed 90g

Functions:

• Dump containers into a bin
• Be stable while transporting containers

Outcome: Overall, the project was a success! The mechanism was able to carry out all its basic necessary functions and more, which includes being able to dump at least 2 containers at a time

Skills Learned

• Create large-scale assemblies
• Seamlessly work on assembly in a team
• Integrate physical mechanism and code for real-world application
• Immaculately follow detailed instructions based on clients needs and restrictions

Team’s Work and Personal Contributions

• Made the detailed sketch of the mechanism
• Combined the team’s mini assemblies into one and fully constrained it
• Created each part’s engineering drawing
• 3D printed and laser cut all the parts
• Learnt and applied the code that the computation sub-team provided

An isometric view of the assembly of the slider base and the slider that connects under one of the hopper’s base plates. These were the parts I was responsible for making and assembling.

An isometric view of the slider that is small enough to fit into the slider base, but not big enough that it falls through the grooves.

A tilting bottom view of the slider base showcasing the grooves that the slider slides along.

An engineering drawing of the slider base.

An engineering drawing of the slider.

Design Process

1. Create project timeline
2. Problem framing and design considerations
3. Create a morph chart for each function
4. Each team member makes 2 initial sketches for a total of 6
5. Collectively create a detailed sketch of the mechanism combining the best aspect from our sketches
6. Decide which parts should each member CAD
7. Each member creates an assembly of their parts and fully constrains them
8. Combine each of our parts into one assembly and constrain them together
9. Test mechanism and note necessary changes and plan of action
10. Refine mechanism
11. Repeat steps 9-10 until assembly is finalized
12. Decide fabrication methods for each part
13. 3D print and laser cut parts
14. Assemble physical model
15. Test physical model with code provided by computation sub-team
16. Make note of necessary changes and plan of action
17. Tweak parts and if necessary remodel and refabricate parts
18. Repeat steps 14-17 until physical mechanism is finalized
19. Demonstrate physical design

Reflection

<aside> ❓ An event that occurred during the project was that the containers took a while to be dumped with the physical model. The mechanism would take around 5 seconds to dump. For a system that would be implemented to go through countless items every single day, it is very inefficient.

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<aside> ❓ This was due to how low the the rate of change of dumping angle degree per second was. As a result of the base of the triangle only contracting 40mm by the linear actuator and the constant side lengths of the triangle only causing the height of triangle by an insignificant amount. Another factor was how slow the linear actuator extended.

</aside>

<aside> ❓ If I were given either more time or another shot at the project, I would choose a linear actuator that could extend faster. If I’m going to change the speed of the actuator, I may as well choose one that extends further out as well. This would result in a faster change of dumping angle per second, as well as increase the range of the angle. A larger dumping angle would get items off faster and additionally allow more items with a higher coefficient of friction to also be dumped.

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