We completed an article based on robotics. ![]()
The only challenges that we faced with the electro-assembly was with the ultrasonic sensor
and the wires themselves. The ultrasonic sensor sent a wave and counted the time it took to come back. In order to calculate distance, I had to look up the equation for calculating distance. The problem with wires were that they were too loose and would fall out. What worked the best with our tower was the base. It was very sturdy and could hold a good amount of weight. The base had minimal movement and wouldn’t fall if the table shook a bit. Our base was sturdy due to its design. It had 3 contact points in a triangle shape with the table. A plate was put on top to provide a large, flat area for the next triangle to rest upon. Having those 3 contact points allowed for all sides of the tower to have some sort of support. Challenges we faced with the tower had to do with the upper areas. Due to the fact that it was built using plastic cups stacked on each other, it was very unstable. With the cups being so unstable, we weren’t able to utilize all material to its full potential. Some of the cups had a bent bottom as well which didn’t help. The tower leaned to a side when we built it which made it tip a lot. We also changed our design a bunch during the building as our original design was too short. This made it harder to know exactly what we were doing. If we were to do the tower differently, I would like to make the middle of the tower a bit more sturdy. I would do this by stacking cups in a triangle first. I would then stack the cups on top of that. Being a bit more careful with the material would also be something I’d do. This is because some of the cups fell. This bent them at the bottom which made it harder to stack. I would also take more time when making a plan as we rushed our design. If we were able to get different materials, I would use sturdier cups. This prevents them from denting as they fell. Replacing the spoons for more popsicle sticks would also be very helpful. The popsicle sticks helped give height to the tower and helped make it more sturdy. This was done through the 3-point design that we created. It gave the height because it stood on the popsicle sticks. The design gave the sturdiness. Things that worked really well with our group was our time-management and our
communication with what we were going to do with the house. We were second in terms of the construction of the house. We were first in terms of wiring of the house. With our group, we had excellent communication, allowing an idea to go through to everyone and for everyone to share their opinions on how to do things. We all had different aspects and inputs on this project that made it onto the house. Next time I would like to add more electronic components to the house and successfully make a physical tripwire from scratch. I would like to also like to do better with the construction and have more consistent materials for the walls. We didn’t have as many components as I liked so next time I would like to add a better alarm system as well as other alarms for things like smoke and CO2. I would also like to create a tripwire which I wasn’t able to do this time around. Our group was really cooperative and we each did our roles to the expectations and if we did mess up, we would work together to finish it. I contributed with the programming and construction of both floors. Our plan going through this was to all work on one floor to finish it faster and then continue to the second floor together once it was done. Afterwards, Taha and I would work on the programming while Krish and Lei worked on putting the wires and holes for the wires in the house. I helped with wiring the breadboards and putting the wires throughout the house. The materials that we had received for the house were uneven and different thicknesses. The ones that we had cut ourselves were up to our standards however, the pieces that we received from other people had a different thickness which we didn’t realize until afterwards. This screwed us over a bit in terms of quality and time that we had left however, we should have noticed it ourselves and cut it ourselves so I don’t blame others for this. The only challenges that we faced with the electro-assembly was with the ultrasonic sensor and the wires themselves. The ultrasonic sensor sent a wave and counted the time it took to come back. In order to calculate distance, I had to look up the equation for calculating distance. The problem with wires were that they were too loose and would fall out. Splitting up the tasks helped a bit with increasing our productivity. Communicating with each other was also very important. We communicated well each other in order to make sure that the changes were accepted by everyone.I would make the Arduino a lot more tidy and have a bit more function like adding another light. I would also like to build a spot to better conceal the wires and the board itself. I would also like to use better, stronger cardboard in order to make it look and feel more sturdy. I would also like to spray paint and add some color to the chair instead of the brown. My contribution to this was the CAD models, the drafting, the schematic, the cutting and construction of the chair, the code, and calculating the cost. When the chair itself didn’t work, I worked on it at home and thought and added the changes to the chair in order to make it work. Using cardboard was a challenge. A lot of the cardboard we had was too thin and snapped or collapsed on itself when sitting on it. It was also hard to cut a lot of them as they would be doubled up on the edges where most of the cuts were.
Note: I wasn’t present at school for most of the project.
If I were to create this design myself next time, I would create one similar to our engineer’s design. I would make the supports a lot thicker. This is to make it able to withstand the weight of the sugar. I would also make the supports a lot tighter. This keeps the bridge a lot straighter and to make it curve less in the middle. I would also like to make the ends a bit heavier and longer. This is to reduce the chance of it slipping off the edge of the table. We didn’t use all the materials provided to us. This was because our engineer team specified the amount of spaghetti that would be used for each part of the bridge. We didn’t want to against what the engineers wanted. This led to us not making it thicker by using more spaghetti. This left us with leftover spaghetti. The item that I believe is the most important is the truss. I think this because if we were able to fully complete it it may have worked the way it was intended. I think so because with the supports the bridge may have stayed straight. With it being straight, the ball would be able to roll across. It would also increase the overall sturdiness of the bridge. This would probably not be enough to make the sugar stay on though. I felt that working as a team was very beneficial. With a team, you’re able to work faster. You can also maximize efficiency which lowers the time that is needed to complete the project. When working in a team you can also assign roles. This allows for a faster, more organised work process. Working in groups also helps with problem solving as having multiple ideas on how to do something can prove to be very beneficial. The more ideas you have, the more likely you’ll get the perfect solution. There are some downfalls to working with a group. One of the biggest downfalls is trying to come to a consensus when trying to figure things out. While having a lot of ideas is a good thing, trying to find one that everyone likes is hard to do. Another problem we have in a group is getting distracted. Sometimes you get distracted when talking about things. You can also get distracted with arguing when trying to get the right idea. Something I learned from the other teams was trusses were supports on the side. I learned that trusses are a huge part of bridges and they help keep the strength of it. Another thing I learned was right triangles are very strong. The bridges that worked perfectly were right triangles. This led me to believe that right triangles are very good when working with bridges. |
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