Engineering Projects/StrandBeest/Howard Community College/fall2011/550 Kapachi

The engineering class 550 Team: KapaChi Group members: Gun Kang, Ryan Pak,and Q Chi

Problem Statement
The previous designs are either not finished or malfunctioning. And, all of them can only be moved by hand. Our goal is to recreate/improve a fully functioning strand beest that does not require forces exerted by hands.
 * The first problem is materials which need to be light and strong to withstand its own weight while in motion.
 * The second problem is design: We either derive straight from the previous projects or we make their ideas into our own with our own specific design.
 * The third problem is how we are going to get our materials or is there possibility that there is problem with abundance of our decided materials.
 * Fourth problem is can it stand its own and also move in one piece.

Team Members

 * G
 * R
 * Chi

Materials

 * LEGO parts + motor
 * Glues
 * Tapes (replaced after the glue)

Summary
The StrandBeest project looked promising due to its simple design with light, durable material. But, as we added improvements and more other necessary pieces for the whole structure, the pieces started to deplete and the ordering of the pieces and motors was constantly delayed due to laziness of the tasked member of the group. Without the pieces to replicate more of the structure and the motor, we finalized the movable StrandBeest that is smaller than we planned to construct and dies not have the motor. So our StrandBeest is now hand-powered.

Poster

 * The Theo Jansen's deisgn was based upon our design and this video about LEGO Strandbeest[|strandbeest lego StrandBeest]

Story

 * After the very first assigned project, the students were allowed to pick top 3 desired projects from the given list. The project "StrandBeest" was piccked by Gun Kang, Ryan Park, And Q Chi.
 * This project was to design a movable strandbeest design. This was to be made from a material of our choice. We had wood ,glass, and copper wires at our disposal but we knew that all of them could not move easily and yet also fragile and heavy.
 * We decided to use lego parts for our design which was light, durable, and easy to construct materials. So as the team set out to work, many various designs were brought up but the one which showed the most promise was taken as our team work. The pictures are shown above. The team went through multiple tests and many approaches to the new problems when each part of the Strandbeest structure was built. Each pieces went through some improvements. As for the conclusion, we were managed to construct the StrandBeest except for the motors. The motors did not come in time and they were some missing pieces to replicate another pair.

Decision List
Week 1: Week 2: Week 3: Week 4:
 * Determine materials and designs for Strandbeest.
 * Look for ideas and try to research how the previous projects function and what they were made out of
 * Look for possible materials we can use
 * Search for what kind of motor we will use
 * Study more Strandbeest designs
 * Built upon the idea of Theo Jansen's design
 * Started to build the very first piece of the strandbeest: the leg
 * Used "Divide and Conquer" method to see who makes the best deisgn
 * Decided to get the motor in as quick as possible
 * Started Strandbeest construction
 * Improved upon the leg designs
 * Replicated the design so that the whole piece can come together
 * Finished making the whole structure
 * Planned on making the pieces that will join the motor into the structure of the Strandbeest
 * Planned on how to plant the pieces and the motor
 * Successfully built the piece that will join the motor and the strandbeest with the multiple test and "trial and error"
 * Finished Strandbeest design with mobility.

Time
This project was finalized over a period of 4 weeks with an average of 8 hours per week invested in its documentation and construction.
 * Each member took their own time and parts to contribute to the whole project.

Next Steps

 * Get the motor in and construct the another part of strandbeest so that the strandbeest can hold the motor along with its own while moving.
 * The motor which we ordered was not yet available at the moment.
 * Once the piece and the motor are fully put together and functioning, the whole strandbeest must be tested
 * After multiple tests, we need to improve upon the design.