User:B.Osborne369/enes100/strandbeest

Write problem/project Goal
Design and build a stable crankshaft and frame for a working strandbeest. Then continue designing the remaining parts of a strandbeest.

My First Task
Find a material suitable for fabricating tabs to be used for building the crankshaft. Then drill holes 15mm apart on this material. After 12 sets of holes are drilled the tabs can be cut.

Summary of actual work over first weekend
A hardened steel bar was drilled and cut to form the tabs needed for the crankshaft. The cranckshaft was then assembled.

Week1 Narrative
A 3ft long X 1/2" wide x 1/8" flat steel bar was found at Lowes Hardware store. This steel seems like it will be stable to make tabs for the crankshaft. The cost was minimal at $3.57, and only about 1 1/2 feet of the hardened steel bar was actually used. Holes were carefully measured at 15mm apart, marked, punched and then drilled. The 15mm distance is imperaitve to the design of the crankshaft. There are specific measurements that apply to a funtioning strandbeest. The crankshaft will eventually allow the strandbeest to walk. Using a rotary dremel with a strong cutting wheel the tabs were carefully cut. Next a table grinder was used to remove any shards of metal from drilling and to grind off any uneven edges. Using size 4-40hardware,(1 1/4 inch bolts, corresponding nuts and lockwashers)the crankshaft was assembled.

My Second Task
Design and begin building a body for the crankshaft to be mounted in, and to provide a place to mount the legs of the stradbeest to.

Summary of actual work over second weekeend
The crankshaft was assembled in the previous week. This weeks goal was to build a frame. Using parts found at a local hobby store and some fabricated part, the frame of the strandbeest was assembled.

Week2 Narrative
For the second week the goal was to build a frame for the strandbeest. First sides to the frame were cut with a rotary Dremel out of recylcled shelf brackets. Then holes were drilled for the crossbars 1/8 inch in diameter and 76 mm apart, into the sides using a drill press. Materials for the crossbar were found at a local hobby shop as well as at a hardware store. different metalic steel rods were found differing in material from steel to copper and brass. The steel was the optimal material however it would not fit other materials that were to be used. A set of ball bearings and endcaps with an inner diameter of 1/8 inch were also found at the local hobby store. The steel rod was slightly larger than in the inner diameter and would need to be filed down in order to get it to fit. After the holes were drilled the parts were assembled and a conclusion was made that the steel rod was required due to its added durability.

My Third task
For the third week of this project the goal is to finalyze the frame and begin working on the legs.

Summary of actual work over third weekend
The crankshaft was completed and work began on the legs. I found other designs that could help our team come up with ideas for our strandbeest. Other electronic designs can be seen by clicking here or here The design that is closest to the design that we are building can be seen here

Week3 Narrative
The crankshaft was completed to a point that if assembled onto the beest it would be operational. Designing and fabricating the legs would be the next stage of the project. Using the "holy numbers" provided by Theo Jansen, the dimension of the leg segments were calculated.

My Fourth task
Complete the Strandbeest project.

Summary of actual work over fourth weekend
The forth week was used to design and build various leg prototypes to be used with the crankshaft. I began building legs out of sheet aluminum, however it was determined that using a design created by a project partner made from wooden popsicle sticks would be a better choice.

Week4 Narrative
Using the segment parts created in week three, I constructed a leg prototype. It did not move well and was deemed useless for this project.

Complete Team Page
Fill out the Team Form (should have already copied the form, created the team page, linked to it and started filling it out).