User:Chattons2/ENES100/PROJECT uno

=Week 0=

Project preferences

 * Shaker Table (implement)
 * FESTO manipulation
 * Tactile Interface

Problem Statement
Our goal is to create a manual shaker table using PVC pipes and other materials. We will also need to find a way to make our table hold, firmly, a tower (made out of K'NEX) of unknown dimension. The whole project needs to be kid friendly.

Materials needed: This material list was retrieved from https://nees.org/resources/2938 Other Stuff:
 * 2 ft. x 2 ft. plywood (or other wood as available, recommend 1/4– 1/2 inch thick)
 * 2 1/2 inch to 5/8 inch diameter wood dowels, approximately 36 inches long
 * 1 inch x 10 ft. PVC schedule 40 pipe that will be cut into 2 – 24 inch pipes and 2 – 30 inch pipes.
 * 4 – 1 inch PVC schedule 40, 90 degree elbows
 * 4 1/4; inch x 2.5 inch eye bolts with corresponding 1/4 inch nuts
 * 4 1/4 inch x 1 inch hex bolts with 1/4 inch nuts
 * rubber bands (recommend #64 bands)
 * Velcro strips
 * Bungee Cords
 * Paint and paint brushes

Project Plan
The hardest part will be week 2

=Week 1 Narrative= This week we bought the materials at Home Depot and started building our shaker table. We were able to finish building it yesterday, February 22, and I thought of a cool way to make a tower stay on the table (well, to me it's kind of cool). We will get bungee cords and install them at each corner of the table. Since they are flexible and strong, it will not matter whether the tower is a square, a triangle, or any other shape. The tower will be in the middle of the table and the cords will firmly hold it in place. We tried this idea using rubber bands and a simple "squared" box; it worked just fine. I will post pictures of what it looks like once we install the bungee cords.

=Week 2 Narrative=

This week we tried to figure out how to keep a tower on our shaker table. We built a tower out of K'NEX and tested the bungee cord idea using rubber bands but there was an issue.

At a higher frequency we noticed that the tower was sliding, which was a problem. We needed to find a better way to make the tower stay put.

In class, we were introduced to Pugh Concept Selection, a decision making process, which made it easier for us to determine how we were going to fix our problem. First, we all did some research on past shaker table projects to see how the designers were able to place towers on their shaker table. Then, each one of us picked their favorite "idea" and we relied on the Pugh Concept selection to choose the best option for our case. Our concepts (options) were velcro strips, bungee cords (tightening them), weighing the tower down using ductape, and making holes in plywood and use rubber bands to keep the tower down. We also had five criteria: reliability, ability to hold properly, cost, safety, and damage risk. We weighted each criteria from one to ten, ten being the most important one.



As you can see from the table, the | velcro was our best bet; We will try it next week. In case that does not work for us, we will look for more options and maybe add more criteria to our list!

=Week 3 Narrative= This week we reduced the dimensions of the table. The width had to be 2 ft (Our original table was 2.35ft large). Because the size changed, we had to drill new holes in the pipes. Next we installed several velcro strips to test if they could work. We built a square and a triangular tower and the strips were able to keep both stable. Since the towers were only about 3ft tall we will build bigger towers on Wednesday and do more testing. That will determine how much velcro strips we will need to install. ---

This week I also bought the paint. Because were done assembling the new design, we started painting.

=Week 4 Narrative= Our plywood was crooked, for some reason. To fix it, we first put a sixty pound object on the shaker table. A few hours later, the table was still not perfectly straight. I thought it might help if we found a way to place, permanently, a heavy object on the table. So I found a (heavy) battery at the lab. We added velcro strips on it and placed it on our table. The battery was able to keep it straight.

This week I also built different towers to test how prolific the velcro strips would be. I decided to install one (25 inch) female velcro strip horizontally and three (15inches) female trips vertically. Next, I cut eight (1ft) male velcro strips which were going to be attached to the female strips after I placed the towers on the table.

testing:

I built strong, weak, tall, short, triangular, square, and trapezoid towers; The velcro strips were able to keep them down. Here are are some of the towers I built:

There were three different types of tests that I made:

I- Tall vs. Tall

First, I tested two towers of the same height. At a lower frequency, I noticed that both towers reacted. At a higher frequency however, they did not move as much

II- Tall vs Short

The tall tower reacted more at a lower frequency whereas the short one reacted when the frequency was high

III- weak Tall vs. strong tall

This time, I added more K'nex pieces to one of the tall tower. The weaker tower reacted more with the low frequency.