User:Chong Tian Lin/ENES-100/Project 2

My Instructor's course page which points to this.

Project Preference
The Escher Demo Project is continued for the next 4 weeks.

Problem Statement
We are asked to design a system with a reliable structure that demonstrates the "Escher Illusion Effect" The infrastructure will have to be stable enough to support the flow of water or other materials only towards one direction while creating an Escher illusion through a designated camera angle.

Week 5 Narrative
During this week, there were two new track design that were created and tested. They were built upon the foundation of earlier designs and seeked to mitigate some of the issues that previous designs were facing.

Slider Track
This design may resemble the structure inside a pinball arena. The rectangular prisms are made of styrofoam and act as diagonal walls that deflect the marbles down a universal channel that points down the ramp. It is a successor to the "zig-zag" desgin in many aspects such as the 3 dimensional track walls that entirely prevents the marble from running off course.

V-Shaped Track
This design relies on its V-shaped structure to appear as if the marble traveling through the track goes both upwards and downwards consecutively. The folded flaps on the sides of the track act as sturdy railing to help guide that extremely sharp turn while the whole structure is more or less tilted sideways when it is viewed from the perspective of a lied down V-shape.

V-Shaped Track Prototype:

Link to Overview Video

Link to Initial Testing

Next Steps

 * Begin implementing a second floor as part of the tracks
 * Learn the basics of CAD drawing to simulate future models
 * Start testing a variation of marble types
 * Enhancing existing track designs

Week 6 Narrative
During this week, a few of the track designs that proved to be successful by itself were selected as apart of the main design. The three main track designs (V-Shape, Intersection, and Slider) were paired up in unique combinations that allow three different options of track extension.

Combination 1:

A number of trials were conducted to verify whether the Slider Track is consistent enough for a marble to follow through every time with the same duration of time in secondsː



Video Demo of a Test Trial

Next Steps

 * Assemble a full blown model of our final product on Autodesk Inventor
 * Develop a smooth transition between assembly of two tracks
 * Determine the materials that is most ideal for a final product

Week 7 Narrative
During this past week, all of the technical drawings were produced on Autodesk Inventor as CAD models and IDW print deliverables.

V-Shaped Track

Next Steps

 * Create a matured technical drawing as an overview for the next prototype
 * Incorporate the component of friction and background designs with the matured track designs

Week 8 Narrative
In this week, Google Sketchup 8 was used to model the final tracksː Slider Track and V-Shaped Track.

Slider Track

The Sketchy Physics physics engine was used to simulate a bead rolling down these tracks through real time physics principles. Some of the issue encountered were the detachment of parts of the track that results in the top structure slowly sliding off the ramp.

Simulation of the Modified Slider Track

Next Steps

 * Learn more features of the Sketchy Physics physics engine to prevent the model to collapse on itself during simulation
 * Assemble the parts of the tracks as one object