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Project Background
This device was designed and fabricated as a final project for the Machine Design course taught by Dr. William J. Thomas. My team of 3 and myself had to create a contraption capable of lifting 10 rolls of pennies from the bottom of a 3' ramp to the top, at a final height of 15.5" within 5-10 seconds. The only materials provided was a 12V 35,000 RPM motor without a gear box and an adjustable 3-12V DC power supply. We therefore had to design a gear reduction and build our own gear box to achieve the desired torque and RPM our device needed. Due to COVID-19 and I having the most experience with design and fabrication, I was in charge of the design and fabrication of the device including the gearbox and structure.
Our Idea
After brainstorming several ideas as a team, we came up with the unique idea of using a pivoting ramp hinged at the elevated end that would be hoisted up by a pulley winch system with a counter weight to reduce the torque needed.
My Design
Since the motor lacked a gear box, I designed and 3D printed a 1:8.1225 gear reduction gear box using PLA plastic, shafts from an old computer, and stainless steel gears. The body of the device including the ramps, supports, hinge, and screws were salvaged from an old filing cabinet. In order to allow the rolls of pennies to smoothly roll from one end to the other on the rotating ramp, I designed a "penny cart" to perfectly hold 10 rolls with rubber wheels at the bottom. The red container was 3D printed while the wheels and shaft mount were taken from a DIY toy car kit.
Skills Developed:
CAD: Autodesk Fusion 360 & SolidWorks
3D Printing
Off-The-Shelf Fabrication / Prototyping
Finite Element Analysis (FEA): COMSOL & Autodesk Simulation
Gearbox Calculation & Design
Project Report
MECE 4331 Group 8 Project Report (V3).pdfVideo
VID_20200415_163752.mp4Page updated
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