Can Crusher Project

4th Period- Tech

Kartikey Desai, Courtney Jones, Sarah Kasi, and Jon Ko

Table of Contents
Section Page #

Group Development....3 Roles and Responsibilities...3 Team Constitution....3 Timeline...4-5 Problem Statement..6 Background..6 Customers.6 Scope....6-7 Deliverables..7 Brainstorming......8 Research and Generate Ideas.9-12 Research9-11 Calculations11-12 Criteria and Constraints.12 Explore Possibilities. 13-19 Designs.....13-16 Method of Bonding.17-18 Nuts..18-19 Bolts........19

Selecting an Approach20-22 Designs.20 Adhesives.21 Bolts.........21 Nuts..22 Developing a Design Proposal...23-26 Bill of Materials.23 Build Process....24-26 Test Plan.....27 Prototype...28 Test and Monitor.............29 Refine30 Lessons Learned...30 Summary..31 CAD Drawings........32-55

Group Development
Role Leader Person Courtney Jones Responsibility Keep everyone on task and assign assignments Write documents and keep notes of everything Write documents and keep notes of everything Keep us on schedule and tells Timekeeper Jon Ko us where we are in our timeline

Scribe

Kartikey Desai

Scribe

Sarah Kasi

Team Constitution
Rules, Regulations, and Expectations
1. All team members should respect each other and the ideas that are shared. 2. All team members must do work. 3. All team members must help in the building process of the can crusher. 4. We must be open to working outside of class. 5. We must stay on task and focused at ALL TIMES. 6. Everyone MUST put forth their maximum effort. 7. No one dominates the team. 8. All team members must STAY POSITIVE.

Timeline
Can Crusher Project Timeline Group Members: Kartikey Desai, Courtney Jones, Sarah Kasi, Jon Ko Note: All work documented by team scribes or individual task owner
Plan Date Start 21Mar 21Mar 21Mar 21Mar 21Mar 21Mar 21Mar 21Mar 22Mar 22Mar 22Mar 25Mar 22Mar 28Mar 28Mar 2-Apr 2-Apr 2-Apr 5-Apr 28Act. Date Who's Responsible Jon Courtney Sarah Sarah Courtney Courtney Sarah Team Team Sarah Courtney Sarah and Courtney Kartikey Team Team Team Sarah Sarah and Courtney Sarah and Courtney Jon and Kartikey Task Start and finish timeline Group development and team constitution Problem Statement Background Customers Scope Deliverables Brainstorming Research and Generate Ideas Overall & Aluminum Can Bin Lever & Base Can Crusher Calculations Criteria and Constraints Explore Possibilities Select an Approach Develop a Design Proposal Test Plan Build Process Bill of Materials CAD Drawings

Comp Start Comp 222123Mar Mar Mar 212020Mar Mar Mar 212021Mar Mar Mar 212121Mar Mar Mar 212121Mar Mar Mar 222121Mar Mar Mar 212121Mar Mar Mar 212121Mar Mar Mar 2519Mar Mar 6-Apr 241925Mar Mar Mar 241925Mar Mar Mar 25Mar 5-Apr 6-Apr 222122Mar Mar Mar 292429Mar Mar Mar 292429Mar Mar Mar 122811Apr Mar Apr 3-Apr 1-Apr 1-Apr 14145-Apr Apr Apr 14148-Apr Apr Apr 2282-

Mar 28Mar 18Apr 21Apr 28Apr 28Apr 29Apr 4May 5May 5May 6May 10May 12May 17May 17May 20May 20May 18Mar 22Mar 25May

May 17Apr 20Apr 29Apr 29Apr 29Apr 2May 4May 18May 5May 9May 11May 17May 18May 20May 21May 21May 22May 22May 1-Jun

Mar 28Mar 18Apr 21Apr 25Apr 21Apr 29Apr 4May 5May 5May 10May 10May 12May 5May 22May 28Apr 19May 18Mar 18Mar

May 15Apr 19Apr 24Apr 27Apr 25Apr 2May 5May 20May 10May 20May 16May 16May 5May 23May 23May 23May 23May 24May

Jon and Kartikey Jon Ko Jon Ko Kartikey Jon Ko and Kartikey Jon Ko and Kartikey Team Team Team Team Team Team Team Team Team Team Team Team Team

Bin with Inclined plane Self-Loading Mechanism Crushing Mechanism Frame Make A-Size for Individual Parts of Bin Make A-Size for Crushing Mechanism & Frame Get CAD Drawings checked by Mr. Pritchard Prototype Bin Self-Loading Mechanism Frame Crushing Mechanism(Lever) Prototype section in tech report Refine Lessons Learned Summary Tech Report PowerPoint Presentation

Problem Statement
Roadrunner Trucking wants us to build a can crusher that will reduce the volume of their aluminum cans.

Background
We work for Alpha Engineering Company, and Roadrunner Trucking has contacted us because they have a lot of aluminum can wastes. In order to reduce the waste, we were asked to create a can crusher that will reduce the volume of the aluminum cans by seventy percent. If they do not find a way to reduce the volume of these cans they will have to pay a fine of $0.05 per can. Can crushers are primarily used to save space and recycling. Can crushers make it possible to make small stackable piles that save space. There are many designs that can crushers come in. Some of the designs are pneumatic, hydraulic, aluminum, and wood. Jesse M. Wright was the man who invented the aluminum can crusher in 1937, but he did not get it patented until August 30, 1938.

Customers
Our two customers are Mr. Pritchard, our ITC instructor, and Roadrunner Trucking Company.

Scope
Our task for this project is to design and create a can crusher that will minimize the volume of aluminum cans by 70%. The can crusher will be made up of various parts including a lever, body, and aluminum bin. Sarah and I will be documenting all of the work we do in the designing and building to create our technical report. We will be composing a Power Point that will be presented during class. We will be turning in our can crusher, technical report, and Power Point presentation to Mr. Pritchard at the close of the project. We will be utilizing different resources throughout the project to successfully complete our research. We also have the privilege to utilize the following individuals: Technical Mr. Pritchard

Math Calculations Miss Hernacki CAD Drawings Mr. Hund

The materials that we will be using for this project are wood, PVC, metal brackets, metal hinges, screws, and nails. In addition, we will also use many shop tools including the band saw, claw hammer (to go with nails), drill press / hand held portable electric drill, and sander. The approximate cost of all the material we will need to purchase is $40.

The key constraints given by our customers are: Maximum space of 182430 Minimum of one simple machine Aluminum can must fall into the aluminum can bin once crushed Aluminum can bin must slide in and out of crusher Aluminum can bin must hold 20 uncrushed cans Design must be one unit Must be manually operated All parts must be made not bought

There are a few conflicts we have with meeting outside of class. Kartikey and Jon Ko are in tennis so it will be hard for all four of us to meet after school due to their practices. Another issue we will face is meeting during study hall. Sarah and Jon Ko do not have a study hall throughout the week. Also, Courtney and Kartikey do not have study hall during the same period, so they cannot work together; they can only work by themselves. Other than that,we have no issues in meeting outside of school.

Deliverables
At the end of this project we will give our customers 3 different outputs. The 3 outputs are the can crusher, technical report, and PowerPoint presentation. The can crusher will be composed of the lever, body, and aluminum can bin. The technical report will take us through the 12-step design process and it will contain our final CAD drawings. The PowerPoint presentation will be a complete overview of our whole project

Brainstorming
Overall: o What adhesive should we use? Wood glue? Hot glue? Super glue? o Will the can crusher be operated by hand or foot? Aluminum Can Bin:
o o o o

What material should it be made of? (Wood?) What size should it be? How thick should the material be? (Does it matter?) If we can make it hold more than 20 crushed cans, should we? (Or would that be a waste of material?)

o o o o

Should it be really tall but narrow? Wide but flat? Square sides like a cube? How will it slide in and out of the crusher? (Like a drawer?) Will we need a handle in order to slide it out of the crusher? Do we need to do anything specifically so that it smoothly slides out of the crusher? (Or would this be a waste of material?)

Lever: o What material(s) should it be made of? o What other parts will we need to get? Metal hinges? Screws? o How thick should the material be? (Does it matter?) o How big / long should it be? o The longer the lever is, the less input force is required. Is there a way we can mathematically calculate the length of the lever so that too much input force is not required to crush the can to 30% its original size?

Base: o What material should it be made of? (Wood?) o How big will it be? o Should we make it so that it could hold something bigger than the size of a standard aluminum can, or would that be a waste of material?

Research and Development

Overall
o

Potential methods of attaching the parts are: wood glue, super glue, hot glue, duct tape, and screw and nails. Hot glue will be messy, and will not be as strong as the other potential solutions. Screw and nails will require the use of a drill. Screws and nails are mess free and do not take drying time. The downside to screws and nails are that if a mistake is made, it is hard to fix since the holes cannot be filled. Wood glue and superglue are both fairly strong and will take around 15second to dry. Wood glue is stronger, and is cheaper. Superglue is strong, but can be messy and costs more for the quantity we will need.

Manual can crushers can be operated by either hand or foot. There are a variety of different types of can crushers. All of our designs are different, but they are all hand operated. Designs that require more input force are generally crushed by foot, and can crushers that require very little input force (such as crushers with long levers) are operated by hand.

Aluminum Can Bin

o

It would be ideal to make it using wood. It can be made of other materials such as metal, but that would be more difficult and cost more.

The exact size depends on the design. It should be capable of holding 20 crushed cans. (This can be calculated by finding the volume.) But making it so it holds way more than 20 crushed cans would be a waste of material. Also, it should fit in the 18 x 24 x 30 requirement.

The material thickness will depend on what they have at the store, although, Home Depot has a variety of wood thicknesses. It should be thick enough so that it is sturdy, but not too thick that it is both a waste of material and space. 1/2 to 3/4" thick is acceptable.

The aluminum can bin can slide out of the base like a drawer, but there do not need to special appliances that help it slide smoothly (that would be a waste of material).

A handle on the aluminum can bin would be most ideal, to pull the bin out of the base since it is going to slide out like a drawer. However, the handle should be designed big enough to fit an adults hand, but also as small as possible so save material. (If using wood, the handle will have to be sanded a lot to prevent splinters.)

Although not required on the aluminum can bin, metal brackets would make the bin more sturdy. If using metal brackets, we must be careful when dimensioning both the bin and base.

Lever o The lever should be made of metal, wood, or aluminum. Plastic would not work because it is not sturdy enough to exert that much pressure. Wood seems to be the best option. It is highly available in a variety of sizes, and our customers will let us use wood. In addition, it will be strong enough and easy to work with. o The material should be thick so it can stand against a lot of force. 3/3 to 1 thick is the minimum. 2 by 4 wood is a potential option. o The lever should be long, not short, so we can use less input force. Since it is a simple machine, the longer the lever, the less force required. o Depending on the design, the lever may require other parts such as hinges. Metal hinges, such as the ones that are in doors, are easily available.

Base o The materials that we are allowed to use for the base are wood, aluminum, plastic, and metal to construct the base of the can crusher. o The size of the base will be decided by the group, but the maximum space it can occupy is 18 in length and 24 in height. o The frame does not need to be too thick, only a to thickness is necessary if using wood. o Metal brackets would help the strength of the base. Metal brackets would help prevent the base from falling apart while crushing a can. They will also help align parts when gluing things together. The can be installed using screws or nails.

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o We should make the base larger that the size of twenty uncrushed aluminum cans to ensure that it will hold all of the cans. By making the base larger, it allows the cans to fit in a way where they are not closely packed together where they cannot be moved. Can Crusher Calculations:

Can Dimensions: 2.625in in diameter (1.3125in in radius), 4.875in in height Volume 1 uncrushed can V = r2h V = x 1.31252 x 4.875 V = 26.38in3 Volume 1 can reduced by 70% V = r2h x .3 V = x 1.31252 x 4.875 x .3 V = 26.38 x .3 V = 7.914in3 Height of a crushed can (height reduced by 70%) h = 4.875 .3 h = 1.4625 in. Volume 20 uncrushed cans V = r2h x 20 V = x 1.31252 x 4.875 x 20 V = 26.38 x 20 V = 527.66

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Volume 20 cans reduced by 70% V = r2h x .3 x 20 V = x 1.31252 x 4.875 x .3 x 20 V = 26.38 x .3 x 20 V = 7.914 x 20 V = 158.28in3

Criteria and Constraints

Criteria: o Self-loading o Inexpensive o Reliable o Not time consuming o Simple Constraints: o Maximum space the design can occupy is 18x24x30. o Materials that can be used are wood, PVC, metal brackets, metal hinges, screws and nails. o Minimum of one simple machine. o Crushed aluminum can must immediately fall into the aluminum can bin without human intervention. o The aluminum can bin must slide in and out of the crusher. o The aluminum can bin must be sized to hold 20 crushed cans. o All parts of the can crusher must be fabricated. o The design is to be one unit. o Must be manually operated.

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Explore Possibilities
Design

Kartikeys Design

Pros(+)
Simple Dimensioned well

Cons(-)
Used incline plain wrong No thickness Requires a lot of input force

Self-loading

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Courtneys Design

Pros(+)
Multi-view and isometric drawings Follows all size constraints Very neat

Cons(-)
not dimensioned well No bin Lever too complicated and would not work

14

Sarahs Design

Pros(+)
Aluminum can bin is really tall (all space will be taken up Follows all constraints Very neat

Cons(-)
Bin may tip over when crushing a can complex Not self-loading Uses a lot of material

15

Jon Kos Design

Pros(+)
Detailed Good dimensions Followed most constraints

Cons(-)
Confusing Materials used are expensive Aluminum can bin does not slide in and out

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Method of Bonding Parts

Wood Glue Pros(+)
Sticks to wood Strong Inexpensive Dries quickly

Cons(-)
Hard to fix mistakes once glued Dries a yellowish color

Hot Glue Pros(+)

Clear Dries quickly Inexpensive

Cons(-)
Messy Takes up space when dried Takes time to heat up

Super Glue Pros(+)

Dries quickly Strong

Cons(-)
Can be messy Expensive for the quantity we need Not as affective on wood

Screws and Nails Pros(+)

Reliable Works well with brackets and wood Inexpensive and common Easy to repair mistakes with screws

Cons(-)
Hard to repair mistakes made with nails

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Duct Tape Pros(+)

Does not need to dry Inexpensive

Cons(-)
Comes off Sticks together Hard to stick edges together Not the best option

Nuts
Wing Nuts Pros(+)
Easy to turn without a wrench Inexpensive Available in many sizes in stores Can go anywhere on the bolt

Cons(-)
Takes up a lot of room

Hex Nuts Pros(+)

Inexpensive Available in many sizes in stores Small does not take up too much space Can be used with most wrenches Can go anywhere on the bolt

Cons(-)

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Cap / Acorn Nuts Pros(+)

Can be used with most wrenches Available in most sizes in stores Does not take up too much room (but is still bigger than the hex bolt) Inexpensive

Cons(-)
Cannot go anywhere but the end of the bolt

Bolts
Hex Bolts Pros(+)
Can be used with almost all wrenches Inexpensive Available in many sizes in stores

Cons(-)

Carriage Bolts Pros(+)

Inexpensive Available in many sizes in stores

Cons(-)
Cannot be used with many wrenches

Square Head Bolts Pros(+)

Inexpensive Can be used with some wrenches

Cons(-)
Does not work with some wrenches Not available in many sizes in stores

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Select an Approach
Designs:
Potential Designs Criteria Kartikeys Design Self-loading Inexpensive Reliable Quick to build Simple Ease of use 5 4 4 4 5 3 Courtneys Design 1 3 1 3 3 2 Sarahs Design 1 3 3 3 3 3 Jon Kos Design 3 3 5 3 3 4

Total

25

13

16

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Scale: 1 -5; 1 being the worst, 5 the best Although Kartikeys design scored highest, we will be combining Jon Kos design and Kartikeys design. The reason we will be doing this is because we liked that Kartikeys design was self-loading and that Jon Kos design had a reliable lever that would crush the can effectively. Sarahs design had a lever similar to Jon Kos, but Jon Kos dimensions would work better with the design of our crusher.

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Method of Bonding Parts:

Potential Adhesives Criteria Screws Wood Glue Hot Glue Super Glue and nails Dries quickly Inexpensive Sticks to our material Ease of appliance Cleanliness Reliability 4 4 5 3 4 4 24 5 4 2 1 1 2 15 4 3 4 3 3 4 21 5 5 5 3 4 5 27 Duct Tape 5 3 3 2 1 3 17

Total

Scale: 1 -5; 1 being the worst, 5 the best We are going to use screws and nails as it scored the highest. Moreover, screws and nails will work well with other materials we may use such as wood and metal brackets. If we run into a circumstance where screws and nails are hard to use, we will use wood glue or duct tape.

Bolts:
Potential Bolts Criteria Hex Bolts 5 4 5 14 Carriage Bolts 1 4 5 10 Square Head Bolts 3 4 3 10

Can be used with wrenches Inexpensive Availability in store

Total

Scale: 1 -5; 1 being the worst, 5 the best We are going to use hex bolts because they can easily be used with wrenches. Most wrenches will work with hex bolts but many are not suited for carriage bolts and some do not work with square head bolts. Also square head bolts are hard to find in some sizes

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Nuts:
Potential Nuts Criteria Wing Nut 5 5 2 5 Hex Nut 5 5 5 5 Cap / Acorn Nut 4 5 4 1

Inexpensive Ease of tightening / loosening Doesnt waste space Can go anywhere on the bolt Availability of sizes in stores

5 22

5 25

4 18 Scale: 1 -5; 1 being the worst, 5 the best

Total

We are going to use the hex bolt because it is fits all our criteria. Unlike the wing nut, which takes up a lot of room, the hex nut does not waste space. Also, the hex nut can go anywhere on the bolt unlike the cap nut.

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Develop a Design Proposal

CAD Drawings (See Attachments) BILL OF MATERIALS PART PART DESCRIPTION
.75 2 4 PLYWOOD WOOD .75 2 2 PLYWOOD SCREWS 2 LONG CROWN BOLT FINISHING NAILS TITEBOUND WOOD GLUE NARROW UTIITY HINGES 1-1/2 1 1 PACK OF 50 SCREWS 1 PACK OF 40 NAILS 8OZ. BOTTLE 1 PACK OF 2 HINGES 8 $2.27 2.27 $6.97 $5.37 $6.97 $5.37

QUANTITY
1

UNIT PRICE
$8.97

TOTAL PRICE
$8.97

NAILS WOOD GLUE METAL HINGES NUTS

$1.24

$1.24

$2.78

$2.87

HEX NUT HEX BOLTS 8 HEX BOLTS

$0.70

$5.60

$0.82 $2.11

$4.92 $2.11 $37.96 $3.61 $41.57

BOLTS

SUBTOTAL TAX (9.5%) TOTAL

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 Build Process Aluminum Can Bin Outside

o Obtain the wood (.75 thick). o Trace the outline parts A, B, 2 cs, D on the wood. (Preferably larger to give room to sand) o Cut the wood. o Sand the wood. o Drill a hole (diameter = .375) in the center of the piece that has to be cut out of part D o Cut out the piece of part D with the jig saw o Assemble pieces to ensure they fit. o Screw pieces together o Nail pieces together

Aluminum Can Bin Inside

o Obtain the wood (.75 thick). o Trace the outline of parts E, 2 Fs, 2 Gs and I (Preferably larger to give room to sand) o Cut the wood. o Sand the wood. o Assemble pieces to ensure they fit. o Screw part I onto one of the part Es. o Screw the rest of the parts together. o Check that the bin inside fits into the bin outside.

Crushing Mechanism
Frame o Obtain the wood (.75 thick). o Trace the outline of parts N-Q on the wood. (Preferably larger to give room to sand) o Cut the wood.

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o Sand the wood. o Assemble pieces to ensure they fit. o Drill 1 hole on part N and 1 on O where it is marked o Using the crosscut miter saw, make cuts along the line for the long slot on both part N and part O. o Drill 2 holes (diameter = .375) on N and 2 on O at the ends of the long slot. o Cut out the material for the long slots on part N and O with the jig saw. o Assemble pieces to ensure they fit. o Screw the pieces together. Lever o Obtain the wood (.75, 1.5 and 3thick). o Trace the outline of the part J on 3 thick wood, and 2 part Ks on 1.5 thick wood, 2 part Ls on 1 thick wood. (Preferably larger to give room to sand) o Cut the wood. o Sand the wood. o Drill 2 holes for part J (refer to CAD drawings): o Drill 2 holes with a drill bit smaller than .375 with the drill press o Drill 2 holes .375 in diameter with the drill press o Put part J into the frame to ensure it fits. o With a jig saw, cut out the extra material on both part Ks. o With the drill press, drill the holes for all K and L parts. o Attach parts J-L to the frame, with nuts and bolts, to ensure they fit. o Remove parts J, 2 Ks and 2 Ls and all the nut and bolts

Self-loading Mechanism
o Obtain the wood (.75 thick). o Trace the outline of parts R-T on the wood. (Preferably larger to give room to sand) o Cut the wood. o Sand the wood. o Assemble pieces to ensure they fit.

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o Screw the pieces together Denting Mechanism o Obtain the wood (.75 thick). o Trace the outline of parts U and V on the wood. (Preferably larger to give room to sand) o Cut out part U and cut out V in the shape of a rectangle o Sand parts U and V. o Chamfer part V with the sander o Glue part V to part U o Nail part V to part U Assembling all of the subassemblies together o Assembly the self-loading mechanism, denting mechanism, crushing mechanism, and bin outside together, ensuring that they fit. o Screw the self-loading mechanism to the crushing mechanism. o Screw the metal hinge to the denting mechanism. o Assemble denting mechanism onto the frame to make sure it is in exactly the right spot o Screw the other side of the hinge to the crushing mechanism. o Line up the hole on the crushing mechanism bottom ( part Q) to the hole on the bin outside (part D) o Nail the crushing mechanism to the bin outside. o Re-attach parts J-L onto the crushing mechanism with nuts & bolts o Slide the bin inside into the bin outside

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 Test Plan
Test Criteria Reliability How Tested Crush a can, measuring size before and after crushed Durability Crush a can, open and close the drawer of the bin that stores aluminum cans Bin Must Hold 20 Crushed Cans Self- Loading Put 20 cans crushed in the bin Put 3 cans into the self-loading mechanism and crush all three cans All 20 cans will be crushed The crusher will be able to self-load appropriately without any complications Can Must End-up In Bin After Being Crushed Crush a can and see if it falls through the appropriate hole into the bin The can will fall through the hole into the bin The aluminum can bin will slide in and out with ease Expected results The can will be crushed to 70% of its original height Actual Results

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Prototype
Our work process worked okay at first, but we should have added more detail in it to make the parts easier to build. As we got deeper into building, we noticed how unreliable our build process was. We were constantly making changes to our build process. By the time we got to the building of the crushing mechanism, we stopped using the build process all together. We believed that our build process was not reliable because we made it too simple. We should have made it with more detail. We had to make various changes in our design to ensure that it would be able to work. Some of the changes we made to the crushing mechanism were we ended up putting the walls on the opposite sides because we found out that it would be able to crush the cans easier. For our outside bin, we made the hole that the cans would fall through bigger because, at first, the hole was too small and the cans barely fell through.

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Test and Monitor

Test Criteria Reliability How Tested Crush a can, measuring size before and after crushed Durability Crush a can, open and close the drawer of the bin that stores aluminum cans Bin Must Hold 20 Crushed Cans Put 20 cans crushed in the bin All 20 cans will be crushed Bin could hold 20 cans and still had some space Self- Loading Put 3 cans into the self-loading mechanism and crush all three cans The crusher will be able to self-load appropriately without any complications Can Must End-up In Bin After Being Crushed Crush a can and see if it falls through the appropriate hole into the bin The can will fall through the hole into the bin The self-loading mechanism held 3 cans with about an inch worth of space at the top The can fell into the bin with ease Expected results The can will be crushed to 70% of its original height (It will be 1.5 tall) The aluminum can bin will slide in and out with ease The aluminum can bin slid in and out with much ease Actual Results The can was crushed to 1.5 in height

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Refine
In the refining stage, we had to remake the lever sides because the hex bolts would rub against other lever arms when we would try to move them. To fix this problem, we cut off part of the lever where the hex bolts were to where the head of the hex bolts were lined up with wood piece. This helped us crush our cans with much more ease because the pieces were not clashing with the hex bolts. For the crushing mechanism, we decided to take out the handle that was connected to the upright lever pieces because we found that the crusher worked better without it. For the outside bin, we made the hole bigger for the crushed can to fall through. The original hole was barely large enough for the crushed can to fall through. To ensure that all the cans would be able to fall through every time with ease, we made the hole approximately one inch larger. Once we were done making all of our changes, we made sure that all CAD drawings matched the changes. In our CAD drawings, we noticed that all the holes that were meant for bolts to go through were .25 in diameter; we changed them to .375 in diameter because we got bolts that were .375 thick.

Lessons Learned
We learned to effectively complete a large number of tasks at once without having to redo them by dividing and assigning the tasks, but also helping each other. We realized that we had to assign people to do certain things, but the person would only be the leader for that task, and other group members would have to help complete that task. We also learned to use a lot of hand and power tools in the tech lab such as the crosscut compound miter saw. Unlike our previous project, which had required very few tools, to build our can crusher, we had to use a variety of tools.

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Summary
At the start of this project, we did not know much about how to build a can crusher. Our first priority was to research can crushers in how they work, how to build them, and we had to make sketches of a frame, bin, and crushing mechanism. Once we got in our group, we noticed how different our designs were and we started picking which design we would like to go with. Once we had our design picked out, we were ready to go through and make all decisions that were necessary to finish and complete our project successfully. When we were ready to build, we started with the bin inside and outside parts. Once done with building the bin parts, we started to work on the frame of the crushing mechanism. We saved the building of the crushing mechanism for last because we knew it would take the longest to build. Ultimately, this was a project that served as an important learning experience for all four of us. We were able to complete the project by a given date, coming in during study hall, before and after school. We also managed to polish a lot of the skills we attained while working on the Gel Electrophoresis project. Overall, our project was quite successful and we were able to meet our goal at the close of the project.

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