Patrick Mumford

9/24/2015

When building our design, we first looked into the list of constraints that we had
previously laid out in the design brief. Then, we brainstormed multiple ideas that
would effectively, safely, and efficiently satisfy the listed constraints. Once we
decided on our final idea, we began building using parts in the VEX

kits. During

the building process, there were multiple occasions where we realized that we
needed to alter our original design to meet our criteria and constraints, and to
create the most effective design.

During our first testing, we had a system comprised of two gears, two pulleys, and a
reel for the string. Once we began testing, it became apparent that the pulley
system would not be effective in its current state. We proceeded to modify the
system to accommodate our needs. After those modifications, we determined that
our machine was operating in a sufficient manner, and that further modification
would be unnecessary. Our compound machine is able to properly perform the
assigned task.

As mentioned above, we did have to modify our design during the test phase. This
was necessary because the rope was not able to stay attached to the pulley system
when we had only two pulleys. This was likely because the rope was on the same
side of both pulleys, and in this scenario, there was not thing pulling the pulley
down in the middle. To combat that, we added a third pulley between the first two.
This pulled the pulley down in the center, and helped to keep the rope on the
system. After that was resolved, we determined that the gears were loose, and were
skipping often. To fix that, we added supports on either side of the axles, and made
sure that the parts supporting the axles were tight enough.

This page created by Patrick Mumford on: Thursday, September 24, 2015 at
18:47:11.