Capstone Update #2

What I have accomplished so far

I met with my mentor and had a set day where I was familiarized with the tools we would use for the
project. Ryan was working on creating a smaller version of an obstacle called throwback. The obstacle
is an oval shaped stock piece of wood transformed, with two handles on each side. The objective of
this obstacle is to get from one side of the handles to another. This is completed by generating enough
swing to be able to put yourself in a position in the back of your swing where you can pull your knees
into your chest, throw the handles, and let go. Since you are now in the air and threw the set of
handles, the hope is that since the obstacle rotates on a bar, you will catch the other handles rotating
to you on the other side. It is an intimidating obstacle, but a lot more beginner friendly than it may
appear. (Extremely scary! Catching something that is flying right at your face is terrifying!)

I was first familiarized with using the chop saw, since it is the most effective way to get stock wood
down to the size and shape you need for your build. In our case, we needed to get our stock wood
shorter lengthwise for it to fit inside the CNC machine. The CNC machine saw is the opposite of 3D
printing. Instead of programming the machine to create a product using filament, it is programmed to
take away from whatever products are placed on it. The CNC machine can fit a piece that is 48 inches
length and 32 inches width. Our stock wood piece was about 6 inches across, but 56 inches
lengthwise. I measured the piece of wood down to 48 inches, and after completing practice cuts on
the chop saw I went forth with cutting our stock piece for throwback.

After we had a size of stock wood that could fit in our machine, he brought me over to the computer
connected to the CNC machine and gave me a run through on how he had programmed the machine
to cut the piece EXACTLY as needed for the obstacle. Programming the perfect cut is probably going to
be the most time-consuming part of my project. Thankfully Ryan had programmed this before my
lesson, so he showed me the roots of how he did each step. He explained how the computer
understands where the blade needs to go and where it is not allowed to cut, the difference between
layers of commands, how to create our ideal shape on the program, etc. Eventually, we would set the
piece of wood and mantle it to the table below so it wouldn’t move around during the cut and the
machine did the rest. The lesson was complete, the rest of the obstacles progress was all up to Ryan,
and it would be done the next week for our classes to try.

What I plan to accomplish by the end of the week

Go in for a session where I can start the programming of my cut on the obstacle for the CNC machine.
Ensure that we have all the necessary wood for any cuts that need to be made, as well as prepare cut
sizes to fit inside the CNC machine with the Chop saw. Potentially have a final drawing of my obstacle to
submit in my next capstone update.

My needs (materials, time, space, mentor etc.)

I’m going to need to decide on the dimensions of the obstacle to purchase or use scrap wood at the gym
for the project. I’m going to need at least 2 visits worth of time to complete this next step and get going
on my own obstacle.

Challenges I encountered and how I have overcome them

I was nervous while handling any tools and making cuts especially since it had been a long time since I
had to do anything with machinery. With Ryan’s asking of me to go for an obstacle design that I felt I
didn’t know how to make to challenge myself, that expectation and pressure caused a mental block for a
period. Thankfully I found the courage and overcame my false hopelessness to the topic and decided on
an obstacle we would both makeshift the works of.

Pictures/Video evidence of my progress