TuoChang

JacobLandoll
OwenBenner
AnanthSalgundi
PrinciplesofEngineering2
September25,2015
1.1.6CompoundMachineDesign

DesignProblem
Inthisproject,wemustbecreateacompoundmachinethatincludes2simple
machines,andeitheragearsystem,pulleyandbeltsystem,orachainandsprocket
system,thatcanliftan8ozweightaverticaldistanceof6inchesinlessthan3minutes.

Throughthiscompoundmachineproject,wehopetobeabletounderstandhow
elementsofdesigncanaffectmechanicaladvantage,understandhowsimplemachines
canworktogethertocompleteatask,comparetheefficiencyofdifferentsimple
machinesinaworkingsituation,andexperienceboththecapabilitiesandlimitationsof
VEXcomponentsforprojectsinthefuture.

Forourdesigntobeconsideredsuccessful,wewillneedthedesigntobeableto
liftthe8ozweight6inchesverticallyinlessthanthreeminutes.Wewillneedtomake
surethedesignalsocanonlyhaveonehumaninputastheeffortforce,have3different
typesofmechanisms,whichmustinclude2simplemachinesandthethirdmechanism
asapulleyandbeltsystem,gearsystem,orsprocketandchainsystem.Inaddition,
eachmechanismofthecompoundmachinemusthaveamechanicaladvantagegreater
than1andafinalmechanicaladvantageover1.

BrainstormIdea

Myoriginaldesignwasgoingtobefirstawheelandaxlesimplemachinewitha
cranklocatedonthewheel.Thehumaninputwouldbeonthecrank,wheretheywould
turncounterclockwise.Thismovementonthewheelwouldthenturntheaxleofthe
wheelandaxle,whichwouldbeattachedtotheotherendofthechainandsprocket
system.Thesprocketwouldturnclockwise,havingtheentiresystemmoveina
counterclockwisefashion.Thecordthatholdsupthemovablepulleywouldhaveone
endattachedtothechainofthechainandsprocketsystem,whichwouldpullthe
movablepulleyandweightupwardsasmoreofthecordispulledawaybythechainand
sprocketsystem.

FinalDesign

Development

Easeofwork

Efficiency

Consistency

Space

Time
AnanthsIdea

JacobsIdea

OwensIdea

TonysIdea

Total:AnanthsIdea:11
JacobsIdea:16
OwensIdea:15
TonysIdea:17

WinningideaisTonysidea.

Wechoseourfinaldesign,whichwasmybrainstormdesign,bydesigningand
creatingadecisionmatrixtodecidewhosideawasbest.Wechose5criteriathatfelt
relevanttotheprojectsgoalsbybrainstormingasagroupandagreeingonthecriterias.

Wechosedevelopmenttimebecausewehavealimitedtimetofinishthisproject
andupcomingdeadlineswhereportionsoftheprojectwasdue.Wechoseeaseofwork
becausewemusthaveamachinethathasamechanicaladvantageofover1,andmust
beabletoraisethemass6ininlessthan3minutes.Easeofworkmeanstostrikea
balancebetweenhowlongittakestoraiseitandhowstrenuousitisonthehumaninput
toraiseit.Wechoseefficiencybecauseinarealworldsituation,wewouldseekto
createamachinethatdoesnothaveenergywastedonfriction.Ourconsistencycriteria
waschosenbecauseweseekedtocreateamachinethatcouldhavereproducible
results,inboththedistanceitcouldraisetheobject,andtheamountoftimeittakesto
raisetheobjecttherequireddistance.Finally,wechosespacebecauseasmaller
machinewouldbe,ideally,easiertotransport,store,assemble,anddisassembleafter
usage.

DesignModifications
Aswebeganbuilding,weranintoseveralproblemsconcerninghowourdesignwas
goingtobuild.Duetothis,wemadefivedesignmodificationsthatcorrectedthe
problemsweraninto.
1. Ourfirstproblemwashowwerealizedthatforourhumaninputcrank,wewould
havetobeabletoattachsomethingtothewheelinordertoefficientlyallowthe
usertocrankthemachine.ThewheelssuppliedinourVEXkitshoweverdidnot
haveanythingwecouldhaveattachedacrankto.
a. Inordertocorrectthis,wereplacedthewheelwithagearthatwasofa
similarsize.Wereplacedthewheelwithagearbecausethegears
featuredinourVEXkitshadavarietyoflocationswecaninsertthe
humaninputcrankinto,andsecureon.
b. Thismodificationwassuccessful,aswewereabletoattachasmallcrank
ontothegearwhichinturnallowedustooperatethemachineaswe
originallyplanned.

2. Oursecondproblemwashowthespacerwehadusedtoseparatethegear,
whichservedastheaxleforthefirstwheelandaxle,fromthepegboardallowed
theaxletojigglearoundtoomuchandgaveittoomanydegreesoffreedomwe
didnotwantinourdesign.Thisinturnresultedinaslightclickingwheneverwe
turnedthewheel,anddisjointedthechainfromthesprocketsystemasitrotated
around.
a. Torectifythis,wereplacedthethickblackspacerwithathinnermetal
washerandsecuredtheboltsontighter,inordertopreventtheunwanted
rotationswewereexperiencingfromoccurringagain.
b. Thisdesignmodificationwassuccessful,asthemachineoperatedmuch
moresmoothlyandtheclickingnoisewasnolongerpresent.
3. Ourthirddesignmodificationwasthespacerontheothersideofthechainand
sprocketsystem.Becausewehadreplacedtheprevioussprocketspacerwitha

washer,thetwosprocketswerenowatunequaldistancesawayfromthe
pegboard.Wenoticedthechainwasslightlyoffbecauseofthehorizontal
varianceofdistanceawayfromthepegboard,whichmeantthatitwasslightly
difficulttoturnsometimes.
a. Inordertofixthis,wedecidedtoreplacetheblackplasticspacerfoundon
thisaxlewithametalwasheralso,tosetthedistancesequalagainand
allowthemachinetooperatesmoothly.
b. Weconcludedthischangewasasuccess,asthemachineasawhole
operatedsmoothlyandwewerenolongerexperiencinganyproblemswith
thechainanymore.

4. Ourfourthdesignmodificationwasthestringthatattachedthemovablepulleyof
ourmachinetothescientificmassweused.Whenwehadusedastring,we
noticedthatwesometimesstruggledtotieaknotonthestringbecauseofthe
lackofspacebetweenthemovablepulleyandmass.Becausewetriedtohave
aslittledistanceaspossiblebetweenthemovablepulleyandmassinorderto
havealargerdistanceliftedofftheground,itwastimeconsumingtoattachthe
massontothepulley.
a. Torectifythis,wedecidedtoreplacethestringweusedtoattachthe
massandpulleytogetherwithaziptiesuppliedbyourVEXkits.We
decidedthiswasthebestideabecauseitwassimplertoattachthetwo
togetherusingaziptiethanastring.Italsominimizedthedistance
betweenthepulleyandmass,becausetheuseronlyhadtopullthetieon
oneendtomakethedistancegapsmaller.
b. Weconsideredthisasuccessbecausethereislittletonogapbetween
thetwoitems,andwehavenothadtoreattachthemassanytimeduring
constructionortesting.
5. Ourfinaldesignmodificationwasthelocationofthestaticendforourmovable
pulleysystem.Atfirst,itwaslevelwiththerestofthemachine.However,we

noticedweweregettinginconsistentreadingsontheheightthatthemasswas
lifted,rangingfrom5inchesto6inches.Inaddition,werealizedthatthechord
weusedforthemovablepulleywasatanangleinsteadofstraightup,meaning
thepulleysystemwasnotasefficientasitcouldbe.
a. Wewantedtoguaranteeitwouldliftitabove6incheseveryattempt,so
weraisethestaticendofthemovablepulleysystemmuchhigherthanthe
otherend.Inaddition,wemovedthetwoendsclosertogetherinorderto
maketheenergywastedhorizontallybecomeenergyusedtomovethe
objectvertically.
b. Thismodificationweconsideredsuccessfulforthemostpart.Wewere
abletogetconsistentmeasurementsofthepulleyliftingthemass7inches
offthetable,butwewerenotabletomeasureanoticeabledifferencefrom
makingthepulleycorddirectlyvertical.

FinalDesignPresentation
Inourfinalpresentationtotheclass,themachinefunctionedasplannedandwas
abletoliftthe8ozweight6inchesasplanned,buthadcutitabitclose.Inourfinal
presentationmachine,thewheelandaxlethatholdsthehumaninputcrankholdsan
IMAof1.07.ThechainandsprocketsystemhasanIMAof2.07.Thesecondwheeland
axleofasprocketandanaxleattachedtothestringhadaIMAof5.17,andthe
movablepulleyhadanIMAof2.
ThemachineasawholehadanIMAofabout22.9,andourestimatedAMAis
1.97.Thus,ourefficiencywasonly8.6%.Inourtimedtests,ittookabout9secondsto
lifttheweightthe6requiredsixinches.

TeamEvaluation
Jacob
:IfeelJacobwasacorememberofourteam.Iwouldsaythatheoffered
goodideastothegroupasawhole,andparticipatedagreatamount.Hewas
responsibleforthemostbuildingofthemachineoutofallofusprobably.Hecontributed
severalofhisownideasintomakingourmachineworkinasimplerandmoreefficient
way,whichaidedus.IbelievedJacobabidedbyourestablishedgroupnorms,andwe
didnothaveanyconflict.

Owen
:Owenwasimportanttotheteameffortbycalculatingadealofthe
requiredIMAsandnumbers,butslackedbehindsometimeslikeduringthesketch
phase.However,hewasabletodiligentlycatchbackupandcontributehisshareofthe
workforbuildingandtestingourmachine.Owenalsoabidedfairlybythegroupnorms
andwedidnothavetoresolveanyclashes.

Anath
:Anathwasanimportantpartoftheteamalso.Healsodidagooddealof
buildingthemachineforus,andcontributedgreatlybyacquiringtheestimatedAMAof
ourmachineinacreativewayofcreatingawraparoundforthestring.Hedefinitelydid
hisshareofthework.Anathfollowedthegroupnormsandthereislittleneedfor
commentonthat.

Tony
:IfeelIcontributedmyfairdealofthework.Whenwehaddecidedtouse
mydesignforourfinaldesign,Iwaseasedintoplaceofdirectingthebuildingofthe
machine.IfeltthatIhadusedmystrengthsappropriatelytosupportthegroup,butIfelt
Icouldhavecontributedphysicallymorebyhavingmorehandsonexperiencewith
buildingthemachine.

PostMortem
1. Ibelievetheeasiestmechanismtoestimatethemechanicaladvantageofwas
themovablepulley.Itisstatedthatanysinglemovablepulleywithtwovertical
strandswillalwayshaveanIMAof2,soweappliedthat.

2. Themostdifficultmechanismtoacquirethemechanicaladvantageofwasfirst
wheelandaxlesystem,becausetherewaslittlespacetoacquiremeasurements
forthegearthatheldthecrankandthesprocket.Wedidnothaveanysparesso
wehadtomakeourbestestimatefromhowcloseweweretothecenterofthe
gearandsprocket.

3. IfIcouldmakeamodificationtothemachine,Iwouldchangeitsothatwecould
setthemachineuponametalstandthatwassuppliedintheVEXkitsinsteadof
apegboard.Thepegboardwasnotbuilttobeusedwiththesetypesofaxles,
meaningwelostplentyofmechanicaladvantagetothefrictionofouraxlesand
variousotherparts.