Project1.1.

6CompoundMachineDesign

ByRileyMcBrearty

TeamMembers:
JosephChieng
CatherineMuscato
ChristianSmith

POEBlock3

Datesubmitted:
September25,2015

Projectdue:
September23,2015

DesignProblem

Forthisprojectwemustcreateaminimumthreepartcompoundmachineusing
twosimplemachines,andeitheragearsystem,apulleyandbeltsystem,orasprocket
andchainsystem.Eachofthesimplemachines/systemsmusthaveamechanical
advantagegreaterthanone,andthefinalproductmusthaveamechanicaladvantage
greaterthanone.Theeffortforceappliedmayonlybebyasinglehumaninput.In
additiontoallofthis,thecompoundmachinemustliftan8ounceweightavertical
distanceofsixinchesinthreeminutesorless.
Thelearningobjectivesforthisprojectaretounderstandhowtheelementsofa
designcanaffectamachine'smechanicaladvantage.Tofigureouthowsimple
machinescanworktogethertocompleteatask,andalsotocomparetheefficiencyof
differentsimplemachinesinaworkingsituation.Inadditiontoallofthese,weareto
learnteamwork,andalsotounderstandandexperiencethelimitationsandthe
capabilitiesoftheVEXkitforfutureprojects.

BrainStormingIdea
Thesinglehumaninputisturningacrankonawheelandaxle,whichwould
rotateasprocket,causingachaintomove.Thechainwouldthencausetheother
sprockettoturn,whichwouldcausethespindleattachedtoittoturn,andwouldforce
thestringtomoveandwraparoundthespindle,allowingthemoveablepulleytomove
upwardsalongwiththeweightattachedtoit.

RawDrawing

FinalBrainstormingDrawing

FinalDesignProposal
Choosingwhichdesigntouseforourprojectwastough,anditcamedowntoa
voteonthelasttwo.Tosortoutwhichdesignwewoulduse,weusedadecisionmatrix
thatconsistedoffiverequirements.Therequirementswereonbuildtime(howfastit
couldbebuilt),durability(howwellitwouldholdup),reusability(coulditbeusedmore
thanonce),size(hadtofitonthewoodenboard),andhavingamechanicaladvantage
ofgreaterthanone(howeasyitwastoraisetheweight).Thescoringofeach
requirementwasonascaleof1to4,onebeingtheworst,andfourbeingthebest.The
groupendedupdecidingthatmydesignwouldbetheonethattheywouldgowith.(see
nextpage)
DesignChosen

HowitWorks
Astudentturnsthecrank(locatedonthesmallsprocket)clockwise,whichturns
thesmallsprocketinaclockwisemotion,causingthechaintomoveinaclockwise
motion.Themovingchainwouldthencausethelargersprockettorotateclockwise,and
thespindleontheoutsideofthesprocketwouldalsorotateclockwise.Whenthespindle
startstorotate,thestring(thatisattachedtothespindle)startstowindup,causingthe
moveablepulleythatisonthestringandhastheweightattachedtoit,toriseupwards
towardsitsanchorpoint.

DecisionMatrix
Wechosewhichmachinedesigntousebyusingadesignmatrix.Wechose
eachrequirementbasedoffofourconstraints.Wechosebuildtimeduetothefactthat
wehavetwotothreeclassblockstoworkonitanddidntwanttohavetocomein
beforeorafterschooltoworkonit.Durabilitywaschosenbecausesothatwewouldnt
reallyhavetofixanythingafterthefirsttest,andReusabilitywaschosenduetothefact
thatwewouldwanttouseitmorethanonceandsothatwecouldntchooseadesign
thatwouldbreakafteroneuse.Sizewaschosenforthefactthatwecouldnthave
somethingthatwouldbebiggerthana2x2woodenboard.Last,wechosethe
requirementofhavingaMechanicalAdvantageofgreaterthan1,mainlyduetothefact
thatwehadarequirementforthisprojectthatsaidthatourdesignmusthavea
MechanicalAdvantageofgreaterthanone.

BuildTime

Durability

Reusability Size

MA>1

Total

Catherine

12

Joseph

13

Christian

15

Riley

15

Thisisthedecisionmatrixthatourgroupusedtodecidewhatdesignweshould
useforourproject.WhenitcamedowntoatiebetweenChristiansdesignandRileys
design,wehadCatherineandJosephvoteonwhichideathattheywantedtogowith.

DesignModifications

Thedesignthatourgroupwentwithhadsomeminorerrorsthatwehadtofix,
andhadveryfewmodificationstothefinaldesign.Thefirstproblemthatweraninto
wasthefactthattheirwasnocounterweighttobalanceoutourmachineWedecidedto
addacounterweighttoeachaxleontheoppositesideofourmachine.Thesecond
problemweranintowastryingtofindasuitablefulcrumtoallowourmachinetowork.
Originallyweweregoingtousealever,butcouldnotfindanythingthatwouldstayin
place,instead,wewentwithalargewheeltouseastheinputfulcrum.Thethird
problemweranintowasthatouroutputweightwasntheavyenoughtomakeit
heavier,wejustaddedanother2ounceweighttotheoutput,thereforesolvingour
problem.Abigproblemthatwehadwasnothavingenoughspaceonthesmallaxles
forallofourcomponents,tosolvethis,wereplacedthefourinchlongaxleswiththe
slightlylarger,onefootlongaxlerods.
Oneofthelastproblemswehadwaswasaboutthepulleybumpingagainstthe
boardandcreatingfrictionandmoreresistancefortheinput.Tosolvethis,weextended
itsaxlerodthatitwaslocatedonfroma4inchlongrodtoa6inchrodinstead,this
causedthemovablepulleytonotbumpagainsttheboard.

FinalDesignPresentation

Ourmachinefunctionedperfectlywhenitcametimetotestit.Therewasnotto
muchresistanceonourinputeffort,theonlyproblemthatMr.LandersandMr.Depalma
addressedwasthatwhentheyletgoofthefulcrum,theweightshoulddropbackdown
andnotstayinthesamespotafteritwasraised.
TheIMAofourwheeltooursmallsprocketwas1.99(4.07/2.043=1.99),forour
movablepulleytheIMAwas2becausethatshowmanyropestrandstherewere.Our
chainandsprockethadaMechanicaladvantageof1.96whichwasalsoitsGearRatio
forthelargesprockettothespindle,anditsmechanicaladvantagewas2.56.Lastbut
notleast,theMechanicalAdvantageofthesprockettothespindlewas2.56.
TheentiremachinehadanAMAof3.28,andhadatotalIMAof19.97,andhad
anefficiencyof16.4%.ThetotaltimetakentocompletethetaskoffindingAMA,IMA,
andtobuildthedesignwasapproximately1hourand35minutes.
(CheckEngineer'sNotebookforcalculations)

Onthebrownsideoftheboard,youwillseethecounterweightsthatweusedto
balanceoutourmachine.Onthewhitesideoftheboardiswhereourmachineis.Inthe
lowerleftcorner,weplacedourWheelandaxle(input)alongwiththesmallsprocket
(behindthewheel).Totherightofthewheelisthelargesprocket,whichhasthespindle
connectedtoit.Thestring,whichhasthemovablepulleyattachedtoit,isattachedto
thespindle.

TeamEvaluation
Eachandeverygroupmemberparticipatedinthisprojectequally,andindifferent
fields.
ChristianSmithdidhisfairshareofworkwithourgroup,andfollowedthegroup
normsthatweset.ChristiancalculatedmostoftheIMAsforthecomponents,andalso
calculatedtheAMAandtheefficiencyofthemachine.WithoutChristian,wemaynot
havebeenabletocalculateourIMA,AMA,andefficiencyasfast.Christianalsohelped
adjustthebalanceofourmachine.
CatherineMuscatodidherfairshareofworkhelpingbuildthemachine.Without
Catherine,wewouldnthavebeenabletofixandchangemanyerrorsonourmachine,
andalsogetitbuiltintimefortheprojecttest.Catherinehelduptothestandardsweset
forourgroupnorms.
JosephChiengdidhisfairshareofworkforthegroupandhelduptoallthe
standardsthatwesetforourgroupnorms.JosephhelpedcalculatesomeoftheIMAs
ofthemachinewithChristian.Josephalsohelpedtofixandimproveanyofour
machinesproblems.Inaddition

SelfEvaluation

Imyselfhelduptoallofthegroupnormsthatweset,anddidmyfairshareofthe
workneeded.Ibuiltmostofthedesignedmachine,beforewehadtochangesome
things,withthemuchneededhelpfromCatherine.IalsohelpedJosephandChristian
withthedocumentingandcalculatingofsomeofthecomponentsIMAs.

PostMortemReflection

Foreachmechanismwehadtodeterminethemechanicaladvantage,andfor
somemechanismsitwashardertocalculatethanothers.Themechanismthatitwas
theeasiesttocalculatetheMechanicalAdvantage,wasthemovablepulley,duetothe
factthatallwehadtodowasfigureouthowmanystrandsofstringtherewere.The
mechanismthatwasthehardesttocalculatetheMAwasWheeltothesprocket,and
themainreasonitwassohardisbecausewecalculateditmultipletimes,thinkingwe
weresupposedtobedoingitfromwheeltoaxle,butitwassupposedtobewheelto
sprocket.
Ourmachinehadacoupleofmodificationsthatwehadtomakeinordertoallow
ittoworkmuchsmoother.Hadwenothadtoworryabouttime,Iwouldhaveadded
morepulleysandalongerstringandmakethepulleysystemablockandtackleinstead
ofamovablepulley,sothatitwouldrequirelessefforttomovetheweight.Otherthan
thatIwouldntchangeanythingaboutthisproject.