Machine Design Competition
Overview
Our team designed a robot that could lift a peg out of a hole, rotate it 90 degrees and then overcome a resistive force to insert the peg into another hole. In order to move to the next round, the team had to successfully remove, rotate, and insert six pegs before the opponents did. Our team placed second out of 48 teams, and placed second!​
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The initial concept utilized a four-bar linkage, that proved to be inadequate.
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As a result, the team chose the simplest route possible. A fork like apparatus was used to lift the peg vertically out of the socket. The fork then rotated far enough backwards that the peg overcame friction, slid out of the fork and down the ramp. The ramp placed the peg at the correct height and angle necessary to fit in the horizontal slot. A rack and pinion was used to overcome the force necessary to push the peg into the slot. An added benefit of the rack and pinion was the machine could successfully push out the opponents pegs. This machine successfully led our group to 2nd place!​
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Take Aways:
Prototyping is an engineers best friend, if we had started prototyping sooner we would have realized the four bar linkage wouldn't have worked.​
Start with a design that can successfully perform the tasks, then refine and innovate from there. ​
It's critical for every member of a team to consistently voice opinions and ideas. It helps rule out issues early on