Weekly Updates

June 1, 2021

During the second final week of this project we did small things. The major thing we were working on was the individual models for the ramp, cart, and winch. We worked on different dimensions, materials, and analysis that helps us explain our product to a general audience. One dimension we figured out was the size of the crossbars on our cart. One analysis is how much support the hood of the cart will be giving to the ramp with the load on.

For the final week, we will complete all our final deliverables such as the Tech Sheet, the Industry Consultant Interaction document, and record our Final Demonstration on Monday, June 7th during class period.

May 25th, 2021

This past week we completed all the necessary parts for the Critical Design Review. We finalized design components for the winch and ramp subsystems, as well as made 3d CAD models for the systems.

For the winch team, we finished calculating for user force output and mechanical advantage calculations. We also finalized on part selection, deciding on a custom winch, 1/8" cable, and PFTE cable guides.

For the ramp team, we finished ramp folding in-depth design research and ideas for design of the ramp, as well as a motion study of the ramp.

After CDR, we are going to finish logistic information, as well as a full force analysis and general design optimization. In addition, we will also be starting on our Final Design Tech Sheet.

May 18th, 2021

This past week we narrowed down the size constraints on the object we are lifting and how the ramp will close. Our size constraints are a width of less than 60 inches or 5 feet and a length of less than 100 inches. We decided to stay with the telescoping ramp compared to other options, such as the rolling ramp or the folding ramp. After that we started designing for our sub-systems based on the research we collected throughout the past two weeks.

This upcoming week, we are going to finalize which designs are best for our system, through Pugh charts and analysis. Finally, we will complete the Critical Design Review (CDR) presentation.

May 11th, 2021

This week, we continued our research topics from last week, as well as determining some key designs issues. The first thing we finalized is the angle our ramp. We found that the angle between the ground and the ramp is about 29.11 degrees. This angle will help us determine how much force or work is necessary to lift up are cart and object. Additionally, this angle will determine the normal force on the ramp so we can finalize dimensions and ramp beam parts. The second major thing we did was finalize our human interface device. We decided, through a Pugh chart that a winch would be the best device considering safety, ergonomics, complexity of the design, size/bulk, and intuitiveness.

For the next steps on the winch sub-system we have to decide what our gear ratio requirements in order to pull up our cart and object, and we need to create different attachment sites of the winch system and see which one is best. For the ramp system, we still need to decide on how we want the ramp to close and how the cart will slide up the ramp. Once we know our mechanism, we can design how it closes and run analysis on deflection.

May 3rd, 2021

Our main task this week was to begin our in-depth research on our assigned sub-systems. We decided that our two sub-systems were the pulley system and the collapsible ramp system. Here is what we have been doing.

The Pulley System:

- Researching on how we can achieve progress catch in two directions and how much force the targeted human (campers/outdoor enthusiast) can do.

The Collapsible Ramp:

- Researching different ways to collapse the ramp and different material their dimensions that can be used for the ramp.

- Working on a design model that tells use the minimum thickness of the bar depending on the material, the force applied, and the size of the bar.

For the next couple of weeks our plan we remain the same. We will continue to research and analyze

these sub-systems. One idea that we can expand on is creating a design model to finalize our optimal pulley system, with our given time and force constraints. Once we have an optimal pulley system we can look on how to integrate a progress catch and how to attach it to the vehicle. On the other sub-system, once we finalize how the ramp will collapse, we can use the design model to finalize material and the dimensions.

April 27th, 2021

This week, we completed two objectives. Our first task was to brainstorm, with the PDS as a guideline, different ideas for our preliminary design. We did this by creating two different sketches of designs and came together as a team to decide which sketches we wanted to keep pursuing. Our next step was to evaluate each design using a Pugh Chart which led us to our final preliminary design. The second task we finished was our Preliminary Design Review (PDR). This presentation visualizes the process of deciding our best solution and our steps going forward. We decided our next steps are to split the team into sub-teams that each focus on sub-systems. These sub-systems revolve around the pulley system and the collapsible ramp system.

For the coming week, our goals is to start research on our assigned sub-systems and create a game plan on how we want to do our analysis.

April 20th, 2021

This week, we accomplished our two goals. We finalized our client for the project and we completed our Project Design Specification (PDS). We decided as a team that the client we will to undertake is for an OEM supplier. The OEM supplier we choose was Subaru because we were inspired by our advisor who is an outdoor enthusiast. Another reason why we pick Subaru was because it was the first car brand we thought of when think about going on an outdoor excursion. We also started some general brainstorming before completing our PDS.

For next week our plan is to brainstorm using the PDS as a guideline, which will help us to work and finalize our Preliminary Design Review (PDR).