Small Scale Bogie Design Team_LS

FEB 13: Visitor Today, Gene visited us. He has vast experience in the railway transportation and presented his ideas on how the Spartan Superway can excel at becoming the new mode of transportation. Gene talked to the small-scale team and shared some of his thoughts. Some of his input seemed too advanced or too extravagant to include into this years project with the remaining time left. However, his idea on track system seemed plausible. He did not have much to say on the current state of the bogie. The chassis design is going a few changes to fit the new motor set up. By using direct drive for the bogie the chassis frame will be widened to allow adequate space for the drive components.

FEB. 6th: Motor Arrived The controls team bought a gimbal motor and are currently spending time on researching how it can run. Upon receiving the motor, the size was similar to the CAD drawings luckily. There was on aspect that wasn't predicted, however, which was that there is a metal shaft that holds the rotor to the stater. A new design was created to reduce the overall profile of the drive train as shown below. I will aim towards developing the chassis to mount the motor and continue to progress towards producing a prototype.

JAN 30th: First Day Back Today we were introduced to the new building for this semester. Luckily the bogie components were stored together securely and most of the components were able to be found and located to the new small scale area. Organization and cleaning up took up class time but the move towards producing prototypes is in need.

DECEMBER 5th: SMALL SCALE BOGIE IMPROVEMENT TEAM. The beginning of class period the remaining presentations were conducted including the small scale teams. A link for my presentation is available below. In my presentation it was addressed that a decision for moving forward with either differential or conical wheel design is needed to be made. To do so a comparison was made as shown below.  Conical Wheels Pros: Used in the majority of bogies today. Easy to incorporate and produce. Reduces wear through passive ("natural") turning. Cheaper No need for independent axles Cons: Hard to control. Does not account for inconsistencies in track. Making costs material and time. Differential      Pros:      Off the shelf part.      Precisely made.      Minimal assembly.        Not as dependent on track quality.      Cons:       Price ...

In class presentations were given to which none of the small scale was able to present due to time constraint. From the Gantt Chart, this week marks the beginning of the FEA analysis for the bogie design. The main areas of concern will be the articulating joint and servo arm for track switching. Last years arm model was able to achieve a safety factor of 8.5 which should be similar to this years model as it is similar. However the linkage system will also have to go FEA to ensure that there is not failure at the joint where the parts are expected to have the least material. The articulating joint will go under similar analysis.

NOV 14th - Small Scale Bogie Improvements Team Continuing from last weeks flanged wheel design, after increasing the angle to 25 degrees I was able to achieve passive turning. However, the dramatic increase of angle lead to excessive rocking back and fourth of the wheels. While not perfect the concept is proving feasible with more angles to be tested. Some concerns is that inconsistencies in the track may cause results to vary in some areas but with the small scale track team's efforts in improving the bending process the function of the wheels will most likely succeed. A comparison of pros and cons of using the wheels and differential is required for further development towards a final design. I received information from professor Furman and his guest that bricklink.com has a wide selection of Lego parts that will aid in gear selection to ensure functional gear trains for using bevel gears with the differential. Additionally, the small scale track team and I visited Daniel Bol...

NOV 7th - Small Scale Bogie Improvements Team Within this week I tested the use of flanged conical wheels to assess the feasibility of using them for passive turning on the track. The initial design was referenced to an existing design that had a slight angle to the wheel of about 3 degrees. Two wheels were attached to an axle and by gravity was allowed to roll down a curved track. The wheels unfortunately did not move as desired and rather continued in a straight line. A new set of wheels will be tested with a greater angle. The updated design is shown below which has a 25 degree angle. Updated Conical Wheels

Oct. 31 Small-Scale Bogie Team The controls team and I talked about the selected  gimbal motor. Some concerns were raised about it not having a shaft and upon further investigation it was found that half of the motor enclosure would rotate not just the shaft. This will make mounting the motor difficult and we should look for alternatives. The need for a functioning test track and Bogie set up are hitting high demand and will most likely be the small scales topic for discussion among other things. As far as inductive charging the integration will be lead by the controls team with little Bogie involvement as it does not dorectly effect Bogie design. 

OCT 24: Small Scale Bogie In class teams presented their progress for this fall semester. All teams presented their design concepts they have developed thus far. The full scale bogie team announced their transition to developing a master slave bogie system to weep the benefits of a more modular design. Conversely, I presented my current designs and outlook to future designs. A link to the presentation can be found below. Presentation 2:  https://drive.google.com/open?id=1d_skGGeu60TkDHmYTuWtykT88flFkm0r

OCT. 17th 2018--Small Scale Bogie Task Items: -Continue developing concepts -Create presentation Summary: For today we had about two hours to work on our project before meeting on campus for a lecture. Within the two hours I researched some more design concepts and looked up presentation requirements. The design concepts developed so far resemble that of a car frame allowing space between rails for placement of the drive components. Typical bogies utilize an H-frame design and will influence further design. The lecture discussed the effects of technology and social interaction. We conducted a survey and discussed in groups what we put down. A few groups presented in which most agreed that technology has had an effect on social interaction. 

OCT. 10th 2018--Small Scale Bogie System Task Items: -Continue developing concepts -Obtain dimensions of components  Summary: This weeks class consisted of a quick meeting which eventually lead to everyone dispersing to their respective groups. While in groups I talked with the small-scale track team to overcome an issue with the track at the three-way junction. At the junction there was a large gap the bogie would surely fall through so it was decided to stagger the turns so one is behind the other.  Additionally, I spent time reading an article consisting of all the major modules for a bogie along with the different configurations. The article can be found below. The article helped map out possible concepts that I can build up on and replicate a more feasible design. To create functional parts, I will need to find the dimensions of all the components going on the bogie and create CAD model. After the models are created then I can build up the bogie. Article:...

OCT. 3rd 2018--Small-Scale Bogie Task Items: Continue Research Develop concepts Email Powder Coater Summary: Today all teams went to their respective groups and worked on their project. For today I worked on updating my Gantt Chart to include important dates, such as presentation dates and paper assignments. Additionally, I calculated the friction requirements for the bogie at grades 8 and 12 percent. Each calculation verified that both concepts of rubber and aluminum wheel (for flange wheels) will work with the track teams design goals. I also got the contact information for the powder coating lead and will be able to meet later next week. 

SEPT. 26th 2018--Small Scale Bogie System Task Items: -Develop a thorough schedule including dates of assignments.  -Continue research. -Think of concepts. -Look more into specific design criteria. Summary: Today all teams presented their presentation regarding an overview of their project including their purpose, goals, functional specifications, and plans. In regards to the Small-scale bogie team's presentation, the necessity in preparing for future presentations is clear. Evaluation of presentation criteria will should be done earlier to allow adequate time to develop meaningful and organized content.  At the end of the Small-Scale Control team Professor Furman commented on the use of gimbal motors as an alternative to brush-less motors that provide high rpm. At the end of my presentation Furman relayed that the bogie design is a candidate for injection molding were the design geometry of the bogie will need to be reviewed in the future. Link to presentation:...

SEPT. 19th 2018--Small Scale Bogie System (Day 4) Task Items: -Include friction calculation to proposal. -Prepare for Presentation for next class.  Summary: The beginning of class was used for presenting team's revised proposals. Small scale went first and determined where one group's responsibility ended and others began. Professor Furman commented on including friction calculations to handle the gradeability proposed by the track team. The need for multiple bogie design to meet the expanding track is becoming more necessary. This will increase the work but will allow for multiple design concepts.  Progress: Revised proposal. Multiple chassis design concepts include: H-frame, C-channel with cross-members like a vehicles. 

SEPT. 12th 2018--Small Scale Bogie System (Day 3) Task Items: -Finalize feature specs. Summary: Everyone went to their respective groups and worked on finalizing their feature specs. We had Kevin, who was on last years small-scale track team, visit the small scale squad and where he gave us some insight. As far as information related to the bogie he insured that the motors would need to be changed, for they burned out, and for determining bend radius he recommended looking into how trains do it.  While with the small scale squad was together we established a line of communication through a shared google folder and also a group chat using Slack. We discussed the possibility of producing three functional bogies to have running on the track. Whether it will be three different designs or one design reproduced will need to be decided.  Progress: The following items will need to be quantified in order to complete the functional specifications: Weight Speed Size (Bu...

SEPT. 5th 2018--Small Scale Bogie System (Day 2) Task Items: -Continue Brainstorming -Project proposal (Due Sept. 8th 11:59 pm) -Develop Specifications -Continue research -Begin developing budget -Think about schedule Summary: Today the class went through their lightening talks describing their focus on the project. The small-scale bogie presentation is linked at the bottom of this post. The following groups presented: Full-scale Bogie/Guideway Interface* Full-scale Controls  Full-scale Drivetrain* Full-scale Solar Full-scale Wayside power Half-scale bogie* High Power-density Motor Small-scale Bogie Small-scale Controls* Small-scale Track* *Groups to establish communication with for ideas, assistance, and concepts. After the presentation I met with the small-scale track and small-scale controls teams and discussed different concepts and analyzed last years design.  Progress: Focus will be mainly on improving drive system as it was the main is...

AUG. 29th 2018--Small Scale Bogie System (Day 1) Task Items: -Create Team Blog -Brainstorm Ideas for brief presentation next class -Research Current issues for the existing bogie design include: 1.) Motors burn out after exhibit. 2.) Wear and Tear on the wheels due to equal power distributed to each wheel during turns. 3.) Binding at the joint that connects the master and slave system. Suggestions: -Differential -Flanged or Conical Wheels -Better motor