Blog #3

 

Remote-Controlled Garden Seeder

Team 31- Beyza Kural, Syed Hussain, Nawaf Abulhaija

 

Progress Update 10/28-11/11:

During the work period of October 28-November 11, our team has been working on completing the analysis phase of our device as well as finishing up designing the parts in SolidWorks so that we can complete the full assembly before November 15, 2023. Our milestones 1-3 are completed and we have conceptualized our design with all the parts selected. We completed some preliminary sketches for the design and settled on a design that utilizes a top loaded motorized hopper with an aerator in front. The preliminary sketch of the device can be seen below.


The device will include wheel covers as well as a rubber back to smooth out the surface as seeds are distributed. The hopper will be pyramid shaped to create a funnel in which all the seeds can be placed without any issues getting stuck. The hopper will include a small motor which will control the flow rate of the seeds and will have a nozzle to control the seed spread width. The aerators will be in the front and the device will be rear-wheel drive. Some of the parts have been constructed in SolidWorks which can be seen below.


The chassis of the device includes spacing for large diameter wheels, the suspension system, and adequate space in the center for both the servo motor, which will be used to control the front tires and allow left/right movements, and a brushless electric motor on the rear tires to help the forward and backward movement. The motor will be connected to a set of gears that will help increase the torque output while simultaneously decreasing the speed. This will ensure that the power being transmitted to the wheels will supply enough torque to be able to handle the anticipated load.


Plan for Near Term Work 11/11-11/25:

During the next 2 weeks, our team plans to finish the remaining tasks in our 4th major milestone which is the design phase. We have some tasks that we’re currently still behind on, so our focus is to get back on schedule. Some of the tasks include finishing our analysis such as our motor torque calculations, gear ratios, wheel size selection, and FEA analysis. We will also continue to finish designing the components of our device. Some of the components may need to be reworked based on our FEA analysis. Our main frame will also require significant work since we’re still trying to figure out the best design and placement for the aerators in the front of the device. We need to also figure out where the hopper will sit on the device and the dimensions of the hopper that will optimize its weight distribution while still meeting our minimum parameters. Lastly, we will need to design the electrical layout of the device and all the necessary wiring. We expect the device to be assembled by 11/15 and we will continue to reiterate the design until the end of the semester.

 

Expected Obstacles:

Some of the obstacles our team foresees in the next 2 weeks are finishing the design and sourcing all the parts for it. Originally, we were going to utilize an existing remote-controlled vehicle to source parts from and then just change the chassis as needed. However, our team decided to try and build it out from scratch which means that there will be a lot more parts that are going to have to be custom designed for our device. We’re going to try and source as many parts as possible off the shelf but will plan to meet with suppliers during the break to see if we can have all the parts constructed as soon as possible. Another issue our team foresees is trying to get back on schedule. With the semester coming to an end soon, this is usually the time where we will face the most scheduling challenges with upcoming exams. It is crucial that we finish our first design iteration by 11/15 as well as the remaining parts of the analysis to ensure that we will complete our required tasks by the end of the semester. Finishing the device design by 11/15 will put us back on track and will ensure that the rest of the work is completed on time. In terms of the parts sourcing, if we struggle to find parts of the shelf, we may consider scaling our device size down a bit to be able to use off the shelf parts.

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