Week 4 (9/21- 9/27)

This week I prepared and organized information regarding the braking and propulsion systems in order to present to the class. The information describes the thought process of why Craig and I decided to use the systems presented and will present an opportunity for class input and suggestions as we proceed to finish the preliminary designs and move towards integrating the designs to the CAD currently in progress.

Additionally, I attended the Paseo Public Prototyping Challenge and festival launch. I attached a picture of myself at the launch meeting. It was really interesting listening to the speakers talk about the need for innovation within the city of San Jose itself. I came to realize how embarrassing it is to have the "heart" of Silicon Valley, San Jose, be plagued with so many issues. The harsh realities of homelessness, housing prices, and transportation leave a lot of room for improvement for this city, and it is exciting that this challenge brings together students from different fields to work together to innovate solutions for these problems. I look forward to seeing future projects and implementations towards bettering the San Jose community.

Week 3

This week the whole Bogie team decided to set forth specifications to consider when calculating values for design progress. We collectively decided to use the following: 

Weight of cabin + bogie = 600 Lbs.

Operating maximum speed = 20 MPH

17 degree slopes- Incline & Decline

(Additionally Craig and I also wanted to make sure that the braking system is able to completely stop the whole bogie system within 50 ft.)

Week 2

For this week’s work I was tasked to brainstorm more ideas to implement for braking of the bogie. Additionally, looking into the power provided from the wayside team. We have assumed a 300 lb. load to work with in the design analysis we plan on creating in the coming weeks. Last year, the brake system consisted of using electric scooter disc brakes. In last year’s report, they claimed to have issues in the keeping the hub-motor pressed on to the roof of the guide way in order to supply the vertical force of the bogie. Craig and I have discussed of implementing a linear actuator in order to resolve that issue and plan on discussing it further with our teammates. We are very cautious in selecting one design for the braking and propulsion systems as we are trying to prevent issues of integrating the other sub teams design plans and avoid a repeat of issues from last year.

Failures/Successes of projects

Working in teams can present some challenges in completing various tasks but it also has many advantages. As sixth year mechanical engineer student, I have worked with many teams to complete various projects throughout college. After each project, I learned more about how to succeed in working on big projects with people of different personalities and time schedules.

In past projects I’ve noticed that in working with bigger groups it was more difficult in communicating with the whole team on what needs to be completed and who is doing what. I encountered that issue when working on the mechanical design project in which it was very difficult to assign everyone work without really assessing strengths and weaknesses of each individual. Consequently, some team members were burdened with a lot of work, while other team members couldn’t input much work on the project. One of my goals as a team member is to make sure to address my work progress to all my team members and to maintain a very steady line of communication, whether moving along smoothly or having difficulty. Furthermore, I will try to make sure that my team members would feel comfortable asking me for help or assistance on their work and to make sure that the whole team is aware that there is help needed in certain areas.

               Additionally, one of the biggest challenges to overcome initially is deciding what project to do and how to approach the goal. Working in a team presents a lot of ideas and thought processes and it becomes difficult in deciding which approach to take. As a result, there is a lot of time spent in sorting out ideas, especially at the inception of team projects. Last year working on my mechatronics project, my partner and I worked together very well and I would say the main reason was communication. Since it was just two of us working on the project, communication was very easy, as our work was easily split up and relaying information back and forth through texts was convenient and effective. However, once we began the physical build and testing of the project there were many times in which our ideas conflicted with each other and time management became an issue. It is critical to start as soon as possible in order to meet the deadlines and manage time accordingly.