UH Capstone - Team 23

      Since the last blog, we've been working to perform a FEA on the design to determine weak points and to ensure that the design would not buckle under stresses. However, the FEA was difficult to perform due to complications with the geometries of the design that prevented it from meshing properly. Figure 1. Areas highlighted showing areas that cause the meshing to fail      Figure 1 shows the regions that failed to mesh properly. The complex geometries of the gears and internal components connected to the shafts made it difficult to perform a FEA. Using the entire design also meant a large amount of elements would be analyzed and require too much time to complete the analysis. After meeting with Dr. Agrawal, we determined the main weak point of the design would be the rotary component that connects and transfers torque from the planetary assembly to the delivery assembly, with the potential cause of failure ...

     Over the break, not much work was done for the project. The design was pretty much finalized last semester and was left alone  over the break . A design flaw was noticed by the team once the semester started and it was that the top and bottom plates were not connected to the device, resulting in them just floating in space. The CAD design is finalized, but 3D printing the sockets and top plate of the device still remains to be completed. Figure 1 (Left Image) and Figure 2 (Right Image). Updated design of the device      Figure 1 shows the finalized design from the Fall semester, and Figure 2 shows the updated design after. What we decided was to weld them together with rods. This was in place of having a sleeve cover the gears. We decided against a sleeve because it would make the device heavier, and the added cost of the metal for the sleeve is too much for the team at the moment.     In the next coming weeks, we plan on doing more...