Week 4 Progress (9/28/16)

During our fourth week gathering, we came together and collaborated on which of our SolidWorks designs would be the best route to take for our full scale guideway project. We decided on using Claude's design for the most part, using elements from Winter's footings and perhaps some of Kathlyn's support trusses.

We discussed furthering our knowledge of expansion joints and monorails, though this is a step we will take in more detail later in the project process. For a starting point for expansion joints, Isaac found this site: http://www.magebausa.com/en/794/Infrastructure/Division.htm which specializes in quiet and earthquake-proof expansion joints. We don't think this approach will be acceptable for our design, though.

Finally, we will prepare for our presentation, which we anticipate being next week. We've decided to each focus on a different guideline of Presentation #1 and we will collaborate on Tuesday, 9/27.

• #1 - Claude
• #2+3 - Kathlyn and Kevin
• #4 - Isaac
• #5 - Winter
• #6+7 - everyone

Week 3 Progress (9/21/16)

This week, we thought of more ideas that the new track and support system could look like. Upon meeting with Ron, we brainstormed some questions to ask to our contact in South Africa. Ron will update us when he returns from his Europe trip in a couple weeks. We also obtained several drawings from our contact which are not yet revealed for public use.

The first task we need to deal with is preventing track collapse should a column be hit by a vehicle. Here are some possible prevention tactics:

1. Build concrete around the pillars
2. Build a square frame around the pillars
3. More warning signs around track
4. Slopes so that final impact by a car would be slowed and forces brought upwards
5. Build the beams into a building instead on roads
6. Let the affected beam break, have weight supported by other beams
7. Air bags around beams
8. Memory foam type material around beams

Our ultimate decision, after researching impact attenuators and utility poles, is to wrap the columns with some kind of foam material. Possibilities are ethafoam or HR Polyurethane. The soft material could be protected and held in place by aluminum or some type of covering.

For this upcoming week, each of us will design a possible prototype for the new support posts, footing, beams, etc. We'll assume the bogey design isn't changing while changing the rest of the guideway design. We will then collaborate to see which aspects of each design we like.

Week 2 Progress (9/14/16)

We have officially identified our main tasks for this semester. We will need to design and construct a small section of full-scale guideway and test it for thermal expansion and contraction. We need to research manufacturing processes for producing the guideway, columns, footings, etc. The columns will be constructed similarly to how  a company in South Africa, constructed theirs. We will perform load testing and torsion testing. In addition, we'll develop expansion joints that will be tested for noise control.

So far, we've specified that we need to design a track that is 24 meters long, though we will probably only construct about 10 feet of track. The current track design is supported by a bracing on one side of the guideway, but we will probably implement a new idea where it's supported on both sides by a squared-horseshoe kind of bracket. Instead of the bracing and guideway being directly attached to the columns, they will be suspended vertically by some kind of ductile wiring, hopefully with a method that can dissipate and minimize vibrations (i.e shocks and sway) felt by the riders. In any case, more research on this must be done.

We will need to communicate with the half-scale and bogey teams, though their changes probably won't affect our version of the full-scale model in a major way. We will also need to communicate with the person working on the solar panel array since he will be directly impacted by our changes.

Below we have rough sketches of our thoughts and ideas. Figure 1, below, depicts already existing boogie apparatus and a potential bracing for extra support. The boogie apparatus in Figure 1 has already been created to be the primary boogie, so we must make our designs and decisions around the existing structures for the full scale track. Also in Figure 1, there's a light sketch of how we might want to suspend the tram to minimize vibrations. Figure 2, below, is a sketch of potential ideas but not much research behind any substantial supports, beams and bracing - mainly speculation.

 Figure 1. Rough sketch of existing structure            Figure 2. Sketch of potential beams/post/bracing

In addition, we've updated our Gantt Chart, which can be
found on our first post.

Full Scale Blog #1

Team Members/Skill:

Kevin Maligaya / CAD and design
Winter Saeedi / Solidworks, Acoustics, design
Kathlyn Garces / Solidworks, Autodesk, design
Claude Michel / Solidworks, Inventor, Creo

Contact Info:
Kevin - (510) 410-0889, kevinmaligaya@gmail.com
Winter - (925) 818-9424, winter@saeedi.com
Kathlyn - (209) 670-6034, kathlynmae.garces@gmail.com
Claude - (650) 430-3599, cm@mic4.net

Team Member Responsibilities:
All TBD for now.

Proposal narrative:

The intended goal of our project is to study the vibrations that occur within the test track, including joints, footings, and braces. We will strive to minimize movements (torsion) and reduce noise emissions through guided research and testing. Our preliminary design requirements are not clear at the moment until we receive further instruction.

Critical Path Schedule (gantter.com):

Updated 9/26/16

Budget:  Budget: $5,000-10,000 (very rough estimate)

Availability of Team:
Tuesdays, Thursdays after 3

Friday preferably before noon