10/12-10/19

During this week, many implementation of ideas took place as our current design comes together. The space provided by merging most ideas is very limited and once again I was forced to provide a different idea which deviate it from the previous solution. The previous solution consisted of a pulley system which provided useful and accurate movement for the mechanical steering. The new steering mechanism will consist of a set of gears which will take a small space in the bogie and will provide other groups with more space to fit their design. Another advantage of using the gears is that by using different gear ratios, the motor can provide a greater holding torque which in turn will provide a better safety. The only concern is the speed in which the steering will take to provide the movement desire. The bigger the torque I provide, the slower the system will be. In the current design, the force needed is of approximately 33.45 lbf when the cart travels at approximately 3.6 ft/sec. The current stepper motor we currently are working with, provides a holding torque of 106 lb-in. Using the specifications provided by the manufacturer I was able to design a gear system with a factor of safety of 3. The gearing system will now provide a torque of 318 lb-in at a speet of 16.6 RPM compared to the manufacturing torque of 106 lb-in and speed of 50 RPM. This design will provide reliability to the mechanical steering system.