As a team, we were tasked with designing, building, coding, and tuning a machine to hit buttons in a randomly generated order on the “playing field” as quickly as possible while minimizing mechanism volume and transmission angle deviation. We received a $100 budget, not including the motor, Arduino, and aluminum stock.
On the project management side, I oversaw brainstorming sessions and progress checkpoints while creating documentation and spreadsheets to track deliverables and spending. On the technical side, I led the mechanical design in SolidWorks CAD, Arduino coding, and PID control tuning while actively incorporating team member ideas. I also headed CNC machining while delegating other manufacturing tasks to the team.
Throughout the design process, optimization was the name of the game. I minimized the transmission angle deviation of our four-bar linkage using a random search algorithm in Python while optimizing individual linkage morphology and material through finite element analysis (FEA). We also refined our transmission using inertia matching to maximize linkage acceleration while choosing a belt drive for its minimal backlash.
With the design done, I led validation efforts by creating an additively manufactured prototype before final manufacturing, catching any issues that slipped through the CAD saving time, money, and wasted effort.
Our mechanism placed 2nd in the class, surpassing previous records by double-digit percentage points! My teammates recognized my contributions and leadership as going above and beyond.
