If the previous design didn’t work well, try to find another way out and try to come up with another solution to this problem.
Communicate Processes and Results (04/16/12 – 04/23/12):
Communicate the final solution through the technical report. Tell about our results, problems, solutions and failures.
Brainstorming Ideas:
Plan A:
Use the light from the lamp to tell the motor on which box the marble belongs.
The marble colors that we have chosen are clear glass, blue glass, and opaque glass. The sensing is done with the use of a lamp and a photo resistor. The photo resistor detects how much light is let through the marble. Each color will let through a different amount of light. This allows a determination to be made. The device is made of different systems that work together through a computer interface to perform the task. These systems include the hopper, the separation, the sensing, and the bin moving systems.
Plan B:
Put the marbles in a certain order and have a crank to stop the marbles for a certain amount of time. During that time the motor would move bins and the marble would roll down to its particular bin
Put one marble at a time and use a motor to take the marble to a long rod that will push the marble to the bin it belongs.
Decision matrix:
Criteria
|
Dependability |
Ease of programming |
Use of materials |
Complexity |
Probability of solving problem |
Total: |
Plan A |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
8 |
Plan B |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
Team Journal
April 16, 2012
Summary: Today, at first, we decided who is going to be in charge of what parts of the project. Then we came up with some brainstorming ideas about the design of our marble sorter. Also we planned out the time frame which we would hope to be able to complete this project and set dates for when we are going to finish certain aspects. After that our team made sketches of ideas while furthering the brainstorming process. Finally, we conversed about what concerns we have for the design and building process of this project.
Task: Our goal is to finish all of the sketches of the ideas for the marble sorter that we came up with during brainstorming. And the main task for tomorrow is to start working on our circuits for the project, keep researching more ideas, and finish up all sketches and labels to them.
April 17, 2012
Summary: Today all of the team members continued to brainstorm more ideas. Also, we furthered our designs, continued to work on our sketches, and went over our time constraints as a group. We were able to finish sketches from today and the previous times that we met in class. Finally, we decided on one design which we are going to build and started to build it.
Task: Tomorrow we are going to continue building our main design that we have chosen. Our tasks have remained consistent throughout the whole project. We just have to watch our time management, make sure the design will mesh with interface, and keep all of the paperwork updated.
April 18, 2012
Summary:
We are almost finished building the marble sorter and ready to start working on the computer program. We also have listed the steps in which the actions are carried out, updated our journals and initial sketches and the final sketch. If time allows it, we will begin testing on the interface system.
Task: Our only task for tomorrow is to remain on task to enable our group to finish with all the elements of this project in the time which we designated. Also, to make sure our design works with the interface software successfully. April 19, 2012
Summary: Our main goal for today is to complete the building of our design, and construct a program that will correspond with the design. We have begun to list out our steps to complete the program. Also, today we will take pictures of our construction of the design, and this afternoon we will scan our sketches. So far, we have completed building our design, writing our daily journal, and initial sketches. Our main goals for today are to get to a good point in making our system (to where we can test) and finishing our final sketch.
Task:
A main task is still making sure we are good on time and also that the design will work with the interface program. Another task consists of completing the building of our design early during class, so that we will be able to work on the program longer. And make sure to get the sketches and pictures. Time is a big factor of concern - after going over our task allocation we learned that we need more time for a lot of the parts of this project. Building took us longer than we planned which slowed down all of the other factors of the project (mainly putting together the system and testing).
We are also planning on meeting right after school and spend two hours to continue working on our computer program.
*In building we have to find a way to fix our hopper so that it will keep the marbles in line better when they are going to be sorted.