| Entry One
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1/23/97
Met with group in AR115 to exchange information and decide on
a weekly
meeting time. Here's the groups' information:
Group #: 99
name, phone number, e-mail, class schedule
---- ------------ ------ --------------
Joe Shmoe 555-1234 js@engr MWF 11, 12, 2; TR 8, 9
Jane Doe 555-2345 jd@engr MWF 11, 12; TR 8, 11, 2
John Wayne 555-3456 jw@holly MWF 11, 12, 2; TR 11, 2
Based on our class and personal schedules, we decided to meet
weekly on
Wednesdays at 9 am. For weeks when this doesn't work out, we will
meet on
Thursday at 3 p.m. We will meet in AR115 (the ASME student lounge).
Before our next meeting, we agreed to each read the entire contents
of the
Web page describing the ASME Student Design Contest. The Web address
is:
http://www.engr.colostate.edu/~dga/asme_design.html
The design problem will be discussed at our next meeting.
| Entry Two
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1/29/97
Group Meeting (Present: Joe, Jane. Not Present: John)
Jane will call or e-mail John to remind him of the weekly meeting
time and make sure he can come next week. Jane and I discussed the problem
statement and rules.
We both felt comfortable enough with the problem and constraints
to have a preliminary brainstorming session. I took notes, and we both
made sketches on the white board. Here's a summary of some of our ideas:
Possible design concepts:
- Ski Lift Idea - shuttle the balls horizontally with a ski
lift type apparatus. We still need to think about how to release the balls.
- Horizontal Swinging Arm - also move the balls horizontally,
but with a swinging arm turned by the motor. We will need to experiment
with the motor and think about gearing to get the right speed/torque.
- Lift and Dump (similar to method used in last year's contest
per the video Dr. Dave showed us in class) - the motor will raise a fork
lift with a lead screw (see class notes). The balls are dumped into an assembled
trough.
- Misc Ideas:
- We might be able to use an electrical circuit to get more
energy out of the battery.
- We think it is good not to waste a lot of energy lifting the
box, balls, or parts of our system with the motor
3. Different ways to gear down the motor: belt/pulley, chain/sprocket,
a purchased gear box (like Dr. Dave showed us in class), assembling
our own gears.
Jane was very supportive of my ideas. I thought that some of
her ideas were bizarre and out of control, but I was careful not to criticize.
We decided to hold off on any detailed discussion until we could
meet with John next week when we would have another brainstorming
session.
We generated the following questions to which we didn't know the
answers:
- Can a spring be compressed before the start as long as the
motor recompresses it after the balls are delivered?
- Do the balls have to end up in the bottom of the box?
Jane agreed to see Doug, Deb or Dr. Dave to get answers to these
questions. Before our next meeting (2/5/97), we agreed on the
following tasks:
- Jane will go to Gart Sports to purchase ping pong balls and
golf balls. We will share the cost.
- Jane will get answers to our questions.
- I will work with John to build a set of boxes (16x16/32 cm)
out of wood or cardboard.
| Entry Three
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1/31/97
I called (left message) and e-mailed John asking if he could meet
me today or tomorrow to work on the boxes. John replied to my e-mail saying
3pm today would work. I replied yes. We met in the ME Shop at
3pm and talked to Walt about constructing the boxes. He had some
1/4 " plywood that he said we were welcome to use. We picked
some out and Walt showed us how to use the bandsaw to cut out
the sides of the boxes.
By the time we were done with the band saw, it was time to clean
up and close down the shop. John asked Walt if he could come Monday
to get help with the drill press. Walt agreed.
I agreed to pick up the wood pieces from John on Monday night
(from his dorm room). He will be done with the cutting and drilling by then.
I will try to assemble the pieces using small screws and glue I got from my
uncle in town.
| Entry Four
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2/5/97
Group Meeting (Present: Joe, Jane, John)
John apologized for not making the meeting last week. This made
Jane and me feel better (we were worried last week). Jane reported the answers
to the questions we had last time - she got the answers by rereading
the Web material and by visiting Deb:
If we use a compressed spring, it has to be recompressed before
the balls come to rest in the destination box.
The second answer reported by Jane gave us the idea to incorporate
a collection device in the receiving box that will contain the
balls as fast as possible just below the top surface.
We had a brainstorming session (John took notes, we all made sketches
on the white board). We also agreed to narrow the field of alternatives
to 3 by using the prioritization method presented in class.
We also got into an argument because John really liked one of
the ideas, but Jane and I didn't agree with his logic. John was
really upset. Jane said we should take a couple of days to think
about both sides of the argument, and we agreed to discuss the
matter again later. We agreed that whenever we have a big disagreement,
we should take a day or two to think about both sides of the argument
and try to discuss it again. We will all try to compromise and
appreciate the perspectives of others, but in the end we will
decide by voting or using prioritizing methods. If there are
still a lot of bad feelings, we will approach the TA's or our
instructor, so they can help us resolve our conflicts.
