Thayer School of Engineering Dartmouth College Hanover, NH Fall 2013
Machine Engineering Objective: Design and build a remote controlled robot that can pick up different sized balls and deposit them in vertical tubes.
Guidelines and Rules: Each group is allotted a certain amount of specified materials from which they can make their machine. Additionally, depositing larger balls earns one’s team more points than smaller balls.
Design and Fabrication: My group and I decided to try to create a machine that could pick up as many of the smaller sized balls as possible, and deposit those balls all at once. We created multiple foam mockups before finalizing our design in SolidWorks.
As a team, we machined all of the necessary components in Thayer’s machine shop. This involved using the lathe and mill heavily. I made significant contributions during all parts of the project, including design, CAD modeling, component fabrication, assembly, system integration, and testing.
Result: Our team created a reliable machine that could pick up smaller balls very efficiently and deposit them all at once.