SJSU ME 195a Full Scale Controls Team Individual Blog - Week of 10/3

Alex Krause
SJSU ME 195a Full Scale Controls Team Individual Blog - Week of 10/3

The group had a great meeting with Danny, our coach for the year, during this week's class. During our talk, he went over what his group created when he was a part of the Spartan Superway Controls team, what our group should absolutely avoid during the year, and what the main problems we should try to solve are. Danny's prototype used magnets and encoders to determine where the bogie is at all times on the sample track, however it was not 100% accurate and that threatens the safety of the passengers. Our group needs to figure out a way to know exactly where the bogie is at all times during its motion, and how to determine when it is reaching a split and needs to decide whether to turn left or right. Danny also explained the importance of creating a clean and simple wiring setup. All cables need to be labeled and properly secured so that the system is easier to debug, it looks nicer to the public, and troubleshooting just in case a wire gets unplugged. Lastly, the group looked at the linear actuator that will be controlling the steering, and Danny explained the need to design the steering mechanism in a way that would keep the bogie steering a certain safe way in case power is cut to the bogie. We are still working on a bill of materials since we are still unsure of what sensors we are going to need on the bogie and the track.

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