Abstract:
I have gotten the first prototype of the HyperRails working. I will be discussing the parts and setup.
Object:
This post is intended to update and inform about the progress with this project.
Materials and Methods:
We are using the V-slot aluminum extrusion and carriage system from openbuilds. All other parts were previously discussed in the last post about the HyperRails. These are the ones that are 3D printed in the lab.
All of the pieces were assembled according to the CAD. This step was pretty straight forward, the one that took more time was rolling up the line on the spool and tightening it on the carriage. This took more time due to the fact that the line would tend to get loosen up and some times tangle up while coiling up on the spool.
Results and Discussion:
Here is a video of the system in action:
The system works very well, we can see the movement of the carriage is very smooth.
Here are the links to the electrical components and code.
The main consideration for the next iteration is to make the system be able to work with all lengths. The main problem with this system is that the length of line needed for the system to work covers almost the whole surface of the coiling spool. After the line starts to overlap, the programming will have to be more complex to account for the decrease or increase of the diameter of the spool. This is the next problem to address with the next iteration. Our current system can only spool about 1.5 meters of line, and this system has to be designed to work will all lengths. One other consideration is the stretch of the line. When we were testing the system, in some cases we over extended the line and it would stretch a lot. I will need to find another fiber that has a very low stretch.