Full Scale Track Expansion Summer 2018

During week 4, we were able to get most of the wooden parts manufactured. We had a pretty rough couple of day since all the parts were fabricated in-house. We finished the split portion of the track, curved track, and column supports. Dustin, Guojun, and I worked really hard to complete these tasks. Next week, we have to finish fabricating the guide rail out of wood, cut the length beams to correct sizes, and make the special track support. After getting these tasks done, we have to assemble the full-scale track on Wednesday. 

This week the team was able to finalize the BoM and send the orders out, during the first half of the week. The BoM had some materials that had to be adjusted because the original BoM did not account for the spare wood in the back. The team was able to find a lot of wooden material for the track, and the BoM was adjusted accordingly. During the first half of the week, the team discussed a lot about the manufacturing process, ensuring that each member were on the same page. The team also check each other's calculations to validate each others work. For the last half of the week, the team started the manufacturing phase on what we had at the moment. The team was able to finish constructing the track support columns that would hold up the track, the mold/shape for the wooden track that would be kerfed, and was able to practice kerfing on some spare pieces of wood, in preparation for the upcoming Monday. There is a lot of things to be manufactured by the team, but the team feels

The goals for the project on week 2 was to finalize the design and finish the bill of materials (BoM), for the track expansion. All goals were met during this week, where the design was finalized and the BoM was finished. All the listed materials on the BoM totaled to be a little under $800. The track expansion during this time was expected to be more expensive than the previous track (~$500), because the track would be nearly doubling the length of the straight portion. Furthermore, spare wood in the back could also be used to reduce the price of the expansion. The team also discussed in details on how the track would be assembled, like how each piece of wood would interface to the next. The discussion was important as it would make the assembly phase more smooth, and planned.

Week 1: Design Week Full-Track Expansion Team was able to finish the SolidWorks assembly on the wooden model. When discussing about the wooden model, this includes the previous model that was set-up on the last orientation day, and the track split portion as well. So far, the team has not expand the track for the steel, or actual model because the team decided that the wooden model was more important to focus on. The wooden model is where the full-scale team would try to integrate their design, so the wooden design was given priority. The pure curve section has not been modeled in SolidWorks because if the split has been designed well, the curvature of the turn should be constant. Adding a curve section would be simple, as it is similar to supporting the track as the previous team did for the straight portion. The team encountered a problem regarding manufacturing because the guide rail proposed on the SolidWorks model was simply not feasible to manufacture. The guide rail m

Full-Scale Track Expansion Research Team Members: Dustin Lien Nilupa Gunartne Guojun Peng Description             The main focus for the full-scale track expansion this summer session is to design the “curved” section for the previous full-scale track. The design should also complement a “split” in between the two paths for the track. The split section in the track should easily be interfaced on the straight portion of the track, designed by the previous group. The last goal for the project is to design the curve track that would be easily replicable for mass production. Due to budget concerns, the project will try to replicate the actual design with wooden beams when fabricating the design. Past Work             It is important to note that the previous team only focused on the straight portion, as they said that the team was understaffed to handle the curved portion of the track. It is also important to note that the previous team modeled the