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Week 13: Prototype CAD design

The current pick up mechanism will be attached to the slave bogie. It was noted visually that the mechanism will be best attached near the rear wheels on the strut channel. It will experience  the least rotational inertia because it is being pulled by the front.
After taking all measurements of the slave bogie and the best possible location to attached the current pick up mechanism, the following design has been accomplished.


 The top view on the left reflect the position how far the pick up mechanism will extend.
more  analysis and calculations are coming for
the last presentation

This prototype help us visualize the  some assumption that were not clear at first.
In SolidWorks one can easily mate parts but in reality we have to account for clearance, tolerances, machinability of parts, simplicity/complexity.
After analyzing with the team, some changes are in the works.
another aspect is running FEA on some components. The most weakest part is the middle section because it is about 7in in lenght and about 0.5in in thickness. this could be addressed with making the thickness slightly greater, by changing the material type to steel of reducing the  overall length.


the new model may look like this for greater Safety Factor. It has greater  thickness

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