End of Year Reflection:
Lessons Learned:
- Lead times are typically longer than you expect. Planning ahead and adequate prototyping earlier will allow for more iterations. Developing prototypes while less cost efficient is beneficial in optimizing design.
- Integration between subsystems will be challenging and have unexpected issues of its own. This was greatly reduced with constant communication a joint prototyping, however, can be better incorporated from an earlier time in the project.
- 3D printed parts are cost efficient and relatively quick to manufacture allowing for more prototyping and interference issues to be caught earlier. This was very beneficial in the early developmental stages of the designs to have physical representations to ensure that all teammates were on the same page. The same goes for well integrated CAD models.
- Despite the many advantages to 3D printing outlined in the previous point, be careful with interfacing 3D printed parts with stronger materials. When push comes to shove, PLA will often fail first.
- Some tasks are more difficult than they initially seem. Starting early and planning for setbacks allows for more deadlines to be met.
- Never assume a purchased part or component will function just as you expect or your design requires, allow (time, patience, design adaptability, etc.) for deviation from your expectations
- In all design efforts, seek the simplest possible solution to your stated problem. Complexity can be tempting in light of all the lessons learned in previous coursework, but unnecessary complexity opens designs to unnecessary weaknesses and points of failure.
The team has divided into sub-teams including Legs, Wheels / Treads, Hamilton Jet, and Buoyancy. Thus, throughout the upcoming weeks, the sub-teams will work on aspects of the functionalities for the Swim and Land Movement systems and ultimately work more efficiently. With the knowledge we gain from our designs, the team will have an internal Design Showcase on 11/10/21 in which each sub-team will present their individual design parts. Upon completion of this sub-team work, prototype building will begin!
The work completed within these sub-teams will provide a baseline from which we will add the other systems we plan to implement.
Schedule
From 11/25/21 to 12/15/21
