Andrew Burks

The initial iteration of the auger was just installed into the nearly completed structure.  Mike made some pretty creative parts that will be assembled in the near future.

These clips hold the door brush to the side of the PVC sheel around the auger.  The brush is critical because without the resistance of the bristles, the balls would just roll down the auger.  The clip on the left is different because it needs to clear the motors on the agitation assembly.

These two waterjet parts were, as usual, provided by the generous Richie P.  The one on the left is where the 30 tubes of balls will plug into the agitation/distribution assembly.  The circle on the right is made of steel instead of aluminum.  It acts like a ring gear, and with rubber triangles along the perimeter, is driven to disrupt any balls that might be jammed at the entrance to one of the 30 holes.

This video highlights the first time we turned on the auger after it was mounted in the main structure.  Besides showing the coolness of the auger, it also shows all the progress we made on the structure!

The main structure was assembled and is now able to support all of the keys, as well as a big bucket of balls.

The sloped basin which funnels the balls into the auger:

Raised key units with some main structure:

One of the wings:

Metal Cut

After a bit of confusion with OnlineMetals.com, I got all 94 feet of Aluminum 1”x1” in the mail.  I cut it up into the appropriate lengths using the cool new carbide-tipped miter saw in the robotics club.  In the end, there are 54 lengths of angle that all need holes drilled in specific places.  All these pictures are from my cell phone, so bear with me…

40 of the 54 lengths needed for the vibraphone:

Key Units Painted

The first attempt at painting the key units was a complete failure.  However, Megan Dority suggested that I used primer, and even picked some up for me.  It worked like a charm.  Also, Austin Buchan was able to get the group access to the Newel Simon paint booth, which was a huge help.

Key units drying in the paint booth:

Key units after drying:

Waterjet Parts Donated

RobOrchestra founder and alumnus Rich Pantaleo came through once again for the group.  He was able to obtain a large donated sheet of 6063 Aluminum in just a few days when we needed it most.  Also, he cut out all the parts we needed just a few days after getting the sheet!  I made a few mistakes on those parts, but nothing too critical.  I had to widen half of the slots in the giant half circles because I didn’t account for the thickness of the paint and the oversized hardboard.

Completely assembled and painted key unit:

All of the key units on their half circles:

After a successful design review at the weekly Wednesday meetings, the final modifications were made to the Vibratron design.  After only a few major changes, the completed Vibraphone design looks something like this:

Instead of relying on tension in cables or cloth to keep the wings in their proper place, kickstands were added to each wing to keep it in the right position.  The kickstands also serve as the mounts for the cables that will be keeping the cloth tensioned.

All surface that could potentially come into contact with the steel balls are covered in a 1/8” thick layer of neoprene foam.  The foam will be attached with an adhesive instead of using hardware.  The longest diagonal of the final outer area of the robot are just under 8 feet.  Despite a few minor edits in the basin, the addition of the kickstands, and some other tweaks, Vibratron is still able to fold up into a neat 1’x1’x4.5’ column for storage and transport (excluding the two separate racks of key units).

The entire structure is made out of 94 feet of aluminum 1”x1” angle, varying in thickness from 1/16” to 1/4”.  That aluminum has been ordered ($140.61) and fabrication of the main structure should be underway before mid-February.

With only $200 left in the $1,000 budget, the group still needs a 48’x36”x1/4” sheet of aluminum to waterjet into some very important pieces.  Using cheap 3003 H-14 aluminum sheet, it will cost $160 just for the raw materials for those pieces.  That leaves only $40 in the budget for fabric, foam, a power supply, steel cables, and other hardware.  Obviously the ends won’t be meeting, so we need to look for a donation of the aluminum plate.