California State University, Long Beach
Mechanical Aerospace Engineering Department
MAE 471/472 Group 12
Problem Statment
Design a cart that is safe, resilient, low-cost, low-weight, and user-friendly. The cart will be resilient by being strong and durable that can perform in multiple environments, extreme temperatures, absorbs impact and safely clears the ground. It will be user friendly by having free spinning wheels and will have a safe and efficient way to slow down and stop the cart. It will be light weight enough to be easily lifted, transported and collapsible. It will be safe enough for the riders, the dogs, and the bystanders. It will be single operant and be able to hold 2 average-weight people while being able to travel at speeds up to 30 mph.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Decision Making
Over the Spring break, the team met to make further decisions on the urban mushing cart. The following are possible options that we have narrowed down for the use of our chassis.
- Square vs. Round Tubing
- Thickness of material
- 4130 Alloy Steel (Chromoly) vs. 606-T6 Aluminum
Pros:
- Easier to weld
Cons:
- Load concentration areas
Pros:
- Cheap
- Widely Available
Cons:
- Harder to weld/bend
Future tasks
- Budget
- The team also spoke about funding for the cost of the material. The budget is currently $1000, but in the case that budget will be exceeded the team has determine that fundraising will be a necessity. The team has contacted fundraising coordinators at Warner Brothers Studios to attend TV show tapings in the event that more funds are needed.
- CAD
- A few things that the team will be working on in the following weeks is create rough CAD designs in order to get an idea of what materials will be more advantages. This task will also assist in determining what material and shape we should use when our CAD designs undergo static analysis.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Finalizing the Design
The team set limits for components in order to prepare for narrowing the options of components in an attempt to finalize the design. Below is what the team established:
=
where,
- Tires
- Length of frame
- Double barrel lever disk brakes
- Height of frame
- Steering
- Suspension
- Digger brake
- Hitch
The Decisions that were made were made the week of the (3/18/13) were:
- Tires
- Buy
- Size: 12-16 inches (in diameter)
- Frame (length & height)
- Build frame
- 6ft. x 3.5ft. x 3ft.(L x W x H) in approximation
- Brakes
- Buy
- Double barrel lever (disk brakes)
- On all four wheels
- Steering
- Make handlebars
- Buy handlebar grips
- Front steering
- Suspension
- Buying
- Front suspension
- Digger Brake
- Make
- Hitch
- Make
- Hook to carabiner
With certain areas of the design still in a grey area, the team will work together to fully complete the design by establishing how the suspension will work together with the steering. The steering will also be looking into, currently the idea is to create a four-bar linkage that connect from the back to the front, in order to steer from the back. Finally the team will also finalize whether the cart will have both front and back suspension or just front suspension.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Urban Mushing Cart Visits The Team
The team gathered on campus to examine the client's own mushing cart to gather information and ideas on how to improve on their design.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
PDS
| Attribute | Type | Metric/Requirement | Unit | Notes |
| Safe | Objective | # of ways to cause bodily harm | ||
| Resilliance | Objective | Varying impact and Temp. | Force/Temp. | |
| Low-Cost | Objective | less than $1000 | Dollars | |
| Low-Weight | Objective | less then 85lb | Pounds | |
| User Friendly | Objective | Ease of transport | ||
| Regulate Speed | Function | Accelerate as fast as dogs/80% efficiency | ||
| Regualte Direction | Function | Change alignment within 5 secods | Time | |
| Decrease Speed | Function | Decelerate from 30-0MPH | MPH | |
| Stopping must range from 50-100ft | Feet | |||
| Stabalize Driver | Function | Reaction force must be less than 2/3 of impact force | lbf | |
| Secure Passenger | Function | Hold lateral force of 500lbf | lbf | |
| Attach Dogs | Function | Sustain tensile forces of 250lbf/dog | lbf | |
| Transfer Energy | Function | Transer Kinetic Energy of at least 25% | ||
| Absorb Impact | Function | absorb 60lbf of impact | lbf | |
| Prevent Damage | Function | Components must hold 60% of yield strength |
Monday, March 4, 2013
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