Proposal Reflections and the first day in the shop

And so the weekend of typing, calculating, planning, shopping, and unfortunately not sleeping comes to a close. The infamous report covers have been found, the proposals printed, and are now no longer our problem.

Though it was possible for me to complete my sections of the proposal in 3 long spurts (Friday from 10-2:30 am, Saturday from 11 - 1pm, 5pm-12:30am, and Sunday 11am-8pm) I would not want to do that again. A good target week to start the final report is probably week 13, though if I finish the electromechanical fabrication quickly (I plan on attending at least 2 lab sessions a week, 3 if possible like this week) perhaps I can start even earlier. 

I found I really enjoyed sketching the engineering drawings, and I have found them useful already when building my drive base module. Knowing all of the exact dimensions, I was able to mark all of my metal pieces and axles and cut the majority of them in a few hours this afternoon. I spent another hour assembling, and I must say it is coming along nicely.

hI actually had time to mount the rear wheels also. I'll post a picture of that tomorrow. 

However, even with all of the advanced planning that I had done in trying to anticipate all of the parts needed to build the base, the screw size I had chosen (8-32, 1/4") proved to be too short to go through both the metal c-channel in the chassis and the bearings. As such, a quest to home hardware was neccessary! I was also able to find the plumbing fittings I plan on using to securely mount my motors to the base, and some structural supports for the mounting of the arm.

This, coupled with the very successful trip to active surplus this morning to find the surgical tubing and bearings, means that the majority of our shopping is complete. All that remains is the balsa wood for the arm. 

Can't wait to get back in the shop tomorrow!