Marble Sorter: Principles of Engineering
(Achievements Earned so Far: 13)
Introduction:
Over the past two weeks, our group (Me, Patrick, and Jordan) all have been working on producing a machine, that can seperate three different types of marbles (Metal, Wood, and Glass Marbles) swiftly. Our group has focused on expiditing the process, in terms of speed, over achieving success of multiple types of marbles. Origionally, we were going to use the 'RoboPRO' software to accomplish this, but after technical difficulties, we have decided to attempt this project without using any machinery.
How it Works:
Marbles are placed on a "ramp", which then puts it on two inclined rods. With a very small angle (~5-8 degrees), the marbles roll slowly. Since the wooden and metal marbles are smaller then the glass marbles, they fall through towards the end. The glass marbles then roll into a bin, and sit there. (Had we any time to add in something, which could sort between the glass marbles, that process would've occured then).
The wooden and metal marbles then fall a short distance, after falling out of the two rods. There are magnets placed, which "push" the metal marbles a short distance. These metal marbles are pushed just enough, to "hit" a small piece of plastic, which negates much of the velocity. The metal marbles then are collected, in a small "bin". The wooden marbles, however, just continue to fall, and they land in another bin.
Through this process, we have expedited the sorting of these fifteen marbles. What normally would've taken atleast a minute, was able to be accomplished in less then 15 seconds.
Pictures of the Machine:
This is the Side View of our design. Here, you can see the three "tiers", where the marbles land. The Glass Marbles land in the top area, and the wooden marbles fall to the bottom. The metal marbles, are pushed via. magnetic strength, into a middle tier.
This is a "Top View" of the design. you can directly see where the wooden basket is, as it is directly below the metal rods. One interesting thing with the metal rods, is that the rods are very stable. They move very little, and as such, modifications to this portion of the design rarely occur. You can also see where the glass marbles land. View of the Mteal Marbles is obstructed.
This is a "Front View" of the design. It is hard to see where the baskets specifically are. The "Tiers" of landing is much more apparent here.
An attempted Isometric View of the design. The Metal basket is much more apparent here, and the wooden basket is hidden.
Video of Marble Sorting Process:
Reiteration and Progress:
Our origional design was going to rely primarily off of using the robotics equipment. To sort the marbles, I was planning on using the photoelectric emitter, to notice the changes in the marbles. After a week of procrastination, I developed the iron rod system, which seperates the glass marbles from the wooden and metal marbles. Eventually, the origional idea was scrapped.
Our hopper, which I was developing during 5th period (We weren't doing that much in History, and my teacher permitted me to come here), was converted to a small ramp, and the collection of glass marbles. About a week ago, we took the design, and increased the height of it (Roughly by a large metal rodlength). By thursday, we were able to add the magnetic strength, and it was perfected by Friday. The final touches to this, were added on the day of the Final Examination. It has roughly about a 70% chance, of successfully seperating all fifteen marbles.
Achievements:
Total Achievements (So Far): 13
Organize It! (Earned 1): I believe, that this blog post is more then adequate, for this project.
I've made a few Special Modifications (Earned 1): As you can see, in the "Reiteration and Progress" section, the design has gone through a large ammount of change, over the past two weeks.
Final Implementation (Earned 1): See Above.
Final Implementation (Video) (Earned 1): See above.
Speed Achievements (Earned 7): There are seven possible achievements for this, ranging from finishing it in 2:00, to 0:30. We completely finished in fifteen seconds, and as such, we have achieved all of these achievements.
Hopper Achievements (Earned 2): A Makeshift hopper was made, out of a paper cup. It is able to accept marbles dropped from a height of one foot. The marbles will then roll to the bottom of the cup, and hit the bottom, thus losing it's momentum. It will then roll out of the bottom of the cup, at a slightly faster velocity, compared to the manual insertion. Since momentum is lost when the metal and wooden marbles drop, this will not effect the design.
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