Oscar has continued his work on the Robotics Club underwater rover. Check out Oscar’s blog here.
Last week I had a similar design with larger gate 80 by 20 cross beams. This week I’ve been working on fixing the sizes of the S.U.B’s cross beams from 25.40mm to 20mm. The bottom has also been changed, it’s a new concept we hope it works the 80 by 20s holding the tube will hold it in position having straps going around it. This week I hope to be able to laser cup and prepare a 3d model in real life.
Nico has been keeping busy designing a maglev train. This is a very complicated project, and he has been tireless in his testing phase. Below is an excerpt from his recent blog post, which can be found here.
This week the only focus was to get a test carriage levitating, however I was unable to accomplish this. The problem I’m experiencing is when using regular magnets, not electromagnets is how to keep the train stable enough when the force of the magnets is constant. The problem is solved on real maglevs by using electromagnets to float with advanced feedback systems to make magnets stronger and weaker to stabilize the train. I have reached the point of having to decide between making a feedback system, or using a guide rail to work on solving problems with propulsion.
I performed several tests this week in attempt to get the test train to float. The magnets on the track are now bar magnets instead of magnetic tape, which are far stronger than the tape, though difficult to find a balance of strength for.
The first was a simple test with two magnets repelling the train on the bottom, and two magnets on each side repelling the sides of the train. However in this test the magnets on the carriage were also bar magnets. This combination was far too strong and quickly spun out of control as the back of the magnets on the sides attracted the top of the magnets on the bottom of the carriage.
For the second test I switched the magnets used small one centimeter neodymium disks. These disks, though proportionally stronger, are far weaker than the bar magnets, so they repel far less. This combination worked better, and when holding the carriage lightly in place, I could feel the magnets almost floating, but when I released the carriage I would attract to the other side of the magnets on the side and tilt left or right.
MVTHS Engineering 