Process

Design Conception

Modular Design

The design was implemented in a modular fashion, so that all elements could be replaced and troubleshooted easily

Iterative Design

Throughout the project, there were many considerations to be made. Sizing the madcap part, shown above, was difficult because of compactness, packaging, weight balancing and symmetry. All of those parameters were important in the design process of this part

Manufacturing Processes and Assembly

The parts were designed for rapid and efficient manufacturing. The assembly process builds on the modular design, by constructing individual midcaps – consisting of battery, motor, circuitry and aluminum rods – and adding it to the rubber lattice to obtain the symmetric structured desired by the Tumbleweed

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Engineering Analysis

Calculations were done to help size the motors, battery charge, battery life and dimensions of the spool. The robot assembly was also simulated and calculated in MATLAB and NTRT (Nasa Tensegrity Robotics ToolKit). All specific information can be found in the Final Report tab.

MATLAB was used to calculate the optimal radius/length ratio. The radius refer to the distance between the center of mass of the whole robot assembly and the center of mass of one strut, while the length refers to the center of mass of the strut to the end of the strut.

NTRT was used to simulate the physical properties of our design. The dimensional values, as well as mass and tension were obtained from calculations and CAD, in order to simulate the actuation of our robot and how it responds to outside loads.