Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Weekly Update 12/21-12/23

12/21
I have begun searching the internet for pieces that exactly fit the concepts I have devised. I hope to find the pieces that will assemble into my nozzle apparatus by (shortened) week's end.

12/23
All of the pieces the nozzle apparatus will be comprised of have been found. Unfortunately, certain dimensions are missing from their online descriptions. Over the break I will have to find out what those missing variables are.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Weekly Update 12/15-12/17

12/15
I have been in the process of completing my materials list and plan of procedure. I have also been working on my drawings. I will attempt to get as far as possible by the end of the week.

12/17
I have comprised a rough outline of my materials list and plan of procedure, and have completed all of my drawings, save the exploded view.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Weekly Update 12/8-12/11

12/8
Today, my partner and I went into the shop room to experiment with an air compression tank and nozzle to find out how much pressure is required to move each type of ball in the competition. Alas, due to a communication error, I did not bring in the necessary types of balls to test. However, I did have a tennis ball in my car and was able to use that as a substitution. By using this ball and my prowess in mathematics, I was able to calculate the necessary air pressure needed to use the other types of balls.

12/11
While I was out, my partner met with Ms. Green after she attended a meeting about the Technology Dare event. In this meeting, My partner was able to discern some new ideas of what works and what does not in the area of our project.Meanwhile, my partner and I went to the shop again to continue testing with the air compressor and nozzle, this time armed with the necessary balls to test with. The nozzle had an opening of about 1/8 inch to allow air through. With such a focused force, it only took 25 PSI to move the cueball. However, we removed the convergent nozzle so that there was an opening with a diameter of about 1/3 inch. Even after we ratcheted up the PSI to 70, we were unable to move the cueball. Initially, I had designed my nozzle to be 1-1/4” in diameter. However, now that we were able to test, it has become abundantly clear that this must be adjusted somewhat.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Weekly Update 11/27-12/1

11/27
My partner and I discovered several flaws in our design and must discuss what we can do to fix this dilemma. Also, I must find some other sources to get a good, low price for a hose.

12/1My partner and I discussed how we could properly attach my portion of the project to his in the most structurally sound way to hopefully yield better output and prevent loss of airflow. My bid sheet has also been completed.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Weekly Update 11/20-11/24

11/20
I have compiled the list of materials necessary for the assembly of my completed product. Now I must prepare my bid sheet to be sent out to the board for consideration.

11/24
Fortunately, I do not need much funding for my project, as it is relatively low budget. Therefore, my bid sheet will only contain a hose to attach my nozzle and my partner’s pump to.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Weekly Update 11/13-11/17

11/13
I have been periodically updating my blog, hoping to make it as presentable as possible to be considered at a later date. I have relabeled several different posts to hopefully make it more organized.

11/17
The bid process for these supplies is due on December 4th, as it must be presented to the board shortly thereafter. My priority right now is to make my supply and parts list of the items that I need to build my finished product.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Mentor Contact 6

Student: Anthony Fischer
Date: 11/9/09
Contact: Paul Fischer (Father), Personal Visit
Reference: Nozzle Design
Questions: How do pressure washers work?
Discussion:
Today, my father and I ventured out of the safety of our home to excavate nozzles from several different locations that bore less than favorable conditions. We picked up three new nozzles, one of them from a pressure washer (unfortunately, it is still attached to the handle and is quite cumbersome). These are now in my car and I am driving to school tomorrow. I hope to play around with them with Sam and figure out how exactly some of these work, so perhaps we can find something we can change or add on to our own design.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Weekly Update 11/2 and 11/6

11/2
Mentor contacts are due soon, and I must update my blog to include them. I have eleven points worth of contacts, but I have not put them up on my blog just yet.

11/6
My mentor contacts were not in the proper format, and now I must go back and correctly log them into my blog. Eleven points will allow me to recieve the full one hundred percent of the points for mentor contacts, ten points.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Weekly Update 10/27 and 10/30

10/27
This week I have to update my blog for presentations to make sure all of my logs are up to date and that everything else is in order so I appear prepared for my presentation. I also have to make some additions to my script for presentations to improve upon what I presented informally.

10/30
I presented recently and did fairly well. I recieved a 93 for my presentation, which is a large portion of my grade. Now I must get ready for the requirements of the second marking period.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Mentor Contact 4 and 5

Student: Anthony Fischer
Date: 10/28/09
Contact: Paul Fischer (Father), Personal Visit
Reference: Nozzle Design
Questions: How do grooves and bumps affect nozzles?
Discussion:
Today, my father and I dissected more nozzles. We discovered that some of the nozzles have different grooves and bumps within the design that change the output of the fluid flowing through them. However, these outcomes are all ones that are unnecessary for my design. These outputs resulted in wider spraying of the fluid or even a mist.

Student: Anthony Fischer
Date: 11/28/09
Contact: Glen O'Heir (Uncle)
Reference: Circuitry
Questions: What do I need to make a circuit?
Discussion:
My uncle Glen also visited today as well, all the way from Flushing, Queens. He assisted me in comprising a list of all the supplies I needed to construct the circuit and the control panel. He taught me some more hands on basics to circuitry and even helped me create my very first simple circuit. My uncle will come back at a later date to help me build the real thing, once I get all of my supplies.

Mentor Contact 3

Student: Anthony Fischer
Date: 10/24/09
Contact: Paul Fischer (Father), Personal Visit
Reference: Nozzle Design
Questions: How does a nozzle function?
Discussion:
Today, I worked with my father (my nozzle mentor) on more dissections of nozzles. We hoped to further understand the inner workings of the design. The nozzles we opened up appeared the same inside as it did on the outside. We are going to open up more nozzles to see if perhaps the inside could have some sort of grooves or something of the like that would improve the air flow.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Mentor Contact 1 and 2

Today I met with both my mentors, my uncle, Glen, and my father, Paul. My uncle Glen is an electrician of some renown and my father is a retired twenty two year retiree from the New York Fire Department.

Student: Anthony Fischer
Date: 10/24/09
Contact: Glen O'Heir (Uncle), Phone call
Reference: Circuitry
Questions: How do I make circuits?
Discussion:
I discussed with my uncle Glen about the electronic component of my project, the control panel. He will show me how to properly wire the circuits when I meet with him at a later date. He explained to me that it is relatively simple to complete and he can show me how I need to go about accomplishing it.

Student: Anthony Fischer
Date: 10/24/09
Contact: Paul Fischer (Father)
Reference: Nozzle Design
Questions: How does the inside of a nozzle look?
Discussion:
My father gave me several different nozzles that we have begun to dissect to figure out exactly how the nozzle works. He has some knowledge of nozzles from his work, constantly dealing with the fire hoses. Both air and water fall under the category of fluids, so the concepts should be similar for each different type of nozzle.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Weekly Update 10/22 and 10/23

10/22
The model is complete and has been submitted. I have began and finished my script for my informal report of progress presentation. I am to describe my project to the class within a four to six minute time period and ready and display my blog.

10/23
I presented today. I think I went a little over the alloted time period, but so did everyone else. I presented past the bell, into lunch period, but I got it finished. I did not radiate confidence this time and did not excel in my public speaking abilities, but I got the job done.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Weekly Update 10/14 and 10/16

10/14
Today, I have designed a model (conceptually, not physically) that would be constructed from several different materials. The scale will be dependant upon what materials will be use to create the model.

10/16
I have decided to fabricate the model out of wood, carving and sanding the figure to accurately represent the design. The model will be a slightly smaller scale than 1":1", perhaps at .75":1". I will be using a wooden dowel to create the model. I will use the band saw to cut down the overall length, and I will be using the sander to file down the center of the nozzle for the chokepoint. Sandpaper will be used to smooth out the model.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Weekly Update 10/6 and 10/9

10/6
This week, production of my model has been the main undertaking I havae begun. The model of the combination nozzle must be completed for the twenty first of the month.

10/9
I have been trying to decide which material to use to construct the nozzle. I am also thinking about the scale that the model will be.

Friday, October 2, 2009

Weekly Update 9/29 and 10/2

9/29
This week I have furthered my work on my alternate solutions, as once again my project has been altered. The Technology D.A.R.E. project has become more complex with the addition of a control panel to operate the movements of the tube and nozzle. Initially, it was widely believed that the pneumatic system could be moved simply by hand, as the photographs of the event that we recieved prior to the start of the assignment led us to believe.

10/2
Also, additional illustrations were concieved for the alternate solutions. Isometric images will soon be added to the blog as well as a few schematics for a control panel.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Friday, September 18, 2009

Final Solution

Design Number 3: The Combination Nozzle

With a chokepoint in the middle of the nozzle and two medium sized openings, this design will encompass the best aspects of the two previous designs (Figure 3). It will provide a larger surface area than the convergent design and will supply a larger energy output then the divergent design. The tube length will also enable the design to reach as far as the arena extends, while also being short enough to allow the movements along the arena floor to be accurate and concise (Figure 3).

Nevertheless, the nozzle will not specialize in any particular area due to the balanced design. It is far easier to tackle all the tasks with a balanced design than a specialized one. Due to the balanced nature of the design, the combination nozzle will not do very well in certain areas and worse in others. Instead, it will do well in all areas, eliminating overwhelming strengths and weaknesses and replace them with a solid score in each graded area.

It will, however, be somewhat difficult to manufacture this nozzle design. Due to its somewhat unorthodox design, it will be very difficult to create. The chokepoint is located within the center of the nozzle, and will be difficult to mold in such a fashion.

The nozzle will be assembled with plastic pieces that will be put together with adhesive or by being welded together. This Frankenstein nozzle will effectively live up to its name by incorporating several different designs into one, both theoretically and physically. This way, the nozzle can be produced in the most effective manner possible and yield positive results.

Alternate Solutions and Pros and Cons

Divergent Nozzle

This nozzle has a small chokepoint to connect to the tube transferring the pneumatic flow, yet has a large opening to push out the air (Figure 1). This design applies all of the pneumatic force over a larger surface area of the object that will be moved.
The connector tube will have to be longer to gain a further reach, as the energy being released from the nozzle, while it will spread out the force over a larger surface area, will not be as powerful as it would if the nozzle opening was smaller (Figure 1). The additional reach will compensate for the lack of precise air
pressure.

However, regardless of the decreased air pressure, the objects will be far easier to accurately move around due to the larger surface area of the pneumatic flow and longer reach of the tube. Conversely, because of the longer tube, the overall accuracy of the tube movement will be significantly lowered as there is a lot more to move, and little structural support to keep it entirely upright and straight when in motion.

The divergent nozzle will be manufactured by employing a wooden structure. This would provide the most solid and sturdy nozzle that could withstand any amount of pressure. However, it would be fairly difficult to sculpt from wood, as it is rather small nozzle and would probably not come out the way that it would appear in the speculations of our planning.


Convergent Nozzle

Opposite of the divergent nozzle, the convergent nozzle has the chokepoint in the opening of the nozzle, and has a large connection to the tube supplying the air pressure (Figure 2). This design applies a focused blast of pneumatic energy upon a small part of the object that is to be transferred in location.

The connector tube will be shorter than that of the connector tube of the divergent nozzle (Figure 2). By shortening the tube from the previous design, the tube and nozzle will be far easier to direct precisely and apply the focused pneumatic force wherever it is needed.

With the convergent nozzle design, excessive airflow will be forced through a small opening, thus increasing the overall force of the flow and yielding a higher energy output. With this higher energy output, it will be far easier to move the objects with relative ease. Unfortunately, the smaller tube, while more accurate, will have less room to maneuver and cannot reach as far as a longer tube could.

Molding clay will be applied to create this nozzle. This would be the easiest way to make the nozzle. With this material, the nozzle can be sculpted to the exact dimensions and have a smooth finish. Unfortunately, it remains unknown whether or not the material will be able to withstand the air pressure.

Combination Nozzle

As the name implies, this nozzle concept was born of two of the common types of nozzles, importing strengths and weaknesses of each. This nozzle will have a medium sized connector to the tube and a medium sized opening at the end of the nozzle (Figure 3).

However, since everything so far has been in between the extremes presented by the other two nozzles, it was decided to go the extra mile and reach a total equilibrium. The chokepoint will be located within the middle of the nozzle, thus providing a balanced alternative as opposed to the two specialized nozzle designs already conceived (Figure 3).

This nozzle design will be constructed from plastic. By utilizing pre-existing pieces of plastic, a shadetree mechanic can be made to operate as the convergent nozzle for this project. These pieces can be glued or perhaps even soldered together to form a cohesive solid entity. However, the creation of this nozzle will take some researching and scavenging to find the correct pieces needed for the design to be assembled.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Test Procedures (Team and Individual)

It would be relatively simple to replicate the actual area we have to work with for the competition. The two foot cube will have a hole for the ball to be pushed into just like the competition area has. From there, we will attach our apparatus to the area and attempt to move a ping pong ball, golf ball, baseball, and cue ball with the pneumatic power flowing through the mechanical engineering portion I will manufacture. From there we would make sure everything functioned properly together and could in fact accurately and effectively push each size ball into the hole.
My individual part will be tested by being hooked up to Sam’s pneumatic device to see if it properly perpetuates the fluid power wrought from his mechanism. If it connects suitably, I will then proceed to check to make sure that all the fluid power from Sam’s contraption is continued throughout my device and out the nozzle in full strength without leaks or kinks.

Expectations

By using the regulations for this project, I hope to, with the help of my ever supportive group members, create the ideal apparatus that demonstrates the application and control of mechanical and fluid power that will be used to transfer several different sized spheres into a small hole accurately and smoothly. I anticipate using our groups combined ingenuity and creativity to bring forth a design that is unique and works exceptionally well. I will complete the mechanical engineering portions of the project and Sam will be providing the pneumatic flow to transfer this ball from its origin to its destine location.

Resources

Ø Metal
Ø Wire
Ø Wood
Ø 6 Volt Lantern Battery
Ø Centrifugal fan (or another source of airflow)
Ø Wheels/Axles/Gears
Ø Water
Ø Compressed Air
Ø Syringes

Individual Design Brief

Display technical prowess in mechanical engineering by designing and manufacturing a nozzle to connect to a pump that will be capable of completing objectives as dictated by the TSA event, the Technology DARE. These objectives include manipulating several different sized and weighted spheres into a position given on a 2'x2' table.

Figure 1: The Different Sized and Weighted Spheres

Figure 2: The Arena and the Spheres

Specifications and Limitations

Specifications
Ø Entrees must be initiated and completed within the parameters of the school year.
Ø Demonstrations will have 10 minutes to set up and 5 minutes to actually demonstrate
Ø The top ten semifinalists return to compete in elimination rounds
Ø Safety is paramount
Ø Electrical power as supplied by one 6-volt lantern battery. The battery is not to exceed 75mm in length or width or 150mm in height.
Ø The device, control panel, nozzle and all necessary supplies must fit inside a two-foot cube.
Ø The goal is a three inch diameter hole drilled through the base for the balls to fall through into the scoring container.
Limitations
Ø Must allow unobstructed airflow through the design
Ø Must provide sufficient output force to move objectives
Ø Must be compatible with my partners design.
Ø Must be student made

Team Design Brief

Demonstrate the use of critical thinking skills to select appropriate applications of energy and power, to select appropriate materials and fabrication of a solution, and to demonstrate the application of a solution.

Figure 1: Students With A Finished Product Competing

Summer Research

The nozzle is a key portion of the journey to explore the wonders of pneumatics. The nozzle is attached to the tube which is attached to the pump. While the pump generates the pneumatic flow, the tube transports the energy and the nozzle releases the power onto the desired object. Depending on the shape and size of the nozzle, different force can be exerted on the entity.
Converging nozzles use a chokepoint to converge (go figure) the gas and funnel it through a small area before expanding and exiting the nozzle. With this chokepoint, it takes more force to push the air out of the compression, therefore yielding a stronger output from the nozzle. This nozzle directs and focuses the flow of gas onto the desired object and applies the most pneumatic strength.
Diverging nozzles are in the shape of a cone and spread out the gas flowing through it to apply pressure to all surfaces of the object that will be moved. This type of nozzle is better than the converging nozzle by covering more surface area, but does not have the focused strength of air being propelled through a converging nozzle.

Source: http://www.engapplets.vt.edu/fluids/CDnozzle/cdinfo.html

Background Information

The Technology Student Association (TSA) is an organization devoted to the furthering of the belief that technology is a very important part of society and can perpetuate the existence of the human race. Through events, students are able to produce and compete with technological devices of their own manufacture. These events explore the possibilities that can be wrought from such career avenues as engineering or business.

Figure 1: The Arena In Which The Event Takes Place


Figure 2: Event Coordinators Discussing Logistics of the Event

Situation

Participants design, fabricate, and demonstrate the application and control of mechanical and fluid power by applying power and energy principles to move balls with pneumatic flow. Evaluation is based on a demonstration of the application of mechanical and fluid energy principles and craftsmanship.