SPARTAN Superway Wayside Power & Distribution 2019-2020 Final Presentation

The SPARTAN Superay Wayside Power & Distribution Team would like to thank all individuals, professors, and organizations who helped in making this project happen. Please see our final presentation here.

Final Details

Over this week the Wayside time has been working on completing the project. The mechanical team has been putting the final touches on the assembly. The nuts and bolts are being determined and places in the assembly. The arm mechanism can be seen in figure 1. The electrical team has been working on the 2D schematic and brainstorming what else can be completed without access to physical prototyping tools.

Figure 1. Arm mechanism with a linear actuator

Additionally, the team has been having more meetings throughout the week. We have been discussing how the presentation will be done. An outline for the presentation is being filled in by the teammates. The team has been planning how the paper will be written. All in all the Wayside team is working hard at completing the tasks at hand.

Written by Melody (Aryamitra Bake)

Closing in on Project Completion

As the academic year comes closer to an end the wayside power team has continued to finalize details on the project design. Details being finalized include subtle structural improvements and addition of new hardware and parts to create a design suitable for immediate application. Furthermore the team must power through may of the issues and details requiring attention. As a result the team has created a checklist and updated gantt chart to ensure certain important details are completed.

Even with the rapidly approaching deadline, the team strives to provide a realistic design with off the shelf components, however the team has found that not all components are suitable for application in the specialized design. As depicted in the image above a custom caster wheel was created to better fit specification requirements of the design. Below an image of the updated gantt chart is included.

Written by Alex Ng

Presentation 2 and Updates April 8, 2020

The team returned from spring break refreshed and ready for more work on the wayside project. We are improving our designs by adding wider t-slots, a more compact linear actuator, and track rollers for the third rail to ramp on and off. We got to show off our design work in presentation #2 click the link to view ==>(Presentation 2).

In the presentation, we discussed our specifications, the mechanical and electrical final designs. We also included what still needs to be done which includes designing safety guard rails and some final hardware. The team wanted to draw the electrical components and integrate all the wiring however, that will be too difficult under the time constraints so we have decided to only include electrical schematics. We do plan to include some assembly animations that show the bogie traveling down the rail to highlight how the conductor shoe contacts the third rail. Our presentation also included FEA on the bracket for that holds the conductor shoe mechanism and the track. The team is using a BoM for purchased materials and for needed materials if next year's team needs the information to build the design. We are under our allotted budget of $1000 by $58.81 in regards to what the team purchased already.

Figure 1. Bogie with linear actuators and conductor shoe

Figure 2. The first design with small t-slot and a large linear actuator

Figure 3. The latest design with bigger t-slot, improved bracket, and smaller actuator

Written by Shane Sharp

Spring Break Preparation

Since our previous meeting with Professor Furman and Ron, they gave us a lot of input on what we need to improve on our current design. Some of the problem that we need to take care of are materials upgrade, structural upgrade and electrical problem. Because of our current status of Senior Project, we are no longer need to take care of our budget, which means we can choose any materials that suitable for our project without worrying about the budget.

Some of the materials that we need to upgrade are the material for shoe box mechanism, use a larger double wide T-slot, larger linear bearing for the T-slot and a smaller linear actuator. There are also some structural upgrades that we need to keep in mind such as a wheel on the mechanism to prevent crashing, pivot point on the mechanism, resist twisting motion on the structure and also putting ribs on our L-bracket to support the structure.

For our electrical component, we are still trying to figure out how many current sensor and voltage sensor that we need and the location of it. We need at least two sets of sensors which are for the rail and the shoe pickup. We also need to contact the Power Module Team regarding what kind of connection that suitable to combine our project.

It is one week before spring break, the Wayside Power Team are preparing to decide what are we going to do throughout the break. On our meeting March 28, we decided on what we are going to do throughout the spring break. We also decided what time is most suitable for our meeting and work check in.

Written by,
Reynaldo Jahja

COVID-19 Continues

Since the lockdown has been placed on California residents, the Wayside Team will no longer be meeting in person. The project will be completed virtually on Solidworks. There will be no more work done on the physical project. Thus the project now has the capability to expand beyond previous budget limitations. The Wayside team will have the ability to aim higher since the project can't physically be built. More robust material can be used in the assembly. 

The mechanical team has decided to change the springs to constant force springs. Force sensors will be added. Adjustments will be made accounting for the wear on the contact shoe (Figure 1). 

Figure 1. Arm mechanism

The electrical tabletop setup (Figure 2, 3) current flow issue has been resolved. The current flow issue we had previously was due to the power supply we were using. We switched out the power supply and now the system works.

Figure 2. Tabletop setup

The tabletop setup (Figure 2, 3) works and now the electrical team needs to work out how to scale up the system using a 36V power supply. 

Figure 3. Tabletop setup

The electrical team will design 3D harnesses (Figure 4) for the assembly via SolidWorks Electrical. This will be accessed through desktop.sjsu.edu which gives access to ME lab computers. Electrical schematics will show where sensors will go. 

Figure 4. Example of 3D electrical harness

Written By, 
Aryamitra Bake

COVID-19 Halts Wayside Power Progress

The Wayside Power Team continued to work on the project during the increasingly worsening pandemic. Unfortunately, for safety reasons the team will no longer be able to physically meet to construct the wayside power system. All project developments moving forward will be limited to design work.

Prior to the complete halt on physical development the team completed work on the third rails.

The team also picked up linear actuators, however due to the unfortunate circumstances the team will have to follow the lock-down procedures and continue work remotely. The team will restructure the current project plan to proceed with predominately calculation and solid model work during remote work sessions.

Written by:
Alex Ng