Deadlines

We need to start setting some goals and deadlines for when we want to have things done. I've been talking to Subrat and he said that if we get the senior design EE's to do the new system, it would be nice to have an at least partially operational sub for them to test it on and for them to demonstrate it with by the end of the semester. I figure to accomplish this we need to have at least two things done: 1) control surfaces, and 2) the drivetrain. I figure Marcos and I can take care of designing and building the fins, and also mounting them and the other necessary components that need to be in place to make this thing work. Building the drivetrain should be fairly simple, except for a few of the parts. For testing we can just use one of the old propellers, and that should be satisfactory for the EE's needs. If anyone else can thing of anything else that should be operational by the end of November, let me know, otherwise these two things are what needs to be worked on. Also we need to try to get donations in material and monetary forms, since I doubt that the engineering department is going to give us all of the money we request in our budget.

Control surfaces are fun things to work on.

Who wants D-train?

I will take D-train and anyone who wants to help out.

D-train...?...what is this?....i dont even....

Drive-train.

It's that thing that changes the angle of the rotational motion of your legs/feet into something worthwhile for the propeller

So, work on this during Winter Break?

yo dawgs i responded

Well, I was talking with Morford and no one, other than Subrat, has really done much. I haven't had the time, myself.

There are deadlines. Blue has made them and submitted them to the ASME officers on November 3rd. The team must meet these requirements by the next ASME officer meeting/HPS report to be held on December 2nd, or the team will be penalized a variable monetary amount.

I will be working on the drive-train with Blue next week. If the tasks that Blue said would get done in November don't get done, we all lose. I suggest everyone look at the goals that he listed and try to get them done.

Looking at the things on the "deadlines" list, the only thing that I see on there that needs to be done is the drive train. Which apparently is Blue's and your responsibility. I don't see what's on there that could really be done by anyone else unless there's a different thing that I'm unaware of. Now if other people want to help design the drive train, I can see that, but other than that I'm not sure what you want other people to do.

Blue wrote:

November 3, 2009
To: ASME officers, ASME Chair
From: Brian Green, Team Captain
Subject: Monthly memo
Date: 11/03/09


This memorandum summarizes the progress made during the month of October 2009.

Accomplishments
1. Obtained sponsorship from Schlumberger. Currently talking to Aan Surati about company investment.
2. Continued research on propeller design: specifically blade design, ducting options, variable pitch and counter rotating blades.
3. Continued contact with potential sponsors for the 2010 competition.
4. Contact with Travis Hull:

Perspective competition due dates and schedule:

January 1 2010: Final Decision to Proceed with HPS 2010
March 1 2010: $200 Team Deposit and Contestant Entry Form Due
June 1 2010: $300 Team Deposit Balance Due ($500 Total)
June 1 2010: Team Demonstration Video Due
July 14 2010: Participant SCUBA Certification Deadline
July 21 2010: Team Registration, Course Set Up, Design Presentations
July 22 - 25: Racing
July 25: Awards Ceremony

5. Electrical team has recruited two new members to work on the sub after Subrat leaves this fall. They have begun the design process and will start purchasing parts very soon.

Plans for next month
1. Begin design of drive train. Following design produce SolidWorks model of design to begin purchasing materials.
2. Continue research on propulsion techniques
3. Continue researching companies (McMaster-Carr) and possible donations that the team could benefit from.
4. Discuss plans for Winter break availability: (Who will be in town and who will be available to work)
5. D-Train design and materials to be complete and purchased by the start of December.

Project status: on schedule

Please comment...

You mean this?

We're doing that. Research is still being performed (it isn't finished yet). I'm pretty sure Blue spoke to Travis Hull (we have deadlines for the competition as listed).

D-Train is on your shoulders.

Also, I contacted 80-20 and got nothing back from them.

Probably because Nic never sent them that shit that he was supposed to send them because he "never had the time"

I dont have time either... But I want some ideas at least... I was talking to Marcos and pitched an idea about the peeeeeto-tube lol (I dont know how to spell whatever) the problem with this was placement and whether it would be ripped off by the navy divers...I believe i solved this problem by placing this device on the top of a fin (most likely the top fin).

UUUUUuuuuuuummmmmmmm, I can think of a couple of issues with that

like?

Interference from the wake, since it would be so far back for one.

Also depending on the angle of the sub at any given time and the height of the fins, it could possibly see flow blockage effects from the sub.

There's already going to be a lot of thing going on back there (servos, mechanical linkage, etc) and I don't know/think that there will be enough room for more stuff.

I think the best position that a Pitot Tube could occupy would be somewhere between the front of the sub and the middle section where the radius is largest. Obviously putting it on the top is probably the best idea, that way it doesn't get ripped off in the cases of side-swiping a wall or running along the bottom.

There are ways to shape the mount to prevent it from appearing like a handhold, and also from actually being used as a handhold.

On the top near the max radius is best. We just want to make sure the flow isn't terribly obstructed or we experience inaccurate data from it.

Also putting it on the top of a fin could cause problems with lift/drag inequalities when you try to turn the sub, but that would depend on the relative sizes of the fin and pitot tube, and perhaps a few other variables. That's not exactly and excuse to not put it there, but it's something to be considered. I think the other reasons I listed are a bit more important though.

maybe we can make an excuse to put stabilizer fins near the max volume and still put it on top of those stabilizers..i dont know it was an idea for u guys to juggle

Eh, well, from my understanding of stability theory so far, a fin up there would only make the sub less stable, which would be bad. I'll leave that up to Marcos though, since he's supposed to be doing that. However I think it would just be simpler to create a mount that wouldn't look like a handhold.

So what are you working on... Prop stuff? we need to figure out soon what application we will be using (variable or contra or both).

I doubt it'll be both, doing that would be a bit complicated. Actually I'm really doubting the benefits of doing a contra-rotating assembly, it'll probably end up being a variable pitch propeller with some swirl devices. I haven't decided if I want to do one or two propellers yet or whether there will be a duct or not.

Holy crap! So I read something Subrat wrote, and he made it sound like the competition was in MAY! Ok, so thankfully he was wrong.

Is there an official website for the competition? I spent a great deal of time searching for it, and came up with nothing useful.