Bryan Oyan - 1/12th Scale Track Design + Manufacturing

During the course of this week, the presentations were proceeding and I also gave my shot at welding to help the team make the bases by welding the hot rolled steel flat bar with the steel square tubing. After the material was previously prepped, the team came across some issues due to the thinness of the steel square tubing. We ended up burning a hole through with the first try of the hot rolled steel flat bar, which is bad since we are planning on filling the bases with concrete so any holes would allow the concrete to seep in, which is undesirable. In order to get this task completed, I ended up taking charge and focusing on manning the welder while the other team members were left in charge to complete some of the aluminum manufacturing. I ended up completing about 20 welds with the square tubing and hot rolled steel flat bar, which resulted in 4 completed pieces. I feel like we are starting to hit our stride and hopefully with this kind of work ethic, we are able to stay ahead of ...

We delivered our first presentation today for the whole class and provided everyone our progress from the previous weeks and the upcoming week's work we have ahead of us. The game plan was that I start the presentation off by giving everyone a gist of what the Spartan Superway was and why our team and the 12th scale teams were important to the success of Superway in general. Next, Angelo stepped up and provided the design specifications that we agreed on last semester. That information is found on slide 5. In addition to that, he let the class know about the biggest challenges we had for the upcoming semester. Kevin started talking about the manufacturing processes, the updated Gantt charts, and the team's budgeting for the upcoming semester. He also let the classmates know his progress regarding the 3D printed brackets and that all we needed to do to complete the bases were to weld them together. In conclusion, I ended up the dependencies and contingencies of the project...

This week's tasks including preparations for welding and practice for Angelo and Kevin on the welder with Dan's supervision. In addition to the welding experience, I took part in videotaping Dan (from Full-Scale Bogey) while he was demonstrating the necessary steps and safety warnings that were associated with TIG welding. I am hoping to create a document that shows a summary of what he has shown us, that way this information could be passed onto multiple generations of welders who want to utilize the welding equipment we have in-house. In addition to the welding introductions, the rest of the team is starting to set up a regular schedule of coming in two extra times a week in order to complete the mountain of work we have ahead of us. I know we can complete this project on time and be ready for Maker Faire if we keep up with this schedule.

Starting this week, all of Spartan Superway met and discussed how the design of this project could be changed from looking less industrial and more futuristic. A Swedish guest presenter with a background in automobile design provided his outlook on the whole PRT system and how it could look within an urban environment. After the presentation, our team asked Dan (from the full-scale bogey team) to provide a tutorial on welding since he has a background in machining. I recorded his tutorial and plan on making a step by step tutorial that will be laminated near the station where we will be working. Once Dan gave his instructions on welding, Angelo and Kevin started prepping the hot rolled steel flat bar in order to get rid of any oils or debris so we could get started on welding as soon as possible. We are looking forward to working with Dan so we can gain more information on welding safely.