Assignment 2/Part 2 of 2: Windlass

We started by brainstorming general designs:

Initially, we decided on a triangular design:

Professor Banzaert recommended an A-frame, explaining that our triangle structure may not hold up to the weight of the bottle.  We began out calculations, keeping several A type frames in mind:

While designing our parts on SolidWorks, we felt that a full semi-circular plate would make our design strongest in terms of foundation.  The stronger the better! This would decrease the risk of any unforeseen accidents and in turn decrease our number of iterations.  

Our design involved using bushings, pegs, and notches.  We made three iterations of each method to ensure the tightest fit.

We knew any initial paper calculation would change once we began designing our parts in SolidWorks and so to save time, we made all our calculations with the program.

Yay, time to print!

Immediately after assembling our parts, we tested it with the 1 liter bottle. 

Although the foundation was strong and did not collapse inward, we found the weight of the bottle turned the four outer rods in a direction that was opposite to the direction the center rod was turning.

To fix this issue, we piano wired the two center plates (holding five rods) to the center  rod.  In order ensure that the center rod did not turn in a direction that was opposite to the direction the wheel was turning, we piano wired the wheels to the center rod as well.  Just to be extra safe, (and also because we wanted to use the machine!) we heat staked the outermost bushings to the center rod to ensure our wheel would not move or fall off.

The most difficult part of this project was getting the drill press to align with the center plates, wheels, and with the rod, and drill completely through from the top, through the rod, and to the bottom.

We were SO HAPPY it worked!  Out of excitement we accidentally pushed the windlass off the table TWICE but it STILL held up nicely!

There were two requirements we forgot to check while going over our design:

1. The bottle must rise 10cm above the table. 

2.  We may use only one handle.

    Since we gave ourselves a lot of room to make changes by staying well under the limit of 500cm^2, a simple change it plate size will fix the first issue.

Technically speaking, our windlass does work with one handle! Two handles make sure the structure is well balanced on both sides and also makes pulling the bottle  up a faster process.  In a real world situation, individuals would be able to use the well from both sides or even pull larger loads of water when two people are turning the wheel together.  This makes for a very practical and efficient windlass.

Exact measurements coming soon!