Spartan Superway Half Scale Suspension 2017

This week we presented our objectives and motives to the Spartan Superway team through our first big presentation. Below is a link to our presentation.  

Concept designing was discussed among the team members on each of our proposed ideas for the half-scale suspension.  Colin and Joshua drafted up their designs using active suspension that would consist of some actuators and would involve an Arduino for control and some power source. Salvador drafted up his design using passive suspension that will be all mechanically driven by weight of the pod car to solve the leveling. After briefing Dr. Furman and Eric Hagstrom on the drafted designs they agreed that a passive system would be more ideal for the task of having the pod car remain level as it transverses on the inclines and declines of the rail as opposed to an active system for the sake of associated complexity and keeping component cost and energy low. What the group examined carefully among the drafted designs is if they solve these basic problems: 1. The leveling of the pod car 2. The associated swinging that will arise with accelerations and decelerations of the pod ca...

For this week, we prepared for presenting our Lightning Talk to the Spartan Superway Team. We informed our peers about how we will be designing and building a suspension system for the half-scale pod and bogie system. One specification that we mentioned for our suspension was that we needed to keep the pod car level as it transverses through the 17 degree slopes on the track. We hope to successfully build a working half-scale prototype suspension that enhances passenger comfort. After the presentations were over, we were able to meet with the half-scale bogie and suspension team from this summer. They informed us on certain challenges they faced while working on the half-scale system and advised us about our current design ideas. We were able to obtain their previous CAD files and the program to run the bogie system. Below is a link to our Lighting Talk presentation this week.

For our first week, we learned about the previous Active Suspension teams progress towards the Half Scale Suspension Model. This year, the half-scale suspension team consists of members Salvador Hernandez, Joshua Moreno, and Colin Wong. Our primary goal is to accomplish a mechanism that can ensure leveling of the cabin when traveling up or down a slope. We plan to use linear actuators to assist in inclines and declines of up to 17 degrees.