Vex Robot Winch
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For the Poe, 3.1.7 Final Project, Chris and I decided to make a winch winding system that can move a specific length of string, stop on it's own, and has an emergency stop. We gave our machine a spindle to wind up the string, a motor to turn the spindle, and decoder to detect when to stop, two buttons near the bottom to make it turn up or down, and a limit switch up top for an emergency kill switch that stops the program all together. We also added a spot to hold the battery, for convenience.
Early Drafting Ideas
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These are really early Drafting Ideas on how the winch would work. The were designed and drawn by Chis.
First Design
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This was the first design. This design was more so flat, and pulled vertical instead of horizontally
Seconds Design
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This was the Second Design. In this design the spindle would hang off an edge, like off the side of the table and pulled horizontally.
Rough Finial Design
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This was the final Design. The final design was changed a bit in the actual build, but the mechanics are the same.
Finished Front Sketch
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A better Sketch of the final design sketched after the build.
Program #1
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This program was good, and worked for the most part, but the emergency kill switch didn't work.
Program #2
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This is the second program we attempted and this did not work either. This was the first time my partner and I tried to write a sub-program or a "void" program. These were important in the final program.
Final Program
![Picture](/uploads/1/9/9/2/1992621/201889.png?682)
`This is the final, working program for our winch along with task descriptions. The emergency stop works along with the encoder and the buttons.
Conclusion Questions
1. What was the most difficult part of the problem?
The most difficult part of the problem was getting the emergency stop to work and getting the motor to stop
on it's own. When we eventually got the emergency stop to work, the motor would not stop on it's own. We tried adding a timer and a wait time but it would not allow for the quick transition from going up or down. We fixed this by adding an encoder to our final design.
1. List and describe two features that were not part of the design problem that could be added to improve your design.
Two features that were not part of our design problem that could have been added to improve our design is an ultra sonic sensor, and a light sensor. They would both be used for the same task and that is to stop the motor once the weight is in range. The ultra sonic sensor would detect the motion or movement of the weight to stop the motor while the light sensor would detect the change in light caused by the weight.
The most difficult part of the problem was getting the emergency stop to work and getting the motor to stop
on it's own. When we eventually got the emergency stop to work, the motor would not stop on it's own. We tried adding a timer and a wait time but it would not allow for the quick transition from going up or down. We fixed this by adding an encoder to our final design.
1. List and describe two features that were not part of the design problem that could be added to improve your design.
Two features that were not part of our design problem that could have been added to improve our design is an ultra sonic sensor, and a light sensor. They would both be used for the same task and that is to stop the motor once the weight is in range. The ultra sonic sensor would detect the motion or movement of the weight to stop the motor while the light sensor would detect the change in light caused by the weight.