21.08.15

Thesis.

I am currently finishing up my analysis chapter, I have decided to recap the findings at the end of very chapter as suggested in my research study book. However, I am also including my own internal referencing system as I think this is a nice and simple way of getting right to the point and making it clear on exactly the areas that I am trying to re-cap.


Model.

The eye lids of the model are now totally finished, I had some issues over the past few days with the milliput coming apart over extended use of the mechanism. To resolve this I decided to use black thermoplastic as it has a bit of give in it and will flex rather than crack or snap off. I am hoping that this will now solve the problem as the mechanism functions a lot better using this method as with the previous.

Feelings

I am very happy with how things are going at the moment, it does feel a bit steady considering I like 4 months to finish everything but I believe that once the head is totally finished the body and arms will be pretty simple to put together. 

Evaluation

I found this to be quite an up and down sort of session as I was pretty gutted when the eye lids mechanisms fell to bits... but at the same time happy to resolve the issue really quickly. Again I think this is really important in practical prototyping because if I had used CAD for this I may have had to redesign if something snapped off or went totally wrong in terms of materials. When it occurred I knew straight away what to do and how to do it so again this is something to consider when using the virtual approach to building. That said, I am not discrediting the use of CAD software as I have used it myself in previous models I am just stating the fact that I think it was a lot easier to resolve the problems using practical prototyping. 

Analysis

The project makes sense to me, I think that I am starting to see the arguments for and against simulation software and practical prototyping in my own model now rather than in interviews and literature. Again I must stress it is most likely as we say 'horses for courses' but I still think in this instance practical prototyping is proving more effective for this system design. 

Conclusion

In conclusion this has been an interesting session in terms of learning and understanding how to deal with system failures and how these can be resolved quickly.

Action Plan

I have now finished the plans for my custom control system and the prototype is now fully operational I now need to start thinking about how this will fit on the model. The next days will be dedicated to getting the control system working on the model and installing a variation of the system using the mechanisms that are already in place.