This week was similar to the week of the first presentation. Most of the time was spent preparing out material and slides to ensure that we would present in a manner that Eric and Dr. Furman would find presentable. We have altered our CAD drawings from the last presentation and have rendered them for the second presentation. My team is focused on providing a platform for another team so that they may put their work onto a bogie that is operational and suitable for maker faire. We have been focused on designing and improving the drive bogie and converting the prior year's bogie into a load bearing slave bogie. We presented the changes to the drive bogie that we have made in the last month, but since we are all extremely busy, it is hard to make lots of changes as any change we make affects other teams. This makes making and decisions and changes extremely difficult.

This week my team continued to work on our design. We are changing the CAD of the slave bogie, stripping it of all the unnecessary parts. This would be everything but the frame, as the slave bogie won't have any motors or electronics besides the route selection system at the top. The slave bogie is being altered so that the new route selection system will be sturdy and able to be locked in place when the 3rd rail is used.

The Full-scale team was also very focused on securing funding for SPARTAN Superway. I have personally sent out emails to friends and family, and they have passed it along. A few of the people that I have reached out to have donated, getting our crowdfunding page to almost half of its goal. I am currently working on stripping the slave bogie of all excess parts.

This week's main focus was connecting with all other full-scale teams. The full-scale integration team was intent on getting the final dimensions and requirements for the full-scale bogie. This meant that it was extremely important to get some definitive dimensions from all other teams. We were able to get a motor selected by the motor team. While this is helpful we are still unaware of the amount of space that they will need to mount the motor as they don't have a gearbox selected. The wayside power team was able to confirm they will no longer be using 5 super caps, and instead will be using 2 large super caps instead. It was also possible to organize with the controls team the number of motors and actuators to create a functional guidance system. A passive wheel system was also designed to maximize the traction of the powered wheels.

As we move forward we continue to try and improve our previous design while being flexible so that other teams have some flexibility to change their designs. As we continue through the semester the goal will be to make this as modular as possible while keeping it easily manufacturable.

Multi - Bogie System

As the year continues, our designs become more and more refined. We have transitioned from a single bogie system to a multi-bogie system. This multi-bogie is beneficial because it makes the system more modular. Specifically, if the system breaks somewhere along the track, it allows a rescue bogie to be sent and retrieve the slave bogie. It also allows the system to add drive bogies depending on the load. Adding drive bogies to a system can turn a single cart system to a 'bus' system (multiple carts).

Creating a multi-bogie system also requires that new bogie designs be created. Since we have to design the drive bogie from scratch and reusing the slave bogie. The drive bogie needs to be able to use 4 drive wheel and 2 passive wheels. We must be able to quickly attach and detach the drive bogie from the slave bogie. It also must be able to have enough space for 5 supercapacitors. The passive wheel system must be able to be disengaged when power is cut.