OVERVIEW

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Due to frequent lost baggage, in a team of four, we worked on a system to displace load from the conveyor belt to the airplane. We also designed programs to organize key passenger information by plane and operate a Q-arm-scanner system to move luggage according to baggage rules.

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Main Objectives

  1. RELIABLE - luggage does not slip out.
  2. COMPACT - minimal material cost.

Design Constraints

Keeping in mind the objectives and constraints, we designed a Luggage Transportation System in two phases:

  1. Mechanism Design 🎨
  2. Coding 💻

FIGURE 1: Transfer distance from plate A to B including the restriction line

FIGURE 1: Transfer distance from plate A to B including the restriction line

SKILL APPLIED!

Soft Skills

✅ Problem-Solving

✅ Leadership

✅ Time Management

✅ Adaptability

✅ Creativity

Technical Skills

✅ Autodesk Inventor

✅ Python

✅ Graphical Design

✅ Writing

✅ Project Management

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FIGURE 2: Final transportation mechanism in extended position (orange luggage in bucket). The Q-arm drop zone with ramp is in the top left.

1. MECHANISM DESIGN PHASE 🎨

My team implemented a CAD model that converts rotational motion to linear motion, making it less error-prone (Fig. 3).

Design Characteristics:

  1. Ramp to guide luggage into bucket
  2. Rotary motor connected to pinion to move rack

Anticipated Setbacks of Design

SETBACK 1: Overextension of luggage past the bucket during free fall.

SETBACK 2: Insufficient torque in the motor to move bucket to platform B due to friction with contact surfaces (and prior experience during previous use of motor).

FIGURE 3: Rack and pinion system powered by rotary motor (hidden under platform A).

FIGURE 3: Rack and pinion system powered by rotary motor (hidden under platform A).

Error Reduction

I made some estimations to address SETBACK 1 (Fig. 4 & 5):

FIGURE 4: Approximated the maximum horizontal distance the luggage could travel before being vertically in line with the top edge of the bucket.

FIGURE 4: Approximated the maximum horizontal distance the luggage could travel before being vertically in line with the top edge of the bucket.

FIGURE 5: With the theoretical drop distance (from Fig. 4), I calculated the initial position of the back edge of the bucket to be in line with the load drop point.

FIGURE 5: With the theoretical drop distance (from Fig. 4), I calculated the initial position of the back edge of the bucket to be in line with the load drop point.

Outcome

By offsetting the bucket the amount I calculated, the luggage consistently was caught by the bucket, whilst it tended to fall out when the bucket was flush with platform A.

What I Learned

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I realized the importance of making estimations as they assisted in the projects success even though they were made before prototyping

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Challenge - Restricted Bucket Movement

During the mechanism testing phase we faced many setbacks affecting the motors ability to move the bucket to platform B:

PROBLEM CAUSE SOLUTION (Fig. 6)
Rack and pinion system too stiff to move with motor Large amount of friction between rack and under surface Sanded down bottom of rack
Bucket clipping the edge of platform B Basket + luggage weighed down the system Chamfered the contact edge of the bucket
Bucket grinding against platform B’s surface Nuts sticking out in contact with weight relief of bucket Removed weight relief where bucket contacts nuts

FIGURE 6: CAD model with illustrated design modifications.

FIGURE 6: CAD model with illustrated design modifications.