Individual Reflection: Joe Martoglio

In this class, I learned many topics that were taught in class, such as how to create drawings and how to use a lathe and mill, as well as important skills that can only be learned through experience, such as how to work well with a team and the importance of the fundamental design principles. This class was my first experience in a machine shop, so the training on the lathe, mill, and laser cutter was very useful. It was also my first experience using Solid Works.

The class also showed the importance of the fundamental design principles. We saw how the propagation of errors could result in pieces not aligning correctly. Also I learned that it is important to keep a design simple. Early in the semester many of the ideas were extremely complex and difficult to implement. As people began machining they realized that they would not be able to create their bots and switched to more simple approaches. Also many groups struggled to get their bots to work and the groups with simple design were able to create more affective bots.

We could have made our bot more simple by using wheels instead of treads. This would have allowed the bot to move with less force from the motors. Also, the door was not necessary because it was only needed to capture balls on the edge of the table; however if we were only able to capture balls in the middle of the table our bot still would have done well in the competition. Without the door, we could have used all four motors to move the bot which would have allowed it to move quickly and likely be successful in overcoming the center barrier.

There were many challenges in this class; however, completing the bot was rewarding. One difficulty was time constraints. We had relatively little time to complete the bot, which limited the amount of time we had to practice. One reason that it was difficult to complete the bot in time was that the machine shop was often crowded and the mills were often unavailable. In order to overcome this challenge our team met early (8:00 am) several times. Also it was difficult to find time to go to the machine shop because it was not open late at night. We have other classes during the day, so it was often difficult to spend sufficient time machining without missing those classes.

Having the machine shop open more hours and late at night would significantly improve this class. Also the class could be improved by limiting other assignments to allow us to focus more on the machine. If earlier home works and the bike lab were not given then we could have started working on the bot earlier in the semester and spent more time on it. Also lectures covered too many topics, and some were not explained sufficiently. For example stresses and strain and Saint Venant's principle were talked about very quickly, but were not really needed in the construction of the bot.

I could have improved my performance in the class by starting assignment earlier. Right when the machine shop opened it was less crowded because there were not any deadlines that week. That would have been a good time to work on the bot, and would have allowed us to finish early enough to practice and make more modifications.

-Joe Martoglio