When we started our project, we heard what our group had to do and looked at the box of materials, and made a decision matrix. We had to move a can so we found a belt and decided to move the can by a belt system. We then found out it was quite hard to move the belt so thought of adding a gear train. We thought of adding a pulley instead of the gear train. We thought of adding an inclined plane in the beginning of the machine to load the can, but we ended up putting the can just on the belt. We added a lever to spin the gear train. The can wasn't able to balance on the belt so we added railing. We didn't want the can to just fall off the belt at the end so we built a basket for the can to fall into. Another way we could have moved the can was a pulley but we thought the gear train was better in case we have to move the can backwards. Another idea we could have done would be a inclined plane, a lever dropping the can down the inclined plane and a chain and sprocket to move it the rest of the way.
Building/modifications
We started our whole machine by playing down the base. We then added the belt system and then thought what to add to it. We added a 2 other simple machines, a gear train of 3 gears and a lever to spin the gear train. We then added railings so the can wouldn't fall of the belt. We put pillars to connect the rails and to connect the belt to the gear train. We tested our system several times and the only problem was that the can got stuck sometimes. We fixed that by moving around the pillars and the machine worked well after.
In these photos we have the final build of the machine, the basket at the end, gear train, and the lever.
Conclusion Questions
1. The gear train/belt because the input gear and the output gear are the same size.
2.The lever because there were different distances for the Distance Effort and Distance Resistance.
3.I would estimate it off the lever, input, and the belt, output.
4.I would add a longer lever to make it easier to turn the gears and move the belt more efficiently.
Conclusion This was a fun project and educational one because we learned the basics of making simple machines. We also learned how to work with others and split responsibilities with each other. One thing I would have done better is manage my time and take more responsibilities. Overall it was a great project to work on.