Design Modifications: At first, we were trying to make a gate system with all pneumatics, but because the whole class was trying to do that as well, it was extremely difficult to find enough parts for everyone. We discovered that we could get the same linear motion job done with motors, so we switched our whole project to this. An exception to the pneumatic requirement was made for our group because of this learning process we went through.
Final Design:
Reflection: We accomplished in making a machine that works decently. Our model went through multiple prototypes. First we tried to use pneumatics and focused most of our energies on this but there were not enough parts so we switched out the pneumatics for motors. We found that motors could do the same motion the pneumatics did just as efficiently and were easier to program. For the most part, our machine worked quite well and achieved the main objective of sorting the marbles. However, the color sensor we used was very sensitive and seemed to vary its readings from day to day. Before each use we had to test our values and adjust accordingly. Only after this could we sort our marbles. However, the design worked quite well after the adjustments. Our other dilemma was getting it below 2 minutes. The machine we designed sorted 15 marbles in approximately 2 minutes and 25 seconds. We were given an exception for this, however. This is because motors work much slower than pneumatics. Regarding our programming, we made a main program with a singular subprogram imbedded in it, as shown above. It was a challenge to program because neither of us had ever made such an intricate program before but we received help from both David Cuban and Austin VonPohle and were able to make a working program. Overall, we believe that we succeeded in making a working program with a efficient machine.
