Brad grinding down a screw to a usable length.
Throughout the month of February, the CATE team was hard at work machining the storage unit, wiring the switchboard, and finalizing the test design. We also set a date for our Preliminary Design Review which was scheduled and took place on March 5.
Allyson finalized the storage unit design and worked with Brad to build and machine the structure. In the next couple weeks a mass machining and printing of all the items needed for each payload will be done.
Sam, who has been working on researching the cameras and testing backlighting, has moved on to testing the camera and how we will use them to collect data and produce analysis. Research on backlighting, however, has continued. Same has obtained help with the backlighting testing from EXCEL students in the Center for Microgravity Research lab. Chris, our other physicist, will be helping Sam with the camera testing.
Chris and Sam testing the GoPro camera.
Chris has been researching marble sizes for launching through the dust. Originally, the team decided on ordering 20 and 25 mm marbles. The 25 mm marbles ended up being too large for the experiment payloads. Now, Addie and Chris are in discussion about the
Kelly showing the electrical work to the capture mechanism.
best size option to use other than 20 mm to use in the experiment.
mechanism. This is a system that operates by a switch which will be engaged by one of the team members and then the muscle wire will heat up and open the door to capture the ball.Kelly, our student lead, has finished the electrical device to operate the capture
The final design and functioning prototype are both due next week.
High fidelity prototype