4/23/16 update

This semester consisted of finalizing design and getting ready for fabrication. The bogie is currently being fabricated and welded together. Some redesigns had to happen, for example, the Hbar that is in between the bogies was redesigned in order to house a hub motor as well as a redesign needed to accommodate suspension teams actuators. This redesign had the Hbar lengthened to 27 inches as well as having moving pivots to accommodate for the incline and decline of the bogie.

10/7/15 update

Last week on 9/30/15, the failsafe/bogie team presented our presentation about our ideas for the fail safe mechanisms. During this presentation we discussed about our goals for this project, the background, functional specifications, challenges, possible failures, and individual responsibilities. The week leading up to the presentation the failsafe team discussed ideas about how to implement the failsafe system within the existing bogie design, and came to a conclusion of adding a third wheel to the bottom of the bogie. Since the last meeting most of the team has been researching how roller coasters design their failsafe systems, since the ATN is similar. In addition to looking into a failsafe mechanism, we recently got the solidworks files for the full scale bogie, hopefully we can calculate a 1/4 scale soon.

Assignment 3, 9/21/15 update

During the last meeting, on 9/16/15,  the bogie/fail safe team members all collaborated and exchanged idea about redesigning the bogie. The team came up with many different ideas about how we can proceed to design the fail safe around the existing bogie, eventually we all came to a conclusion that adding a secondary wheel to the bogie would be the most practical. We also agreed that the most amount of stress on the bogie is when it is switching rails. Jeffery Chau, member of steering team, had a sketch that was heavily detailed. His sketch involved a steering mechanism that would provide more support to the to the wheels relieving some of the stress. Though his idea was good, it would involve a redesign of the track which we would want to avoid because of costs. During this meeting I noticed how everyone had done a lot of research prior to the meeting and we were all discussing how other systems design fail safes. Most of the team members had looked into roller coasters because they will exhibit a lot more stress than bogie. At the end of the meeting we had all agreed that we would keep the bogie and railway system similar to previous years and then implement a fail safe system around the existing bogie. Now we need to further research into rollercoasters, gondolas, and other transportation systems because it will be beneficial for our design ideas.

Initial Design 1

The main concern for engineers when designing a new technology is the safety of the general public. Initially the bogie did not have any types of fail safe system, if the bogie's wheels were to fail it would send the cabin plummeting down to the ground, potentially resulting in several fatalities. My initial thought was that the primary wheels would take the most amount of stress so they might fail first. My design is really simple in that if the bogies primary wheels were to fail, there would be a secondary rail system with wheels attached to the bogie. The wheels do not touch the rail unless the primary wheels fail. It is important that the bogie can still move once the failsafe system is activated, aka Limp Mode, because we want the bogie to be able to travel to a safe location where it can be repaired. My idea was to design around what is already available and see if there is a way to make the bogie safe with minimal costs or effort.

Post 3

My initial interest is in designing the failsafe system because public safety is a number 1 priority whenever designing a part. Through the last few years of the Superway reports there has been nothing reported or designed for the failsafe. Since every moving part will fail eventually, it is important to design a system that could prevent a potential disaster and civilian casualty. Looking through the design from the previous years it seems that the bogie is most likely to fail when switching rails. I believe that the design of the track and bogie can be kept and the failsafe team can design a safety system with the bogie to keep it safe.

9/8/15 Update

During last Wednesdays meeting, Professor Furman presented us with the opportunity to choose which part of the project we wanted to get involved with. He gave us a tour of the facility and eventually I decided to work on the full scale model's fail safe system. The fail safe system is important because if any parts fail on the Superway it could lead to civilian death. I have thought about some ways in which we can implement some safety designs however it is difficult because it would have to be designed around what is already built for the bogie. There are many things to consider when designing the fail safe because they're so many moving parts that could possibly break. However the main concern is just to keep the cabin from falling 2 stories down from the rail system. Hopefully soon I can get a definite look at the the bogie system and hopefully can design a fail safe system that could prevent the bogie from falling and rolling backwards if gears ever break. 

Introduction

My name is Aaron Cheng and I am a senior Mechanical Engineering student here at San Jose State University. I choose to work on the Spartan Superway because I saw a system that can potentially change the future of transportation. For my senior project I have chosen to work on the fail safe mechanism on the Spartan Superway. My interests include automotive/transportation, mechanical mechanisms, hydraulics, and suspension. In my free time I like to work on my cars and spend time with my friends and family. I am looking forward to getting to know everyone working on the Spartan Superway project and hopefully we can accomplish something amazing this year.