Name: Vivek Ramanathan

Team Members: Jugal Amodwala, John Rearick, Rama Hassabelnabi

Class: POE Block 4
Date: 9/25/15
Assignment: Project 1.1.6 Compound Machine Design

Design Problem
The problem is to make a compound machine that must lift a weight of approximately 8
ounces a vertical distance of 6 inches in less than 3 minutes.

The learning objectives are to understand how elements of design can affect
mechanical advantage, how simple machines can work together to accomplish a task,
compare the efficiency of different simple machines in a working situation and
experience the capabilities and limitations of VEX components for future projects.
The criteria and constraints are that the applied effort force may only be provided by a
single human input, the final design must include a minimum of three different types of
mechanisms, two must be simple machines and the third mechanism can be: a gear
system, a pulley and belt system or a sprocket and chain system, each required
mechanism must have a mechanical advantage greater than 1, the final design must
have a mechanical advantage greater than 1.
Brainstorm Idea

In my compound machine(displayed above), the object is attached to a sprocket by a

string. The other side of the sprocket has a string attached which then goes to a pulley.
The person then pulls on the string and the object move up the inclined plane. In order
for the object to move up, the strings are wound around the spools, which are attached

to either side of the sprocket. The strings unwrap when the pulley string is pulled,
causing the object to move up the inclined plane.
Final Design Proposal
To decide our final proposal, we used a decision matrix. The decision matrix allowed us
to compare the 4 different proposals by the group members using different parameters.
The decision matrix used:
In our decision matrix, we had a scale from 1-4, 1 being the worst and 4 being the best.

Build time

Simplicity

Reliability

Run Time

Size

Total

Rama

3,3,3,3

4,3,4,4

3,3,2,3

3,2,2,3

2,2,3,3

58

Jugal

1,1,1,1

2,1,2,2

3,2,3,3

3,2,3,3

2,1,2,3

41

Vivek

3,2, 3,3

2,2,3,3

2,3,3,3

3,3,4,3

3,3,3,3

57

John

2,1,2,3

3,2,2,2

3,3,2,2

4,3,2,2

3,2,3,3

49

Using the decision matrix, we concluded that Rama had the best solution to solve the
problem. The three most important features were build time, simplicity and reliability.
These criteria were used because we felt that these three were very important
considering the time and material constraints that we had to complete this project.
Ramas solution had the best overall for these features and had the greatest total, so we
used her solution.

Final solution:

In our compound machine(displayed above),the person turns the sprocket system(effort

force) using a crank. The crank will cause the string to wrap around a rod, which will pull
the string connected to the pulley. This will cause the object(resistance force) to move
up the inclined plane.

Design Modifications
We made five modifications to our compound machine. We added a support behind the
sprocket system to keep the sprocket system together and upright , we changed the
crank to a wheel because of build time constraints and convenience, we doubled the
width of the inclined plane because the object was too big for the original inclined plane
which caused it to fall off frequently, we changed the number of towers for the pulley
from two to one because we realized that the extra tower was unnecessary for the
whole machine and we changed the placement of the pulley to keep the whole system
mostly aligned and also to combine the two bases which needed a stronger connection.
All of the changes that we made worked very well and made the compound machine a
lot better.
Final Design Presentation

Our compound machine(displayed above) worked well in the official presentation. The
object went up 6 inches in less than three minutes, but our efficiency was very low

because of the amount of friction the object had when moving up the inclined and with
the railing designed to keep the object in place.
The following are the IMAs of each component, the inclined plane was 2.08, the fixed
pulley was 1, the sprocket system was 1.33, the 1st wheel and axle was 1.69 and then
2nd wheel and axle was 24.54. So, the overall IMA of our complex machine was 114.73
while the AMA of the entire machine was 4.07. Therefore, our machines efficiency was
3.55%. In the official presentation, our machine completed the task in less than 3
minutes.
Team Evaluation
Our team was very productive and everyone was very cooperative. In our team, the
work was divided amongst the four of us. Rama worked on the sprocket system and
pulley, John worked on some calculations and helped with building, Jugal created the
base and worked on the inclined plane and other parts and I worked on the 2nd wheel
and axle(crank) and the pulley. Rama, John, Jugal and I followed the group norms and
we had no conflicts. Everyone(Rama, John, Jugal and I) did a good job and worked very
well and efficiently and everyone did their share of work. As the work was divided well,
we were able to finish the project on time and solve any problems that we faced on the
way. I feel that I helped to complete the project and added a few ideas that were helpful
in the overall machine.
Post-Mortem (Reflection)
a. Determining the IMA of the fixed pulley was the easiest because the IMA
of a fixed pulley is always 1, so we did not have to do any calculations.
b. The most difficult mechanical advantage to determine was the AMA of the
wheel and axles because we had to tie a string around it and pull to determine
the effort force to turn the wheel.
c. The modifications that I would make to our compound machine to make it
more mechanically efficient would be to add a spool on the axle that has a string
wrapped around it from the pulley. This would decrease the IMA of the wheel and
axle, I would also make the string straight and not slanted, which caused the
object to hit the railing and increase friction, if these two modifications were
added, our machines efficiency would increase.
d. I also would have increased the height of the inclined plane so that our
object did not have to be below the base to meet the height requirement of 6
inches. I also would have added a handle to the wheel and axle to make it a
crank and make the wheel easier to turn and decrease the runtime of the
machine.