Put one marble at a time and use a motor to take the marble to a long rod that will push the marble to the bin it belongs.

Title Page 1

Table of Contents 2

Project Plan: Targets for 12 Design Steps 3-4

Brainstorming Ideas 5-7

Decision Matrix 8

Daily Journal of accomplishments, unfinished work 9-11

Design Choice (labeled sketch) 12

Design modifications 13

Final Design 14-16

Final Program 17

Use of subroutine(s) in final program 18

Reflection 19

References 20

Project Plan: Targets for 12 Design steps:

· Define a Problem (04/16/12):

Define a problem that we got to solve: Design a mechanical system that will sort marbles into bins. Gather information.

· Brainstorm (04/16/12):

Brainstorm some ideas that would directly relate to our project and the problem that we have defined. Generate and record them. Develop preliminary ideas. Discuss those ideas in the group and decide which of them are going to work best for us.

· Research and generate Ideas (04/17/12):

Research solutions that may already exist and define two main ideas that we are going to use. Build, test and, if needed, rebuild main design. Also define a backup plan if something goes wrong with the first one.

· Identify Criteria and Specify Constraints (04/17/12):

Identify what the solution should do and the degree to which the solution will be pursued. Look over the criteria for this project and think of how to apply those to our chosen design. Identify constraints.

· Explore Possibilities (04/17/12):

Consider further development of brainstorming ideas with constraints and tradeoffs. Explore alternative ideas based on further knowledge and technologies and do our best to find as many ideas as possible to have a big choice.

· Select and Approach (04/18/12):

Review brainstormed information and answer any lingering questions. Narrow ideas down by using a decision matrix. Decide on final idea and then start building the design and work in a computer program.

· Develop a Design Proposal(04/19/12):

Explore the idea in greater detail with annotated sketches. Make critical decisions such as material types and manufacturing methods. Generate through computer models detailed sketches to further refine the idea. Produce working drawings so the idea can be built.

· Make a model or Prototype (04/19/12):

Make models to help communicate the idea (rough sketches). Construct a prototype from the working drawings, so the solution can be tested.

· Test and Evaluate the Design using Specifications (04/20/12):

Design experiments and test the prototype in controlled and working environments. Gather performance data; analyze and check results against established criteria. Conduct a formal critique to flesh out areas of concerns, identify shortcomings, and establish any need for redesign work.

· Refine the design (04/20/12):

Make design changes; if needed, modify or rebuild the prototype. Make refinements until accuracy and repeatability of the prototype's performance results are consistent. Update documentation to reflect changes.

· Create or make solution (04/23/12):

If the previous design didn’t work well, try to find another way out and try to come up with another solution to this problem.

· Communicate Processes and Results (04/16/12 – 04/23/12):

Communicate the final solution through the technical report. Tell about our results, problems, solutions and failures.

Brainstorming Ideas:

Plan A:

Use the light from the lamp to tell the motor on which box the marble belongs.

The marble colors that we have chosen are clear glass, blue glass, and opaque glass. The sensing is done with the use of a lamp and a photo resistor. The photo resistor detects how much light is let through the marble. Each color will let through a different amount of light. This allows a determination to be made. The device is made of different systems that work together through a computer interface to perform the task. These systems include the hopper, the separation, the sensing, and the bin moving systems.

Plan B:

Put the marbles in a certain order and have a crank to stop the marbles for a certain amount of time. During that time the motor would move bins and the marble would roll down to its particular bin

Put one marble at a time and use a motor to take the marble to a long rod that will push the marble to the bin it belongs.

Decision matrix:

Criteria	Dependability	Ease of programming	Use of materials	Complexity	Probability of solving problem	Total:
Plan A	1	1	2	2	2	8
Plan B	2	2	1	1	1	7

Team Journal

April 16, 2012

Summary:
Today, at first, we decided who is going to be in charge of what parts of the project. Then we came up with some brainstorming ideas about the design of our marble sorter. Also we planned out the time frame which we would hope to be able to complete this project and set dates for when we are going to finish certain aspects. After that our team made sketches of ideas while furthering the brainstorming process. Finally, we conversed about what concerns we have for the design and building process of this project.

Task:
Our goal is to finish all of the sketches of the ideas for the marble sorter that we came up with during brainstorming. And the main task for tomorrow is to start working on our circuits for the project, keep researching more ideas, and finish up all sketches and labels to them.

April 17, 2012

Summary:
Today all of the team members continued to brainstorm more ideas. Also, we furthered our designs, continued to work on our sketches, and went over our time constraints as a group. We were able to finish sketches from today and the previous times that we met in class. Finally, we decided on one design which we are going to build and started to build it.

Task:
Tomorrow we are going to continue building our main design that we have chosen. Our tasks have remained consistent throughout the whole project. We just have to watch our time management, make sure the design will mesh with interface, and keep all of the paperwork updated.

April 18, 2012

Summary:

We are almost finished building the marble sorter and ready to start working on the computer program. We also have listed the steps in which the actions are carried out, updated our journals and initial sketches and the final sketch. If time allows it, we will begin testing on the interface system.

Task:
Our only task for tomorrow is to remain on task to enable our group to finish with all the elements of this project in the time which we designated. Also, to make sure our design works with the interface software successfully.

April 19, 2012

Summary:
Our main goal for today is to complete the building of our design, and construct a program that will correspond with the design. We have begun to list out our steps to complete the program. Also, today we will take pictures of our construction of the design, and this afternoon we will scan our sketches. So far, we have completed building our design, writing our daily journal, and initial sketches. Our main goals for today are to get to a good point in making our system (to where we can test) and finishing our final sketch.

Task:

A main task is still making sure we are good on time and also that the design will work with the interface program. Another task consists of completing the building of our design early during class, so that we will be able to work on the program longer. And make sure to get the sketches and pictures. Time is a big factor of concern - after going over our task allocation we learned that we need more time for a lot of the parts of this project. Building took us longer than we planned which slowed down all of the other factors of the project (mainly putting together the system and testing).

We are also planning on meeting right after school and spend two hours to continue working on our computer program.

*In building we have to find a way to fix our hopper so that it will keep the marbles in line better when they are going to be sorted.

April 20, 2012

Summary:
We spent the whole class today working on our program that will mesh with the construction of our Marble Sorter. Testing and making sure that the program will work with the Marble Sorter is definitely the most difficult task. Since we are still working on a program that will work our test for the difficult color marbles and the value at which they will be read has been delayed. We will have to work harder next class in order to complete the table at which the readings will be displayed. We have completed our final sketch today.

Task:
We have been given one more day (04/03/12) to work on our project. (Thank you so much Mr. Velegol!).

Also, we faced a new concern, and it mainly has to do with the designing of our program. This task is a lot more difficult than what we expected, and has pushed back our testing date. In order to get back on track we will have to work harder on finishing this program.

April 23, 2012

Summary:
Today we continued to make our computer program. This part of the project has taken a considerably longer amount of time than we would have expected. So far, we have completed our construction of the sorter.

During class we spent the time correcting our program, and testing it with our marble sorter. We are still facing problems with our hopper and the program.

Design Modifications:

After we have started our building process we have noticed some things that we had to change in order to get our machine work.

We have switched our motor to another one because the previous one did not accomplish its work completely (the problem was that the gear on the motor and the gear that helps the valve move were not meshed well). Also, we have added some new pieces to our construction to make it more stationary. (04/20/12)

We also added one more valve and a motor to it to make sure that the rest of the marbles stay in one place while another one is getting checked for the color with a lamp and a photo resistor. (04/20/12)

After adding another valve and a motor we had to move every other piece to another place in order to get all that set up properly. (04/23/12)

We added some side pieces to our track so the marble would not fall off that track till it reaches its bin. (04/23/12)

Final Program:

Subroutine(s):

Reflection:

At the very beginning of this project we were assigned to design and build a Marble Sorter. The purpose of this project was to build a machine that would be able to sort different types of marbles. We used clear glass, opaque glass, and blue glass marbles in our design. We have started at a very good point by deciding who is going to be in charge of what parts of the project and then as a group did a pretty good research on ideas for the design. Then we started our work on the actual design and the construction. This part of the project went very good, but it took us longer than we planned which slowed down all of the other factors of the project and plus we expected the work in the computer program to be much easier than it really was. At that point we faced our first unexpected failure. We had some issues with our design, which we hoped would work well. After figuring out the constriction problems we tried to test our machine and we faced our second failure – the computer program. If we had a chance to actually rebuild our design and to prevent both of those failures we would definitely do a list of corrections. Firstly, we would definitely jump right into that computer program and start testing the sorter while finishing up building process. Secondly, we would try to manage our time more wisely so we would stay on track and keep up a good work. Lastly, we would stay after school as a group to keep working on our project and have more time for it. The results that we have got so far partially fulfill the problem statement. We have built the design that we have planned to build and we got some action from the machine using the computer program. But the actual project was not finished. We have learned a lot from this project. First and above of all is how to collaborate in a group of such different people with very different ideas, points of views and opinions. This is not as easy as one might think. Also, we definitely have learned how to communicate to get the best from each of the group members and how to use their best sides in a good way. The entire project was very challenging for our group as well as for the rest of the class. This project is not easy and it makes you think and challenge yourself. For us, the most challenging part of the project was working in the computer program and putting all things together. Some of the creative changes that we would make to our design solution if we could start over are make our design bigger, add more colors (make it colorful), make it do extra moves, etc. Even though this project was very difficult to accomplish we still like it. It is fun to make a machine with our hands, make it move, and get a result from it. Even though we did not finish our project we still had a great time doing it. We like challenge ourselves and learn more and more. That’s exactly why we are here in this class! Roll Pirates Roll!

References:

1. "Creating a Marble Sorter." SchoolTube. Web. 19 Apr. 2012. <http://www.schooltube.com/video/111382ba5fd84be68f81/>.

2. "PLTW Marble Sorter Video - PLTWCa - Video Central." Home. Web. 19 Apr. 2012. <http://video.pltwcalifornia.org/videos/14/pltw-marble-sorter.html>.

3. "Prezi." Prezi.com. Web. 19 Apr. 2012. <http://prezi.com/6wia7qi4nfp8/project-lead-the-way-poe-activity-331-marble-sorter/>.

4. "TeacherTube Videos - Marble Sorter." TeacherTube. Web. 19 Apr. 2012. <http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=105427>.

5. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 19 Apr. 2012. <http://www.wikipedia.org/>.

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