Although the PDR is only the
first design review we are doing for NASA, it requires an enormous amount of
detail in order to be thorough. We plan
on discussing our problem statement, motivation, goals, outreach, education,
project requirements, timeline and Gantt Chart, naming conventions, CAD
drawings we have been able to develop, finite element analysis (FEA) we have
been able to run on these CAD drawings, and materials and costs overview.
The first challenging bit of the
PDR is the timeline and Gantt Chart, as this requires some rather in depth
thought of future events. For many
people, it is instinct to jump into problems head first, without spending time
planning for the entirety of the project. While a quick lesson we have learned in this
Senior Design class is that no project goes according to plan, importance can
still be placed in the time spent creating the initial schedules.
Above is our Gantt Chart
for the development of our design, with progress bars showing up to June. Since we will not be installing anything inside of JSC until the end of August (tentatively), the bars above do not convey the entire project. This spring semester is depicted though.
The most challenging part of this
PDR on Monday is easily the amount of design we wanted to have prepared for the
meeting. We have plans on showing CAD
drawings and preliminary FEA for the horizontal and vertical configurations,
the internal panel structure, and some of our support structures.
Below we have outlined some of
our basic ideas for the vertical configuration.
The above picture illustrates one
complete wall section supported by two poles.
The cylindrical shape of the Flight Deck as a whole will be comprised of
this alternating wall section/pole pattern.
The locking mechanisms attached to the poles (collars) can rotate around the poles
on bearings, allowing us to be able to change the angle of the wall sections in
relation to each other, and therefore the diameter of overall cylindrical
shape.
The previously displayed wall
sections are made up of three subsections, named panels, which
are shown above. These panels are made
of bars with bolt hole mounting capabilities. We have certain amount of
versatility in being able to change the configuration of the internal bars to
idealize space. We also plan on covering
these panels with plastic fronts when they are not being directly used for
mounting purposes.
This third image depicts what the horizontal configuration will look like as a whole. The wall sections on the poles discussed before have here been connected to show how the structure will form its desired cylindrical shape. Also as mentioned before, the individual panels (subsections of the wall sections) will have plastic fronts to enclose the holes on the panels not being used and give the structure a more finished, uniform surface.
Secondly, we have outlined some of our basic ideas for the horizontal configuration.
The wall sections we are using in the horizontal configuration are very similar to the wall sections used in the vertical. The difference is in how the wall sections connect to each other. Since only one diameter is required for the horizontal orientation, we can use brackets, as shown above, to connect the wall sections to one another.
Above is the design for the horizontal configuration as a whole. In addition to the brackets connecting the wall sections to each other, we will have four arches supporting the cylindrical shape.
With these designs and the rest
of our presentation in tow, we are very excited to have the opportunity to go
to Houston this weekend! Presenting all
the ideas we have spent so much time and hard work developing is slightly
nerve-wrecking, but we can’t imagine a more exciting way to get NASA’s opinion
on our designs (tour of JSC facilities included!) We have less than a week to brush up on our
presentation, and then off to Houston we go.
Wish us luck!
