This week, we met with a professional mechanical engineer that gave us feedback and his personal opinion in the operation of our project. We went into the meeting with four main ideas in mind:
About the first topic, he told us that the top parts of our product can work similarly to electrical blinds or garage doors. We were told that using the first option would be easier to use and install but the second option would end up being better in a high quality product, however it requires a stronger motor to fully operate. Either way, we can ensure that the top layer of our product closes effectively and guarantees the dryness of the clothes.
About the second topic, after showing which components we had chosen, he told us that the step motors we chose were probably ideal for our solution, although the top motor power might be too much, considering that we wouldn’t be making a real-size prototype.
The usage of PVC as a material was well received but he also gave us other options if we wanted to make our product better quality, such as aluminium or fiber. We decided to stick with our initial plan and use PVC as a material.
We were also told that maintenance of our product wouldn’t be a problem since most products like ours, take for instance the electrical blinds or garage doors referenced earlier, endure more than thirty years without needing maintenance.
This feedback was valuable and will be crucial when building our prototype. We concluded this week by making our pitch deck presentation that would be presented in the first week of the fourth period of classes.