Team 8054A Cable Organizer Box
greenandgoldgears
Entry ID #: 8838
Created: Mon, Dec 7, 2020 10:33 PM
CAD Make it Real Challenge Submission for team 8054A The funny thing about wires is, embarrassingly, how little design thought they are given in VEX robots despite their importance. Speaking from experience, wires are generally added shamefully at the last minute and secured only with zip-ties and a bit of hope. “Bad wires” are a plague not limited to just our team, and our submission has been designed specifically to remedy this issue easily. Our Cable Organizer Box allows us to organize wires in a neat and compact way and takes up minimal space to store excess wiring. The Cable Organizer Box (or COB for short) is fastened to structure parts via screws through the slots on each end, spaced 3 hole-widths wide. This allows it to sit comfortably on 3- and 5-wide C-channels/angles, or hang partially off of 2-wide ones. The interior of the COB has an area of 2.74 inches and a 0.5-inch depth, allowing it to hold a significant amount of wiring. The COB can go anywhere on the bot, as wherever there are wires there is room for improvement and organization. The lid snaps on and off easily, allowing for adjustments to the wiring if necessary. Furthermore, the COB can be used by any robot, big or small, in virtually any situation. Loose wires are at best in the way, and at worst leave you picking rubber and copper out of your gears seconds before your next match (fortunately, I’m not speaking from experience here). For our CAD, we chose to use Autodesk Fusion 360. Using Fusion 360 was an adjustment, as most of us on the team are more experienced in SolidWorks However, this was a welcome change, as it opened new doors of opportunity in our design, and simplified the CAD process overall. This project showed how much CAD can be collaborative, as well as constructive. Making the COB actively demonstrated how CAD is applied to solving real-world problems. We will likely be using 3D design and modeling in the future. During school from home, where we aren’t able to access the parts, our team has expanded our repertoire to include CAD modeling in our design process (part of which is done on Fusion 360!). We’ve been using CAD and will continue to do so to plan out everything from concepts to specific part placement, and we’re discovering how useful CAD is in the design sphere of competitive robot building. CAD is used in so many engineering careers such as aerospace and civil engineering. We are so excited to be using the same CAD software that is used in the real world!
