One-Bar Bearing
Edward272
Entry ID #: 8429
Created: Sat, Dec 5, 2020 3:25 PM
VEX Robotics Competition, Team 507A Mustang Robotics Introduction We decided to create a new modified version of a one-bar. This modified one-bar is made to allow axles to move freely. In order to make this function, we would make the holes circular and along with that, we would use a nylon material. With this, this would replicate the use of a bearing, and could also replace it as it would serve the same functionality. Although the bearing exists, this would be better as bearings take up some space, but with this, it is a more compact version of it. Explanation This part was initially created to replace the bearing. The bearings were useful, but they were not able to be used as building materials by themselves. Our design would allow a bearing to be implemented inside a building material (one-bar), allowing it to be used by itself. Sometimes when extending a rotatory part, like an intake for balls during Nothing but Net or Turning Point, the One-Bar Bearing would reduce the space used for a C-Channel and a bearing, allowing for more building space. Sometimes, my team would run into the problem of having to shave bearings to reduce the area to fit in smaller places. This new design allows the one bar bearing to be manipulated easily and to be shaped in various ways, giving more flexibility to build a robot. Creation We used Autodesk Inventor 2021 to create this CAD part. We started out with a new part template and created a 2D sketch of a rectangle using the dimensions of 7.500 inches by 0.500 inches, which are similar to a VEX Aluminum 1x15 Bar. We then extruded the sketch by 0.096 inches so that it can remain relatively compact, while providing a decent amount of structural strength. Then, we started another 2D sketch to create circles that are 0.182 inches in diameter. This would allow us to create a hole using the dimension of the 2D circle, which is the exact diameter of a hole in a bearing. Based on the distance of the holes in an VEX Aluminum 1x25 Bar, we distanced the holes on our part by 0.500 inches. This would give us the ability to accurately match the holes in a C-Channel, allowing us to fit it accurately onto our robot. We repeated this, until we created 15 individual holes in the part. The next step was to create another 2D sketch for circles that were bigger than the holes, in order to represent the nylon portions. After this, we used the split command to separate the outer circle from the inner holes so that this would allow us to retexture separate sections of the part. Finally, we retextured the main part as aluminum and the outer circles of the hole as black nylon. Conclusion Designing a new part in CAD allowed us to use and explore features of the 3D design software that we weren’t previously familiar with. We got more experience with all of the tools the program has to offer which we can now confidently utilize in our designs in the future. 3D design software allows us, as a team, to test our designs and recognize design flaws. Correcting them long before we start building. We do expect ourselves to be making designs outside of the VEX world as there are many career paths that involve designing parts or even just designing as a hobby. In many different career paths learning the fundamentals of how to design now will give us a head start. Which can lead to countless future career opportunities in modeling intensive jobs.
