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5. One Degree North Jr : Double-sided motor

New part - Double-sided Motor After having lots of problems with being able to successfully mount motors and not being able to power arms on both sides without making gearboxes, there was lots of wondering about why VEX IQ does not have motors that have shaft entrance and exit points on both sides.  The double shafted motor allows the builder to fulfill two main purposes: easier mounting of the motors and being able to power two sides of the same mechanism with one motor and without a gearbox. This is very important for complex robots because there is often not enough space to mount a motor. Furthermore, the current VEX IQ motors only have mounting points on one side. This can result in highly inefficient designs because we are forced to attach the motor to the frame of the robot right next to where the shaft inserts into the motor. This means that we are often forced to not attach our motors to any part of the robot and instead rest it in some haphazardly built frame. With the double shafted motor comes two sides of connection. This means that we will be able to attach the motor from the side further from the mechanism, increasing structural integrity.  The second feature of the double shafted motor is that it is able to power two sides of the same mechanism without needing to build off the current plane. This greatly increases the part efficiency of the robot. This is because there is no longer a need to extend the gearbox to allow for an axle to pass through a multitude of gears. With the double shafted motor, the team will be able to pass an axle straight through the motor and control a dual arm. This feature of the double shafted motor also means that the robot will weigh a lot less as there will be less parts wasted on motor mounts and dual arms mounts. This means that, since there is now less of a downwards force acting on the robot, any forward motion will produce a greater acceleration. For reference, if the weight of the robot decreased to 10 Newtons from 8 Newtons, the forward force required to move the robot would be decreased by 20%. This is because f = ma, meaning that the force required to induce forward motion decreases proportionally to a decrease in the weight.  To create this piece, I used Fusion 360 (Educational License). The main functions needed to make this piece were joint, extrude, and appearance. There were four main steps in creating this piece. First off, I had to create a copy of the motor and unlink the piece. Then, I created a drawing along the edge of the motor by inserting arcs and lines. By making this drawing, I was able to use the extrude tool to extend the motor cap along the motor to make sure there were no excess bumps and ridges. Next, I jointed the front side of the unlinked motor to the back side of the piece. To make it so that the motor would stay dual sided without having the unlinked motor show up randomly, I hid the unlinked motor, making it so that the only piece visible was the new one.  Not only did I learn how to CAD and create a new piece from this project, I also learned the value of persistence and perseverance. There were often times when I believed that I would not be able to get it done, but eventually I did. CAD is definitely something that I plan on using in the future, whether that be in high school or later on in my job. Designing pieces and structures without having to first build them is extremely useful. Studies show that CAD software allows designers to lower production costs, work faster and smarter, and ultimately leads to quicker project completion. Companies are also able to keep teams smaller and spend less money on their employees’ pay. This allows organisations to produce better quality products that are also cheaper, and also helps them produce their products faster, making quick changes. This is a huge advantage in the competitive global marketplace. Furthermore, the use of CAD allows design teams to control the quality of the final engineered product. It’s easy to investigate an error, diagnose the problem, and solve it all using the software before any prototypes are made. This not only saves time, but also money. This means that CADers and companies are able to get the design right the first time rather than having to build multiple prototypes and investigate them. This also translates to a massive resource saving as companies always get their product right the first time. In conclusion, I believe that the dual sided motor would be a big benefit to the VEX IQ parts catalogue and this CAD experience has helped set me up for the future.