The Brief: design and manufacture an electric screwdriver- group work

Initial Stages

Touchpoint

  • The group initially proposed designing the form of the screwdriver to encompass an extra function, like an item of stationary 
  • We ended up going down the route of forms proposed by myself
  • The next steps are to ideate how the internals of our driver will be laid out, as well as performing calulations to select our motor, gear ratio and gear design for correct wear and meshing
  • We must achieve a rating of 150-250rpm, and the driver must be capable of driving a 20mm woodscrew into MDF 

 

Converge- Calculations by Louis Russell

Touchpoint

  • At this stage we have all our calculations complete and are ready to start testing out some different design variations!

 

Testing

The Final Result

Conclusions and Forecast

The finished screwdriver passed all tests! We sat at a comfortable 170rpm and were able to drive the stated 20mm screw into MDF. The above video shows us pushing the screwdrivers limits, attempting to drive a wider and longer screw with no pilot hole!

 

A key learning point from this project is to allow even more time and resources for things to go wrong! Distaster struck on the night before submission when our gearbox was unable to move- increasing the gap between meshing teeth and a quick re-print solved that.

A mere hour before submission, the driver froze up again due to the central spur gear friction welding onto the carrier plate. Without any spares, I thought on my feet and carefully seperated them using a scalpel. I then drilled out the area to avoid further contact. 

 

Times like these are invaluable for developing problem solving ability, and to better prepare for future deadlines!