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 Make It Real CAD Engineering Challenge Sponsored by Autodesk - 1010X SubmissionSIDEWAYS PILLOW BLOCKDesigned in Autodesk Inventor Professional 2017Why We Built the Sideways Pillow Block?496536666675123825295275While building our robots for VRC Starstruck and In the Zone, we constantly found ourselves looking for pillow blocks to use for our new build ideas but getting disappointed because the orientation of the centre hole does not match our intended applications. For example, when we were making a hinge for our claw last year, we did not have enough holes on the side of a channel to secure a regular pillow block for a lightweight hinge. Instead, we used the steel vex hinges, which made our claw a lot heavier.Similarly, when we were making anti-tips for our robot last year, we had standoffs that swung out in front our wheelbase, and for this application we had to use heavy wheel collars that frequently loosened. This led us to designing a new part to combat hinging and perpendicular attachment problems.What We Designed and How We Designed It350414277258The AutoCAD part we designed is a Sideways Pillow Block. Similar to a pillow block, it has two holes to attach to metal with screws. However, the centre hole is rotated 90 degrees to allow for attachments perpendicular to the pillow block instead of parallel to it like the original pillow blocks. This eliminates the problem of not being able to attach the pillow block to the sides of a c-channel. Also, this allows the part to be attached with two screws even on the edge of the metal.With the new orientation of the centre hole, the pillow block can attach onto the edge of a piece of metal without the side hanging out. Also, countersink holes are created so if it is used as a hinge, the object hinging will not touch the screwheads and get caught.We used Autodesk Inventor Professional 2017. We were fortunate enough to get the software from Autodesk for free for students, and we are very appreciative of this. 5172075142875-114299142875For this part, we drew the base of the pillow block with screw holes and extruded it. Then we extruded the centre of the pillow block and hollowed out another screw hole, this one perpendicular to the last holes. We used the filet tool for round edges and also the screw hole countersink. Lastly, we changed the colour of the pillow block to match the vex pillow blocks. The piece was relatively simple to create in Inventor and could be 3D printed. Also, manufacturing this part would also be affordable, with pricing similar to the pillow blocks we have now.41052751517650Real-World ApplicationTwo of these pillow blocks could replace the heavy steel hinges we use for folding-out claws, seen in this image. Here we see the two hinges being used to secure the claw to the arm. The arm was made with as little weight as possible, with only two aluminum bars, the hinges were the only strong joint option but they were made of steel. This added to the weight at the end of arm, thus increasing the force required to lift the arm. This simple and lightweight pillow block would be a lightweight and simplified replacement.ConclusionFrom this project, we learned that it is convenient and simple to design a part in Autodesk Inventor. The interface is easy to learn and there are many quality tutorials out there. In the future we would like to take our designing up a notch and 3D print it, hopefully with the 3D printer prize for this challenge. Also, we also use Inventor to assemble our robots for judging presentations to show special features, this helps us in competitions by greatly improving the quality of our presentation. Learning 3D design would also help us a lot in our future engineering careers. For example, if we wanted to present our idea at meetings in our future jobs, we could show a 3D rendering of it instead of describing it with words. This would help coworkers and customers visualize the finished project. This pillow block may seem like a simple start, yet it has inspired us to create more optimized, versatile and useful creations in the future. ................
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