Warman
From Wiki
UWA wins Warman Student Design & Build Competition national final 2009
For visitors to the UWA finals
The Warman project challenges students in the second year of mechanical engineering to build a device. The device must satisfy a design brief that is very detailed and which describes a task to be completed. This year the task is to move as much rice as possible, in a container, from one end of an obstacle course to another. It is like a relay race because one device must pass the container of rice to a second device. The obstacle course has a 400mm high step and also a chasm. Students design and build their devices during the semester using workshop facilities on campus and at home. At the local finals the best 12 groups will compete for the top prize which is to represent the university at the national finals in Sydney later this year. It is a fun event which will appeal to anyone who appreciates robotics or invention.
The finals at UWA will be
3 to 5pm Friday 28 May ELT1
Visitors, friends and family are welcome.
There will be light refreshments in the intermission at about 4pm.
Click on the map to see a larger view - showing where ELT1 is.
Weir Minerals Design & Build Competition at UWA
(Formerly known as the Warman Competition).
- Warman project brief 2010 (local wiki copy - could be out of date - check NCED web site for latest). Read this document thoroughly in order to understand the competition, design a good solution to the problem, and avoid angering your judges at the trials!
- Scoring Spreadsheet 2010 (Beta). This is the spreadsheet that will be used to calculate and record your group's scores in the trials. You may like to use it to work out the best strategies for scoring big points in the competition! Please note that this is currently a beta version that has not yet been tested rigorously so there may be errors! If you find a problem with one of the formulae or have other issues, please contact the author.
- The Arduino challenge: make your group Wiki page (see tutorial above for help). Put a photograph of your group members on the Wiki page. If your group are in the first 30 to do this, you will be able to borrow an Arduino board. It is a very easy to use microprocessor that comes with excellent help and a free programming environment. It is not a critically important Warman component but is still cool and worth having a go at. So get in there. Remember - I want to see a picture! This is so that I know that you know how to get image files onto this Wiki.
- Falling in love again - Nathan's design process
Trial Results Available!
Results from trials are now available >>>here<<<.
Reflections on the first trials by Nathan
Visual Diary DESIGN Marks Available!
Marks and comments about the DESIGN content of visual diaries are now available >>>here<<<.
Note these are DESIGN marks not VISUAL COMMUNICATION marks. For your VC mark for your visual diary you will need to log in to webCT. Approach your VC tutor for detailed comments and feedback.
Warman Finals 2010
The following groups received the top 12 accumulated trial scores for 2010.
The spreadsheet of trial scores is available here.
These groups will be competing at the Warman Finals, held in ELT1 on Friday 18th May 2010 from 3-5pm:
Results of the local finals may be seen here.
The winners of our local competition are
- Group 30
- Emma Purton
- Chris Wilson
- Linden Blair
- Alexander Benet
Congratulations! You are going to Sydney in September - and we wish you every success there.
Student visual diaries 2010
If you don't yet have a group, approach the students who attend your Drawing or CAD class.
If your group does not yet have a group number, please send email to Nathan to request one.
Read about the expected content of your visual diary here, or see this page for a quick tutorial
Secrecy: If you would prefer to keep your visual diary secret, it will be permitted provided certain conditions are met. Read more.
Tutors
Senior students who will hang around in 1.57 to help you during stressful times. They can help you with your design and also with finding tools and materials.
Safety
A minimum level of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is required when working in room 1.57. Covered shoes and appropriate safety glasses or goggles must be worn at all times. If any student in room 1.57 found not wearing appropriate PPE penalties will apply to all students in the room. MECH2401 unit credit will be deducted from all students in the room at the time! This policy is explained in the Unit outline.
Watch your colleagues in room 1.57 carefully and if any of them wander in without shoes, or without safety glasses, expel them immediately!!
Students must also wear safety glasses at all times whilst handling or working on Warman devices on UWA grounds!!
Resources
- Arduino Tutorial
- Arduino Language Reference - Think of this as a dictionary of words/phrases that the Arduino knows
- A crash course in microelectronics ATMega8 version
- A crash course in microelectronics Wiki version (under construction)
- Care and feeding of your group
- Where to buy or scrounge cheap or free construction materials, motors etc.
- UWA students win National Final 2009! - pictures and movies
FAQ
Is it ok to use parts from a remote control car?
Yes! This is no different to using any other manufactured item.
To what extent do we have to build our design ourselves?
The rules state that your group will do the work. This means that you can take manufactured items from other places, modify them, combine them and so on. You can also design something that is made by a manufacturing company, for example a printed circuit board. Anything that an engineer might do to solve the problem, you can do, as long as the design thought and initiative are from your group. Practically speaking, most groups do all the design and all the construction on their devices.
We are thinking of using a commercial object as the base for our solution but it is complicated - do we have to draw it as it is?
I think your group should have a discussion about how many hours you are willing to spend on each part of the assessment for the unit. Then spend that number of hours and no more. If this means you have to cut corners and represent some complex object by simplifying them, then that is just the way it has to be. The main thing is to avoid spending ages on something that is ultimately worth very little credit. I'd much rather you were spending your valuable time on design thought, frankly.
How do I drive a small motor from an Arduino board?
The Arduino can drive a load of only about 40mA at 5V which is not enough to drive a small motor.
Instead have a look at Nathan's Crash course page for PWM (or the Wiki version) which has some simple transistor driver ideas.
A good alternative the H-bridge from the above site is an L293D chip (available from Altronics). It is basically a dual H-bridge in a chip, plus it has built in diodes to protect your arduino. This will simplify your driving electronics a lot, but as it can run off two voltages (one for signal and one for motors), be careful which pins you connect things to.
Also consider this product from Robot Gear.
Can you explain about the 400mm cube start volumes?
Here are some statements I believe are true:
After you set your devices up, they must sit quietly on the competition site:
- one in start zone A;
- one in start zone B.
An official will approach the table and use a gauge to check that each device does indeed sit entirely within the bounds of an imaginary cube which is 400x400x400mm.
Note that you are NOT expected to make any device which is actually 400x400x400mm! This is the MAXIMUM size! Actually I suggest you make something much smaller and as light as possible (why?)
After set-up, only your two start cubes can contain stuff. The rest of the track must be completely clean and empty.
Then you can start one of your devices and the run can begin. Your second device is started by a second start action i.e. another group member starts that when it is best to do so (but within the allowed run time). Once the run has started, the devices are no longer constrained by the 400mm cubes. They can expand if you wish.
Is it OK to do Warman Visual Diary sketches on a mixture of A4 and A3 paper?
The drawings you do will be assessed by various people:
- some specific types of drawing will be Visual Communication assignments. You should work in the format expected by your Drawing or CAD tutor.
- however for Design purposes I will tend to refer only to the Wiki form of your visual diary. Once you have scanned a given page and the file is uploaded, there is no longer any question about A3/A4 format as all images end up looking much the same.
The trials are noon to 3pm on Thursdays. Do we have to come at noon and stay till 3?
NO. The idea is instead that you should attend when you are able, any time between noon and 3.
Note that I will close the demonstration period at 3pm and that there is usually a rush towards the end.
To avoid disappointment and lost credit, attend and demonstrate as early as you can.
Each group will be asked to run twice as explained in the rules. If there is a serious problem with your first run I will allow you to return later for your second run.
Is there a workshop where we can build our devices?
Room 1.57 is open whenever the building is open.
It does not have any drills or saws.
You may use hand tools that you bring yourself.
The reason - OH&S as usual. We do not have the resources to provide training and supervision, so instead we limit what you have access to. It is not good and is the reason for the development of the MILC.
A few supervised sessions in room G27 will be possible by appointment.
Design ideas for "lifting stuff"
From Wright, DA, "Notes on the design and analysis of machine components", UWA internal publication 2004
14 machine concepts to lift a tin can
The first trials are coming up fast... how will our device be marked?
As explained in the unit outline, 9% unit credit is at stake at each of your 4 device demonstrations.
Your mark for each demonstration will be mark = A * 9% / X
where A is your Warman Score for your two runs and X is the maximum score seen during the relevant trials (or some other value of X as seems best to me).
You will see that a Warman Score of zero will lead to a mark of zero. It may seem brutal but it is an accurate representation of engineering in industry. No performance means no cash and probably no job.
Our group has been affected by The Storm/Alien Abduction/Whooping Cough etc. - may we have an extension please?
Although I am sympathetic I think I must instead draw attention to some hard truths about engineering:
- That we are charged with producing a result "on the day";
- That we are solely responsible for how we spend our time and resources;
- That in this case the brief was given many weeks ago;
- That a responsible engineering approach is to have the solution ready a week in advance so that unexpected delays are to some extent not a problem.
These really are hard truths and I am still learning them myself.
The performance mark really is what it claims to be: a measure of actual performance, on a particular day, with no mercy. There are other types of assessment which are more subjective and friendly (such as the Visual Diary). But performance means performance.
With your group, examine the scoring formula carefully. It is possible to get a non-zero score with a surprisingly modest investment of effort. Develop such a solution as a backup plan in case your main plan is not ready in time. Then at least you avoid the embarassment of having nothing at all on the track.
Where can I buy an Arduino?
Try
