Progress Report 2/21/20
This week, we continued working developing our two control mechanism prototypes and progressing them to a functional state. Since our camera is still on backorder, we concentrated on developing the device mechanics further. During our presentation two weeks ago, we demonstrated a SolidWorks model that we were going to 3-D printed. As seen below, the user will use a control knob to rotate the gear axle, which turns the wire rotator and causes the distal end to angulate. The parts comprising the control systems and the rotational distal end were marked for 3-D printing. However, since we were aiming for the industrial standard in terms of bronchoscopes, the resolution of the 3-D printer used to manufacture our parts was too low, and the resulting prints only demonstrated the size profile of our desired parts. Therefore, our goal for the upcoming week is to scale up the parts and hopefully get functional reprints so that our control system can be demonstrated during our next presentation on 2/26. If successful, our design can be sent to a third party manufacturer to produce the appropriately scaled parts.
As for the joystick mechanism, the LEGO parts were on backorder and did not arrive until last Friday. Following assembly, the prototype was too bulky to properly function. Instead, a 3D model of a Nintendo 64 controller was modified to create a new joystick mechanism to be 3D printed. The print is expected to finish by the end of the weekend. Thus, we plan to have an assembled prototype in time for our next meeting assuming the mechanism works as intended.
