iLock
University 2nd Year
The iLock project required us, as a group, to be briefed on a currently unsolved issue from a client concerning an automated guidance vehicle known as the iCart©.
We were tasked with creating an automatically operated pick up & drop off attachment for iCarts and their respective trollies.
An emergency manual disconnection was also required. This was my first opportunity to have a real-world client therefore, this project was a huge benefit to my personal development.
Every 3 weeks or so, we would receive feedback on our ideas and designs from our client who originally designed the iCart trolley for his factory. From our first feedback session, it was made very clear to us that our idea was far too complicated i.e. excessive amount of components.
So what you can see on the right hand side is actually the final drawing of the design. We stripped back the components and this resulted in a simple cam disc that would lock a male tow bar in place. By working directly with the client, we were able to receive concise and unambiguous feedback on each iteration in order to quickly turnover each stage of design.
The basic manual mechanism was then constructed in our first prototype model. Once we had an accurate gauge in dimensions and an understanding of where the circuitry would fit in, we could move onto a 3D printed model.
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The attachment would fit onto the existing supports on the iCart shown in the adjacent hero-shot.