Blog #2 -- Prototyping and Think[box] Problem -- May 15th, 2023

    The beginning of our project was quite eventful. Our first week was interrupted mainly by AP tests and other commitments, but additional time spent over the weekend made up for the lost time. We discovered on Thursday that the Think[box] would be closed for almost the entirety of our project. As a result, we had to switch gears regarding our manufacturing processes and move more toward 3D printing. We spent most of our time designing and troubleshooting. We started out by looking for a radial compressor design online. Our initial intent was to find a radial compressor that we could buy that would have a CAD model published online, but we found that most companies don't release their designs online. As a result, we had to look into some open-source alternatives, of which there were a few. We had to weed out designs that were only made for aesthetics, and we were left with two designs that had potential. We printed both out (pictures below) and decided to go with the design that looked more similar to real compressors.

Compressor #1: Found online -- questionably effective
Compressor #2: Verified by a research lab at Michigan State
Real radial compressor for reference
    After we finalized our compressor design, we designed a diffuser and inlet flange to accompany it. This process was relatively straightforward, but required some tweaks later on. Simultaneously, we were already under a time pressure to order all the parts we would need. We had to decide on a shaft diameter (ended up being1/4") and bearings to go with it. We had to source pressure gauges, a tachometer, and a bunch of other odds and ends to assemble everything. These small details bogged us down slightly but we ended up with some very solid progress and a working design.

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