List of Non-Electronic Materials
- 1x2’ wood mounting base
- 2x4’’ wood beams (3 feet)
- ½” thick wood panel (for laser cutting)
- Sliding rail guide
- Thin plastic sheets
- ⅜” bolts (2 inch, 3 inch)
- ⅜” washers and nuts
- 2½” screws
- Super glue
- Circular saw, band saw, clamp, drill, drill bits/spades
Assembly
The team used a laser cutter to create the links with the desired lengths and hole diameters. Link 2 was connected to the motor shaft directly by taking advantage of the non-symmetrical shape of the shaft to “grip” the link while turning. Links 2 and 3 were connected with the 2 inch bolt with washers and nuts to provide adjustability and reduced friction. The sliding block had the 3 inch bolt inserted into it such that the threads were facing upward. On these threads a nut was set to support the connection point of Link 3. The block was constrained by two wooden rails that only allowed a thin tolerance of 1/2 inch. Thin plastic sheets were glued to the block and wooden rails at the points of sliding contact to reduce friction. On one of these wooden rails, a sliding guide rail was screwed in place - parallel with the intended motion of the block. The guide rail’s sliding block was connected to the sliding block “C” using a thin piece of laser cut wood.
At the end of the sliding block another 2x4” was screwed in place as shown; this is the block against which the cans would be crushed. The sliding block’s height was also intentionally made to be smaller than the average diameter of an aluminum can (2.5 in) so that the block would not crush any cans stacked on top of the one currently under compression. Lastly, small wooden spacers (disk shaped) were added to the sides of the block to further reduce the tolerance gap between the wooden rails.