Final Prototypes + Meeting with Jaden

On Wednesday we finalized our ideas and came up with a couple of sacrificial concepts before our meeting with Jayden.

Also, the 3D printed part I modeled last week is finished printing, and we added in the bolts just to have a finished prototype even though we scrapped the idea. The size and spacing of the holes were pretty accurate which I was happy about, and I learned a lot about SolidWorks and modeling through the process.

Final HandleStopper permanent attachment prototype.

The second prototype we showed Jayden was a sacrificial idea. It made use of magnets and wood to keep the cord in place. The cord would be sandwiched between the two pieces of wood, holding it in place. This idea was not practical for a few reasons. First, it was really difficult to get the magnets to align properly. Secondly, even if they were aligned, they didn't have the strength to stop the momentum of a dropped chain.





Another idea that utilized magnetics was the prototype Alex had been working on for the past few weeks. After adding foam padding to the inside, it didn't fit over the cord as well as perform. It also didn't pass our "chain drop test".

We also went back to the original idea of simply slicing a sphere in half. We modified a red plastic ball and fitted it over the erg chain. It worked surprisingly well and didn't fall off even after we let go of the handle at full resistance (10) while sitting on the erg seat. Jayden liked the idea of the sphere the most out of all our prototypes, especially since CRI can make their own using balls such as tennis balls.

Sliced sphere prototype

 After our meeting we have decided to move further with the sphere concept. We ordered a bunch of spheres and will cut/drill, and test them over the next week. Our goal is to have a few viable ball options before our visit to CRI.

Variety of balls ready for testing