ENGR 464 Final Project: Russel the bug
Mehdi M. Omar Ali Mansour, Reina Howell, Francesca Hudnall-Saez, Milton Salazar
When you think of engineering design, you might think of things like bridges, computers, and cars. However, engineering design can be found in many other places, including children's toys. Think about those little toy cars you get from the toy box at a dentist's office—the ones that, when you pull them back, a spring winds up, and when you let go, the car shoots forward. Have you ever thought about the internal mechanisms? It might seem simple, but it actually takes a lot of prototyping and design to manufacture that toy.
For our final project, we took the initial steps in creating a six-legged bug toy (named Russel) that uses a motor, four-bar linkages, shafts, and gears to convert the motor's rotational motion into translational movement in the legs. The bug is powered by two AA batteries that connect to the motor. The motor housing and leg spacers (gold parts) are 3D printed using PLA. The legs, gears, and body are laser cut from acrylic (in blue, black, and clear). The shafts are made from 3/8-inch wooden dowels.
We went through many iterations, calculations, CAD models, 3D prints, and laser-cut prototypes to arrive at our final version. We experienced the tedious and sometimes frustrating design process required to create a toy. Along the way, we learned how to source materials within a $25 budget, draw 2D designs, create 3D models using available materials, generate 3D CAD models, perform Finite Element Analysis on those models, laser cut parts, 3D print components, and assemble multiple prototypes. Through this project, we gained a true appreciation for all the steps and design considerations involved in making a children’s toy.