Weekly Meeting
During our weekly Monday meeting (13 February 2012), we met to finalize everything about the design and begin ordering parts as we were convinced we had the most effective design. During the meeting, we called Ron to settle the final details. However, when we called him he suggested that we go back to the scissor lift concept we were originally thinking. During the past week, he had been experimenting with a design and even developed a prototype. He managed to combine both of the designs in order to make the scissor lift reach floor level. This is possible by leaving an empty space in between the two supports for the platform to travel to. Ron took several pictures of his prototype and put them on the Tetra Society website. Below is a picture showing his prototype.
After comparing our two choices we have decided to use this scissor lift design, as it compresses to small size and is easy to store. More pictures of Ron Payne’s prototype can be found on the Tetra Society forum at http://tetrasociety.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=196. That same day, we also met with Mark at the UBC Metal Shop and showed him the design we will be making. He is now aware of what needs to be done and will be setting us up with time and assistance at the shop to get this design built on time.
Client Visit
The next day (14 February 2012), we picked the prototype up from Ron’s house and visited Heidi and Michael. After showing them this new design, they were very pleased by it and loved how compact it was. They suggested that we may want to consider making the battery rechargeable for the lifting mechanism. We have decided to power the scissor lift with a linear actuator since Ron is very knowledgeable and experienced with it. They also suggested that we add a netting around the scissors of the final product as a safety feature.
Future Plans
We have arranged to meet with Ron and George tomorrow (18 February 2012), at Vancouver General Hospital, where we will make the final adjustments to the design and move on to the building stage. We will also be meeting with Mark again on Monday, to discuss the design with a welder.