Revision as of 22:08, 6 October 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this project is to allow students to broaden their perspectives on engineering decisions, hone their engineering skills and relate the material thought in class to the successful accomplishment of this project. Students also get to experience what it would be like to work as an engineer in the future as they are required to work in groups, overcome challenges faced together and meet the set deadlines.

Product

The product that was chosen to be dissected for this project is the Syma S033G RC Chopper. The reason for this choice is this product has many mechanical components and we decided it would be interesting for us to learn how these mechanical components make this RC helicopter fly. A product proposal was written and handed over to the instructors of the MAE 277 course, Professor Phillip Cormier and Professor Andrew Olewnik, and was approved by them.

Syma S033 RC Helicopter

Course Project: Gate 1: Project Planning

Table 1: Preparation and Initial Assessment Questions

Create a complexity profile for the product(s):

The Syma S033G R/C Helicopter is made up of a number of components. Which includes main rotor, tail rotor, gears, motors, landing skids, PCB-box, Main blades, charger, tail blade, metal frame, mAH-Li-poly battery (7.4V), balance bar, inner shaft, connect buckle, tail support pipe, tail competent, top blades grip set, light circuit, power transistors, under blades grip set, motor protect slice, yellow head cover, tail motor set, base, yellow tail decorated blades, and a battery case. The components are not very complex, easy to understand. Easily broken down and to build back up again, as it says, for ages 14+. The component’s interactions is not very complex.

Create a user interaction profile for the product(s):

The Syma S033G R/C Helicopter is easy to use. The user has to charge the the helicopter. When it is fully charged the LED light will turn from a red light to a green light (make sure to always turn off the helicopter power first). Once that is done,the user has to install batteries into the remote control (Four size 1.5V AA batteries). Batteries have to be purchased separately. Now it is ready to fly.

To fly this R/C helicopter is an easy job. Push the rudder stick toward left to turn counter clockwise. Push the rudder stick toward right to turn clockwise. When you push the right control lever (steering rudder), the nose incline to down, the helicopter is moving forward. When you push down the right control lever (steering rudder), the nose inclines up, the helicopter is moving backward. When you push the left stick (throttle) the speed of the main rotor blade will increase and the helicopter will go up. When you pull down the left stick (throttle) the speed of the motor rotor blade will decrease and the helicopter will go down. The helicopter has two flight modes, for Beginner and for Master-hand. The Beginner mode which is the factory’s default state.

Although regular maintenance is required, it is an easy task. All the user has to do is, clean the helicopter with a clean and soft cloth. Do not put the helicopter under the direct sun or strong lighting. Do not soak the toys in water, or the electronic parts will be destructed. Regularly check the plug and other spare parts.

Group Members

Vishnu Nair Aravindakshan

Yu Jin Goh

Meng Duan

Zelei Li

Man Kit Wu

Gates

Gate 1 - Project Planning (Group 18)

Gate 2 - Product Dissection (Group 18)

Gate 3 - Product Analysis (Group 18)

Gate 4 - Product Explanation (Group 18)

Gate 5 - Delivery (Group 18)