Disassembly of a Harrington hoist.

This week, LineTech made meaningful progress on our System Level Design Review (SLDR) report, building on the insights gained last week during Prototype Inspection Day (PID) and our disassembly of the FPL-provided hoist. The hands-on teardown offered valuable insights on real-world component integration, informing both our documentation and design decisions. 

During PID, several questions emerged regarding our testing strategy. In response, we began outlining feasible procedures to validate system performance. At the forefront of our testing plan is a high-capacity Universal Testing Machine, which we’ve identified as a strong candidate for evaluating the performance of our subsystems as well as final device. We also defined preliminary methods for assessing the efficiency of individual components which are essential for ensuring reliable system performance. 

The lessons from PID and the hoist analysis resulted in updates to our CAD models. We also conducted efficiency calculations for some key subsystems, helping us better understand the performance trade-offs within our design. 

In the coming month, we’ll be focused on refining subsystem details in preparation for the upcoming peer review. This milestone will be instrumental in providing constructive feedback as we continue to iterate and improve.