We had our last meeting for this quarter on Thursday. Following are a few progress and conclusion we have made. For the two flip prototypes, they are able to achieve more practical size. However, there are still lots of problems such as the rotating point position. One of them include the slide to avoid the contact with the ground which will be more realistic. The 4 bar CAD model shows how the linkage could actually rotate the pad from the heel to the bottom of the shoes, but there are still concerns about the details. From the idea of past meetings and the problems encountered while making the prototype, the butterfly design include the slide, rail, u-shaped base and some small parts to connect them with the pad in perpendicular and change into two design- the back slide and side slide. Side slide design is just like the butterfly design with a safe distance above the ground, and it relies on the rail on the back to rotate instead of the rotating rod below the pad which will have the same problem with the flip prototype. Finally, the calculation of the rotating plate attached to the bottom of the shoes shows that it is feasible from that aspect.
The next day is the fall design review. Everyone has showed up sometime during the period, and get a chance to explain our project to others. The most meaningful talk would be that someone came by and said that our project is a great idea. He said that he never wore anything like crampon to avoid the slippery ice, and there’s actually risk of falling. Although we understand the goal of our project is that we are going to make a easy to use ice traction device which is different from all the existing products, we have never get a chance to have a stranger who lives in those area actually told us that they are going to need the product. This is definitely a great motivation to us. We still got lots of things to improve on as a team and on our designs. Hopefully next quarter will be more efficient and everyone could work together to produce higher quality works.

Chih-I Cheng, Mechanical Aid for Traction on Ice