Precedent/Existing Methods

As part of our initial design work, we took some time looking up precedent, or existing solutions to the same problem. The point is not to copy another's work, but rather to find ideas for your own solution and to see if you can improve on existing designs. In our case, there are several "can crushers" to be seen on the web and several variations are on Youtube. Most of these use similar methods of power, as shown below.

The first method is a manually operated crusher. This simply uses a lever as mechanical advantage to crush the can, and the can then falls out the bottom of the machine. Highlights here are the lack of electrical/gas power, and the simplicity of the machine.

The next machine is another manually operated one, but with a crank instead of a lever. This is a little more complicated, but still easily operated.

Of course, the next step up is a powered version of the crank design. There are examples of both electric and gas motors powering this type of crusher.

And for the impatient can crushers out there, a pneumatic piston variety.

And last but not least, the black box, which apparently takes the cans and teleports them to another dimension. At least that's what I can tell from the video.

These are just a sample of the machines to be found, with several variations of size, power source, and fabrication methods. The problem is that none of them crush a can in more than one direction, and we need to crush in three directions. However, we can possibly take the methods shown in these videos and translate them to a three dimension machine. There were also some good ideas for hoppers shown online, so we'll have to incorporate some of those ideas as well.

So from here, we've got to come up with a solid first draft of a design, and put together a basic model to show a proof of concept to our professor. We also have to do testing to find the amount of force it takes to crush the can in each direction.