NU - SmartTree

Despite remaining virtual throughout the duration of the Spring 2021 quarter, SmartTree continued to expand our group members and progress with our prototype by reviewing and finalizing the structure’s design in anticipation of physical prototype building in September. Callista Sukohardjo and Katie Lev were appointed as the newest co-project managers, filling the big shoes of former PMs Bryan Horn and Lauren Simitz. We welcomed back returning members along with a few new ones; our team now consists of Katie, Callista, Bryan along with Kai Veitinger, Polen Ton, Kane Feldman, Jason Jarrold-Grapes, Jake Turner and Ethan Zimmerman! Throughout the first few weeks of the quarter, our team learned how to create engineering drawings in Siemens NX software and the importance of geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T), having had both Bryan and Callista lead a brief session early in the quarter covering the basics of GD&T so that our team could apply these skills to our SmartTree project. Each member was then given the opportunity to apply these newfound skills by creating an engineering drawing of one component of the current SmartTree design. Below is a sample drawing of the foundation of our structure to be made of aluminum sheets:

Once the initial drawings were completed, each one went through several rounds of critiquing during group meetings, which aided in facilitating a continued dialogue on improving specific part designs. This process in particular helped our team identify flaws in logic or design that may have been previously overlooked or oversimplified in order to avoid costly mistakes during manufacturing later on. Currently, all that is still up to deliberation is the mechanism SmartTree is planning on using to access the electrical center from the top of the structure. Additionally, team members worked together to create manufacturing plans for each part, all of which were discussed during our weekly meetings. SmartTree would also like to personally acknowledge the help we have received from several members of the Northwestern community. Serving as a Northwestern Professor and ESWNU’s academic advisor, Harold Kung has given us much assistance and general advice on ways to approach the ultimate build tentatively starting this fall. Salomon Rodriguez, Northwestern Student Shop Manager, personally advised us on manufacturing queries SmartTree ran into during previous discussions. Bonnie Humphrey, NU Director of Design & Construction, and Stephen Camburn, NU Groundskeeper Assistant Foreman, helped us find great potential locations for our future prototypes. Among the list are East Tech Plaza, front of Mudd Library and the top lawn of Norris.

Overall the progress made during Spring 2021 was vital in our development of the SmartTree and ensured that we were all able to collaborate in a virtual environment and still make progress towards manufacturing our prototype in the near future. We now look forward to Fall 2021 where we hope to start manufacturing some of the key components of our SmartTree!