"I will eventually put a funny quote here." - Cesar Meza
As of now, I'm going forward with either cast iron or stainless steel for the hydraulic system body. Both of these materials have melting points roughly 200-500 degrees higher than bronze (which is the material with the highest melting point I aim to cast). Furthermore, they have relatively low coefficients of thermal expansion, which will reduce the risk of the piston expanding and blocking the tap permanently.
Up to Week 4, none of the assignments particularly lended themselves to prototyping subsystems of the furnace. However, after week 4, each weekly task will go into making the furnace described in . The following outlines the weekly plan for prototyping the furnace.
Week 4: Electronics Design - Design the high-voltage induction circuit and corresponding low-voltage controls
Week 5: Electronics Production - Prototype and troubleshoot circuit, at this point, I will have the coil for the furnace built for this demo. I'll most likely use the Xiao for controls.
Week 6: Computer-controlled Machining - High-precision machine the piston and outlet for the furnace. It may not be meter-scaled, but it will require iteration and multi-step machining. This will be a good challenge.
Week 7: Input Devices - Add a temperature and air-quality sensor to the furnace controller.
Week 8: Output Devices - Add a fluid cooling pump / loop to the circuit.
Week 9: Mechanical Design - Prototype the rack-and-pinion hydraulic loop for the piston.
Week 10: Wildcard Week - Cast the crucible.
Week 11: Mechanical Design - Send telemetry from furnace to phone.
Week 12: System Integration - Integrate different subsystems.