Steering Wheel Progress Update

Project Progress

Since my design preview a month ago, I have made a bit of progress on my project. The first step I took was ordering the aluminum stock I needed for my steering wheel. This came in on 3/28 and had no major defects. After receiving the aluminum stock I submitted a fabrication request at the ITLP and dropped off the aluminum disk they needed to make the part. In addition to the aluminum stock I also ordered the black leather covering for the outside of my steering wheel, which came in on 3/30. 

Materials

While waiting for materials to come in I put some work into finalizing the enclosure design. I used the controller assembly shown below to determine the dimensions of the enclosure. 

Current controller assembly

The position of the hole in the enclosure needs to be precise if my steering wheel is gonna mesh well with the adapter. After making some measurements I used a little trigonometry to determine the position of this hole. I also made the decision to move forward making the enclosure out of wood. I will be painting the wood black to fit the dark theme of my street racing aesthetic. The final design is shown below.

Updated enclosure design

What is Left?

Due to an increased focus on Senior Design and an unexpected illness that has kept me out of school the last couple of days, I have not made as much progress on my project as I would have liked. Luckily I planned for this when creating my schedule, which I have updated below to reflect my current progress.

Updated schedule

My next step is to begin printing the outer part of the steering wheel. I separated this into 3 prints that each take 14 hours to complete, so this process will take me 3 days. While those are printing, I need to machine the aluminum bars so that once the ITLP completes my fabrication request I can fully assemble the steering wheel. Once the steering wheel is fully assembled I will cut, assemble, and paint the wooden enclosure. After that, I will add the under-glow lighting and connect the steering wheel to the enclosure. There is still a lot left to do, but I am confident I will complete this project on time and I am excited to test out the final product.