Updates from 4/18

Last class, we received some of our materials that we needed to construct our bike-powered blender. We worked on assembling the wheel axle that we are using for our blending apparatus. After experimenting with several different types of wrenches, and with the three of us working on loosening the nut, we were finally able to take apart the axle! We obtained the longer bolt from one axle and inserted it into a well-greased axle (so there will be more space to attach a rubber wheel that will spin against the tire’s wheel). Alessandra was able to use Epoxy glue to glue the rubber tubing together, which she then wrapped tightly around the bolt to form a wheel that will touch the bike’s rear wheel and spin, powering the blender. In addition to putting together the wheel axle and rubber attachment, we also attached the bike rack to our bike. This was a bit more difficult than expected, and involved using a different set of nuts and bolts than the ones provided in the bike rack kit. Now that we have our wheel axle/rubber wheel attachment and the bike rack on our rack, we will continue today with attaching the blender to the axle and mounting the entire apparatus on the bike rack.

Taking apart the axle using a clamp, a wrench, and a lot of (wo)manpower!

Ali working on attaching the rear rack