Building the final prototype actually took longer than we expected. We didn't address a lot of design issues from our first prototype to our final prototype. A lot of the issues were caused from changing materials and assuming it would fix the problem. The main issue we faced was the connection between the boxes and the square knob inside the rail to slide. The problem being that a small plastic stick wouldn't be able to handle the weight and slide smoothly. The glue wasn't strong enough as there wasn't enough surface area to properly hold onto. We then decided to have a backing in the box where there was a whole in it to be able to make a stronger bond between the box and the knob and we also drilled a whole in the first layer of the knob. This proved to be much better but still wasn't strong enough.
The other major problem we encountered was the glue. We first started with plastic to plastic glue which the laser cutter provided us with. This glue unfortunately wasn't strong enough and did not bond even after leaving it for 24 hours to dry. Therefore we started using a hot glue gun but it was leaving a residue around the corners so the knob inside the rail wasn't sliding properly.
Another problem we faced was the electromagnet. Our original electromagnet was being powered by a 9v battery and the wire we were using was insulated too much. After talking to one of the Jaycar helpers we bought a copper wire that was only slightly insulated and a 12v battery. This allowed us to wrap the iron rod at least 20 times with the copper wire so our electromagnet would be stronger.
We've learnt a lot from building this prototype and realised only to the end that we needed a lot of professional advice about our design and the feasibility of it.
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