Bandbeesten: The Legacy Goes On

The Bandbeesten project is back yet again at the University of Idaho. This project is a Kaizen event (continuously improving) involving the Mechanical Engineering Department and the Vandal Marching Band. This marks the seventh consecutive year of the collaboration. This year incorporates improvements to the former platform as well as design and fabrication new fixtures for the marching band's new sousaphones.

Background
The Band-Beesten project was started in 2011 by Dr. Edwin Odom, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and Dr. Daniel Bukvich, Professor of Percussion and Music Theory. The goal of their collaboration was to create a full drum set that could easily be played and moved by a single person during marching band performances. Since then, the project has been revisited every year with new goals to improve old design and create a new product for the Sound of Idaho. The 2016-2017 acedemic year will be the 6th consecutive year of the project.

Work in the fall of 2011 consisted of researching ideas for a powered platform to assist in parade and marching band performances. The team worked solely on research for a proof of concept and did not build a physical prototype. For more in depth design details refer to the Team Drum Roll webpage.

The design team of 2012-2013 made progress with the BandBeesten's design. Dan Mathewson, a UI graduate student, designed a robotic power driven front ball wheel to enable the machine to receive commands through the operator's body movements. More information on this design can be found in. The 2012 design team made significant progress in designing a human interface and powered movement for the BandBeesten.

In the 2013-2014 academic year, a new team started designing a BandBeesten design that would be light weight and have low friction wheels. This design relied only on man-power and did not have any assisting motors. The team also produced a marketing video for the UI Marching Band using 3D printed models, Legos, and a stop-motion video design. More information about this design can be found at their page.

In the 2015-2016 academic year, a team made great progress updating the BandBeesten's platform. The base was redesigned and now includes three motors that each spin an 'omni wheel assembly. A wireless remote control now commands the platform. An Arduino microcontroller inputs the direction of the joysticks and outputs signal to the motors. More information about the design and project can be found on the Bandbeesten Legacy page.

In the 2016-2017 academic year a new team completely redesigned and fabricated a new piano structure as well as made improvements to the motor driver code and wiring harness. More information about the design and project can be found on the Bandbeesten: The Legacy Continues page.

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Problem Statement
The Bandbeesten project was handed down to this team as a functioning assembly. That being said there are many improvements that can be made. The structure of the piano needs to be reinforced if there is any plan for extended use. The wiring harness also needs to be simplified and well labeled to avoid confusion during set-up, operation, and shut-down. Lights and possible fog machine also be added to the assembly to improve showmanship and flare to the halftime performance.

Another large part of this project is to design and create a fixture that will hold the marching bands new sousaphones during brakes in their performances. The fixture will be rigid and stable enough to hold the 30-40 pound instrument while still remaining compact enough to transport easily and attach to a variety of different surfaces.

Project Goals

 * Maintain Bandbeesten from previous projects.
 * Refine designs to ensure they are robust enough for a possible "hand-off" to the marching band.
 * Design a cheap, ridged way for the marching band to hold sousaphones in the bleachers when not in use.
 * Add lights and CO2 fog machine to the piano to enrich showmanship and attract attention.

Design Specifications

Updating Previous Design
Prototyping Sousaphone Stand

Piano Reinforcment

Drum Set Base

Team Members
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[[File: Bamd-Beesten-Gantt-Chart.pdf]]
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