/VAMMS

Project Lead the Way Engineering Development & Design Capstone Project

Primary LanguagePython

VAMMS - Vertically Actuated Multivariable Modeling System

A Project Lead the Way (PLTW) Engineering Development and Design project by Jack Sloan, Shawn Johnson, and Matthew Wincek.

TimelapseGIF

What is VAMMS?

VAMMS physically models 3D graphs of (almost) any function z=f(x,y) using a grid of vertically actuated pins controlled by a linear actuator on an XY gantry. VAMMS is designed for educational use to help students overcome the difficulties associated with visualizing in 3 dimensions.

VAMMS is designed to be a superior alternative to digital solutions for visualizing 3-dimensional graphs and surfaces.

Hardware

VAMMS uses a repurposed SKR Mini e3 v3 board to drive 3 NEMA-17 stepper motors; two for the XY gantry and one for the linear actuator.

A 3-layer "grip plate" made of laser cut foam, foamcore, and acrylic, holds the pins in place while allowing manual resetting.

Software

The software in this repository interfaces with the mainboard running custom Marlin firmware, and feeds generated GCODE commands to be executed.

Contact

Jack Sloan (2024) — jackasloan@gmail.com

Shawn Johnson (2024) — johnson.28614@gmail.com

Matthew Wincek (2025) — matthew.wincek@gmail.com

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