Valencia Iris Control
Part of the Valencia illumintor involved 2 iris’ to be controlled from the outside. Space was incredibly limited and so within the time frame this was the best option. An iris with a gear wheel on the side.
If a second attempt was to be made this would be controlled by a motor.
Using 3 parts, I sandwiched the iris with the gear access open to the side. So the gear could slot in, a third part was required so the gear could move into position.
Amongst everything, this was the toughest design challenge I had to get over. It was one of the last parts to create and so time was also against me at this point.
My lack of mechanical engineering knowledge really showed here. I tried just using a bearing in the centre of the back panel to help the gear turn, but the screw in the front of the gear held it down stopping it from turning.
With help from a proper engineer, we came up with the top hat part, which went through the back plate and bearing and acted as a gap so the gear was still held in place and free to turn.