The Fridge Buddy
Members: Matt, Stephen and Kevin
Prototype 1 - The Shmock-Up
The Prototype developed by Team Hammer Down is a
refrigerator-climbing mechanism, or fridge-climber.
The picture to the left shows the top view of the two
identical four-bar mechanisms that share the same
crank link. The crank link will be used to drive both
mechanisms. This mechanism is a crank-rocker meaning
that if the crank link (shown in the picture with
green stripes) is rotated then the rocker link (shown
in the picture with orange stripes) will move back and
forth. The rocker link is also the arms of the
fridge-climber. The picture to the right shows the
magnet carriage, this consists of ratcheting wheels,
so that the mechanism does not slide down the fridge,
and a magnet. The magnet is what holds the mechanism
to the refrigerator, or any magnetic vertical surface.
The magnet is held close to the fridge without
touching so it does not interfere with the mechanism
rolling forward. The pictures primarily show a general
mechanism that any body type and arm type can be
mounted too. This would allow the toy to be
regenerative each year, first it could be a dragon,
next it could be an ape, etc.
The bottom picture shows the group from left to right,
Matt “Cheese Ball”, Stephen “Smiling doesn’t hurt” and
Kevin “Get with the team and buy a hat”.
Prototype 2 - The Interim Prototype
In the pictures above what you see is a
simplified mechanical device meant to replace the
original four-bar linkage system previously designed.
It was decided that the complexity of the four-bar
linkage could be simplified. This led to the
development of the double T-bar system. We choose the
T-bars due to the ability to manipulate both bars with
one motor. The added benefit was the motion which
mimics a climbing motion. We planned to use
electro-magnets to hold the “buddy” to the fridge;
however, the power drain caused by the magnets was too
strong for the battery used. Inside “buddy” is a
motor, battery, switch and a gear system. As the
switch is turned on the motor spins the bar (see the
second picture) which translates motion to the T-bars
(picture 3). This equates to a rocking motion between
the T-bars. Some problems that we have encountered
are the electro-magnets and/or the climbing mechanism.
How to keep “buddy” on the fridge and give him
something that will allow him to pull/push his way up
the surface. What we hope to show in our final
presentation is a mechanism that sticks to a fridge
and moves (preferably upwards). We hope to have the
mechanism both mechanically working (i.e. climbing) as
well as visibly appealing (i.e. kids would play with
it). The mechanism we plan to use for the motion will
be similar to that shown in the current version while
changing the means by which it sticks to the fridge.
Prototype 3 - The Final Prototype
Watch the video of this project
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