Model a Final Project

intro

I feel fairly confident that I can create a spinning wheel that incorporates many of the fabrication techniques that will be taught over the next few months. Of course, this will be a spinning wheel like no other! This "Fab Wheel," will have electronics, be made on the CNC machine, and maybe have a composite wheel? Who knows. But, I'm sure that this will be more fleshed out as the weeks go on.

basic structure and design

Pretty simple CAD models using Rhino. I still need to sketch things out on paper. By the end the whole thing will be a hell-of-a-lot sexier.

incorporation of electronics

From what I know, other than electronic spinning wheels (which use an electric motor to deliver power, rather than rely on human power), no wheels have had and electronic components, let alone computing power. Time for this to change.

My plan is to, using electronic means, deliver important information to the spinner about the real-time "stats" of their spinning. Perhaps the wheel could tell the spinner how many meters of yarn they are producing per minute, or how many twists-per-inch they are spinning into the fiber at the current moment (a common measurement in spinning). These outputs could help with speed, efficiency, quality, and consistency in the process.