Exercise 15: Machine Design


Machine Design


My Team's and My Own Process (Designing a Machine)

:: May 16, 2018 ::

This week’s assignment was to plan and make a machine. This week we needed to program and actuate the wheels and assemble a more robust assembly for the Etch-a-Sketch. We decided to use the TinyG Motion Control System to actuate our system. The TinyG is used for CNC applications and other applications that require highly precise motion control. We used the TinyG CNC Controller Board v8 for our machine project. Emily and Oye focused on the driver aspect and began testing driving the wheels using CoolTerm Eventually we want to use Chilipepper as the interface.

TinyG CNC Controller Board v8 working with our stepper motors TinyG CNC Controller Board v8 working with our stepper motors

I focused on updating our assembly to house the Etch-a-Sketch machine and figuring out the overall rotating mechanism.

Etch-a-Sketch machine's rotating mechanism Etch-a-Sketch machine's rotating mechanism

Etch-a-Sketch Machine Draws

As a team, we re-assembled to bring all the pieces together and test out running the machine. Overall, things were coming together. We noticed that the code needed to be fine tuned so we could scale the movements better from the rotation of the wheels to the rotation of the dials to the movement of the linear head that moves the sand away from the Etch-a-Sketch screen to create a line.

Testing code and motor movement using TinyG and CoolTerm with updated design Testing code and motor movement using TinyG and CoolTerm with updated design Testing code and motor movement using TinyG and CoolTerm with updated design Testing code and motor movement using TinyG and CoolTerm with updated design

We needed a more robust base and rotating mechanism. With all the electronics, motors and Etch-a-Sketch mounted onto the assembly, it had become quite heavy. I worked with Emily and we decided to create a manual hand-crank to rotate the entire top assembly and help stabilize it. I quickly prototyped a stabilizing lever and fixed it onto the side of the machine. Emily and I tested it and it worked pretty well.

Testing code and motor movement using TinyG and CoolTerm with updated design Testing code and motor movement using TinyG and CoolTerm with updated design Testing code and motor movement using TinyG and CoolTerm with updated design Testing code and motor movement using TinyG and CoolTerm with updated design Testing code and motor movement using TinyG and CoolTerm with updated design Testing code and motor movement using TinyG and CoolTerm with updated design

Final Etch-a-Sketch Machine

The last few days were spent fine tuning the code, translating images to G-code to bring into CoolTerm to then drive the motors, and building a robust base. The final Etch-a-Sketch Machine came together, and although the machine could be refined and further developed with more precise actuation, it works!

It was really fun working with my Dassault team on the design of this machine. I learned a lot about machine building and how much fine tuning goes into creating a really robust machine.

Testing code and motor movement using TinyG and CoolTerm with updated design Testing code and motor movement using TinyG and CoolTerm with updated design Testing code and motor movement using TinyG and CoolTerm with updated design Testing code and motor movement using TinyG and CoolTerm with updated design Testing code and motor movement using TinyG and CoolTerm with updated design Testing code and motor movement using TinyG and CoolTerm with updated design Testing code and motor movement using TinyG and CoolTerm with updated design Testing code and motor movement using TinyG and CoolTerm with updated design Testing code and motor movement using TinyG and CoolTerm with updated design Testing code and motor movement using TinyG and CoolTerm with updated design Testing code and motor movement using TinyG and CoolTerm with updated design Testing code and motor movement using TinyG and CoolTerm with updated design Testing code and motor movement using TinyG and CoolTerm with updated design Testing code and motor movement using TinyG and CoolTerm with updated design

Download the Illustrator files for the Etch-a-Sketch.

Click to download Illustrator Base Stabalizer .ai file.

Click to download Illustrator Base .ai file.

Click to download Illustrator Lever .ai file.