20. Project development

The assignment for this and next week is to complete my final project, tracking your progress: what tasks have been completed, and what tasks remain? what has worked? what hasn’t? what questions need to be resolved? what will happen when? what have you learned? This page shows the process of my final project during the full Fab Academy. I tried to link the weekly assignments to my final project. The first part of this page shows my inspiration and these weekly linked assignments. Further on it shows more in detail the development of my final project.

19. Invention, intellectual property and income

This weeks assignment is to develop a plan for dissemination of my final project. In addition, I will prepare drafts of my summary slide (presentation.png, 1920x1080) and video clip (presentation.mp4, 1080p HTML5, < ~minute, < ~10 MB) and I’ll put them in your root directory

18. Wildcard week

This weeks assignment is a wild card, we’re free to try out different techniques and to make our own assignment. As long as we design and produce something with a digital fabrication process (incorporating computer-aided design and manufacturing) not covered in another assignment. We have to document the requirements that our assignment meets, and including everything necessary to reproduce it. Possibilities include (but are not limited to) composites, textiles, biotechnology, robotics, folding, and cooking. For this week our lab works with composites.

17. Machine design

The group assignment of this week is to actuate and automate our machine and to document the group project and your individual contribution. You can find the documentation of our marble machine on our group page.

16. Interface and application programming

This week individual assignment is to write an application that interfaces with an input and/or output device that you made and the group assignment is to compare as many tool options as possible.

15. Mechanical design

This week we only have a group assignment, which is to design a machine that includes mechanism, actuation and automation. For this week we have to build the mechanical parts and operate it manually. For this weeks process we document the group project and I document my individual contribution.

14. Networking and communications

The individual assignment of this week is to design, build, and connect wired or wireless node(s) with network or bus addresses. And the group assignment is to send a message between two projects

13. Applications and implications

The assignment for this week is to propose a final poject masterpiece that integrates the range of units covered.

12. Output devices

This weeks group assignment is to measure the power consumption of an output device. And the individual assignment of this week is to add an output device to a Microcontroller board I’ve designed, and program it to do something.

11. Input devices

The individual assignment of this week is to measure something. I will add a sensor to a micro-controller board that I designed and read it. As a group assignment we measure and probe an input device’s analog levels and digital signals.

10. Molding and casting

This weeks group assignment is to review the safety data sheets for each of your molding and casting materials, then make and compare test casts with each of them. For the individual assignment of this week we should design a 3D mold around the stock and tooling that you’ll be using, mill it, and use it to cast parts

9. Embedded programming

This weeks individual assignment is to read the datasheet of the ATTiny44, program my board to do something, with as many different programming languages and programming environments as possible. The group assignment is to compare the performance and development work flows for other architectures

8. Computer controlled machining

This week our group assignment is to test run out, alignment, speeds, feeds, and tool paths for our ShopBot machine. With as individual assignment this week to make something big.

7. Electronics design

This weeks group assignment is to use the test equipment in our lab to observe the operation of a micro controller circuit board. And as individual assignment we have to redraw the echo hello-world board, and add (at least) a button and LED (with current-limiting resistor). Important is to check the design rules, make it and test it. For extra credits you can simulate it operation and render it.

6. 3D Scanning and printing

This week the group assignment is to test the design rules for our 3D printers. And the individual assignment is to design and 3D print an object (small, few cm3, limited by printer time) that could not be made subtractively. In addition we have to 3D scan an object (and optionally print it).

5. Electronics production

This weeks group assignment is to characterize the design rules for our PCB production process, for this we did a line test. As individual assignment we have to make an in-circuit programmer by milling the PCB, and program it.

4. Computer controlled cutting

This week we have a group assignment to characterize our laser cutter, making test part(s) that vary cutting settings and dimensions and to define the kerf of the laser. The individual assignment is to cut something on the vinyl cutter and to design, laser cut, and document a parametric press-fit construction kit, accounting for the laser cutter kerf, which can be assembled in multiple ways.

3. Computer Aided design

The assignment of this week is to model (raster, vector, 2D, 3D, render, animate, simulate, …) a possible final project, and post it on my class page. My experience and skills needed for this weeks assignment is in the 2D modeling part. I know my way around in Illustrator and Photoshop. 3D modeling will be a bigger challenge for me because I never really grasped the concept of a 3D program. I did try to work with ThinkerCad and Sketch but I never managed to make something the way I wanted.

2. Project management

The assignment of this week is to work through a git tutorial and to build a personal site in the class archive describing me and my final project. This weeks lecture was about project management. We learned about version control and the use of git. I never worked with Git or the terminal before therefore I first need to figure out how these work. Otherwise I won’t to be able to build my own personal site in the class archive. This however will be a challenge as well because it is ages ago that I learned HTML and I never really used it.

1. Principles and Practices

The assignment of this week is to plan and sketch a potential final project. The main questions for me this week are: what am I going to do? How big will my idea be? What are the possibilities? Is there inspiration from other final projects? Is there inspiration from artists, designers or other exciting products? In addition, I want to make an overall planning where I combine my final project with each weekly assignment. That way I can work on my project during the all the weeks of Fab Academy.