20. Project development¶
This week I focused on my final project and getting it ready for presentation. The electronics part is pretty much completed. I completed the code while Fran and Sibu were still in Bhutan. It worked on the arduino except for some jittering in the servo motor. I made a PCB for it using Attiny1614 and uploaded the program on it. The bag design needs to be tweaked a little to make the battery changeable from outside. I also need to figure out the lock mechanism.
Questions¶
what tasks have been completed, and what tasks remain?¶
| Tasks Completed | Tasks Remaining |
|---|---|
| Programming | Debugging jittering in servo motor |
| PCB design & production | Design and 3D print lock mechanism |
| Bag Design and cutting | Design and 3D print battery case |
| 3D design and printing of strap holder | Final Assembly |
| Work on video and slide |
what has worked? what hasn’t?¶
The bag design came out really well. The programming is working. I had to redesign the PCB board a couple of times (and order a couple more finger print sensors since I burnt two :/ ) But the final version seems to be working well for now. I still need to figure out why the servo jitters when its in idle or detects a wrong finger.
what questions need to be resolved?¶
I need to figure out how to make the bag more useable. How can I improve it so that people will actually want to buy the bag?
what will happen when?¶
I worked on the project management part on trello. I was introducted to it while planning the opening of the super fab lab. It is quite easy to use. I started working on my project using a simple template.
You can make columns on the project page and add cards under it. The cards are the tasks that fall under the column category. Here is a snapshot of my project page with braintorming, to-do tasks, tasks in process, and tasks that are completed. The tasks have a deadline keeping in mind that my presentation is june 13th.
On each card, you can assign tasks to other members, set a deadline for the task and also add relevant attachments.
what have you learned?¶
There have been many lessons on this fabacademy journey. Skill wise, I strengthened my 3D design capabilities on Fusion360 and TinkerCAD. I am more comfortable using Inkscape. I also switched from EAGLE to kiCAD for PCB design. I learned how to use the zund during wildcard week.
Otherwise, I learned the value of teamwork. The petbot (PET bottle to filament machine we made during machine week) was a project that I wanted to do for years. It was my initial project idea when I started in 2020 but scraped since I thought it was too hard. I proposed it to my group mates for the machine week and they were all on board. It seemed impossible at first but we managed to make it in 2 weeks! I was truly amazed at my team and also learned that the possiblilies are endless if you have a good team :) The other important thing that I learned is the power of the mind. If you think you can do it, you can. Learn something small everyday and eventually it all come together in the end. For my final project, some days I 3D designed, some days it was milling, and some days it was just documentation. But it all contributed little by little to the final outcome.