Week 1- Principles and Practices

Tasks for this week:

• Plan and sketch a potential final project.

Project Idea 1- Piezoelectric Mechanical Keyboard

At the end of the FabAcademy programme, we have to develop a final project. The reasoning for planning a potential final project in the first week is to allow us to tailor our assignments in the coming weeks to things that can be applied in our final project. I am really interested in piezoelectricity, and would like to implement it in my final project.
My first idea is a piezoelectric mechanical keyboard, which would have a piezoelectric plate underneath each switch. When each mechanical switch is clicked, it deforms the piezoelectric plate to generate a current. This goes to capacitor, and when a sizeable amount is generated, it is released to the keyboard's battery to be charged. Although the current generated from each keystroke would be very minimal, I believe that a day's worth of typing, continuously over a long-term period, would provide significant energy production. This system cannot possibly be self-sufficient, but it is a good effort in increasing efficiency and extending battery life over the long-term.

Project Idea 2- Electric Motorbike

I have a great interest in cars and motorbikes, which I plan on further developing throughout my higher education and career. I have built an electric skateboard in the past, and for a long time, I have been planning on some interesting builds like electric gokarts or electric motorbikes, but never really had the platform to work on it.
The benefit of an electric powertrain is that it provides torque instantly, which equates to very high acceleration. I plan on constructing the frame for the bike, possibly using fiberglass or plywood, as well as soldering the battery pack, making the motor controller, and possibly an app that presents average speed, estimated range statistics and the ability to change driving modes. If possible, I would also like to look into the possibility of implementing regenerative braking as well. There will be some parts that I would need to buy, such as the brakes and the suspension, as they are something I cannot produce in the lab, and also I value my safety greatly :) .