Kamal Kumar Chapagai¶
Image: Group photo at the Pre-Fabacademy programme at FabLab Mandala, Thimphu Bhutan
FabAcademy Home Page: https://fabacademy.org/2022/labs/bhutan/#participants
Why FabAcademy¶
I am a faculty of Electronics Engineering at one of the premier colleges in Bhutan. As part of teaching learning, we learn design and development of system, fabrication and assembly including testing and deployment. In all these, FabLab fits very well because the fabrication of the system are more crude at our stage as tools for the same is not available. With support from JICA our college is setting up a FabLab within the campus. For the same, I am selected as one of the team members responsible in running the lab as resource, instructor or coordinator of activities. With the skills I gain, I can help students develop better systems and products that can impress investors .Additionally, I wish to acquire basic to advanced knowledge and skills required to successfully run the lab as this lab is also going to be a center for creators, makers and innovators in our communities to change their idea into product.
Image: Class Photo during Pre-Fabacademy programme at FabLab Mandala, Thimphu Bhutan
I as a responsible person wish to impart my skills to these creators so that their task becomes easy and their ideas realizable. Further, as a citizen of a tiny country dependent on others for all resource, I wish to create avenue through this lab for our community to realize a circular system of economy such that we require to import less and recycle more.
How does it work¶
Timetable
| Days | Sessions | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Global Recitation | 8:00PM - 9:00PM |
| Tuesday | Regional Review | 9:00AM - 12:00PM |
| Wednesday | Global Lecture | 8:00 PM - 11:00PM |
| Saturday | Global Open Time | 8:00PM - 9:00PM |
| Followed by weekly Assignments evaluated |
Other Components of FabAcademy are:
One week of Machine week (Build a Machine in group)
One Individual Final Project (Plan and build a project consisting of components from all week’s task)
Why MkDocs.¶
I have built many websites by editing standard themes, I have also written static websites using HTML. I am familiar with wordpress themes and editors like elementor, page builder and Divi. These page builders are visual and graphical. It also include drag and drop and hence require minimum coding knowledge. However, I am new to Mkdocs and it is exciting to learn a new method. I will be updating all the assignments and projects using this MarkDown for the FabAcademy.
Project Idea¶
Initially I had a couple of ideas to work on for my final project
- Rocker/Swing with Baby monitor
- Crawler for disaster application
- Autobot vacuum cleaner that returns to home for recharging
- PET to Filaments for 3D Printing
- Paper recycling (cleaning ink with chemical and drying)
- Tiny Top for learning Similar to pitop but with Attiny
- Smart Clock with LCD display that scrolls the calender of the day
After discussion with the local instructors, we decided to work on Crawler for Disaster Application
Project Background¶
Disaster are unpredictable and happens regularly in different part of the world. Few of the common disasters to hit Bhutan are Fire, Landslide, Earthquake and Flood. During such time, people have very less time to make decision and maynot be able to run. This would cause them to be trapped inside the houses. It is very risky for people to go into the building directly and look for survivors as there is chances of another mishap. Therefore, current practice to use excavation to remove the collapsed parts in layer and look for bodies or survivors. However, If we can have a tiny eye that we can send into the collapsed house or any structure before excavation, we can reduce the risk of causing damage to the surviving individuals. Further, we can increase the survival rate of critically injured people if we can embed with suitable sensor to sense presence of life under the rubble.
Therefore, I will be working on designing and developing a small robot that can maneuver through rough terrains and send video signal through to a remote controller or a mobile device.
Project scetch and plan¶
Figure:: Initial Idea of the Project drawn using Microsoft Visio
Figure:: Free Hand Sketch of the project idea and application
The initial Idea of the project in presented above. The system consists of an app that will be used to communicate with the Robot to control its movement and display the video inputs coming in. The Robot will resemble a scaled version of tank that can maneuver through rough terrains. It will be fitted with a camera and ultrasonic sensors to visuallize the path and etermine obstacles. At this stage the following are the systems and components i will make use of.
- 3D printing of the body of the system including wheel and chain
- Circuit design to connect the sensors and camera to the Controller board.
- Design of the Application capable of receiving video and sensor inputs.