19. Project development¶
- Complete your final project tracking your progress.
📆 Schedule¶
Did you have a plan for the project at the start of the semester? Did it change as you moved along?¶
At the start of the semester, I had a plan. I wanted to finish the project by end of May, in order to graduate asap. In this plan, I had to understand first the structure of the machine and then focus on the electronics part, most likely doing that part for completing my assignments.
The main problem I faced was the fact that I was working while doing the FabAcademy and in June there was also the Design Week in Milan, which took away all my energy in May and therefore I could not graduate nor focus on the electronics (since the structure was already done).
After the Design week, I managed to focus on the electronics and designed and manufactured a board with an ESP32. I did 4 boards but none of them worked with my servo motors. I had planned to spend on the board and the overall servo-electronics matters two weeks with fulltime work but I ended up spending more that one month, without solving any problem. We guessed it was Kirchhoff’s law coming against us.
I finally decided to simulate the whole process doing the code first with an Arduino to then replicate it with a designed board.
What affected the outcomes?¶
The outcomes were affected, first off, by the research on the projects that were already done. I saw that there were many “color sorting machines” already done, but few for bottle caps. The main fact that influenced the project was the decision on the colors to sort as well as the dimensions of the caps. This affected, of course, the dimension of the machine: I chose to sort up to 8 colors for now, since they are the most present, and to sort caps wide up to 30mm of diameter, for the same reason. Another thing that affected the outcomes was the timing: I apparently had a lot of time but I was mainly focused on the code and wanted to do that part well.
Therefore, I guess I did not pay as much attention to the structure which is quite simple yet aesthetically pleasant (de gustibus, of course). The decision to do a structure that I liked, and was not only functional, comes from my background in Design.
What tasks have been completed, and what tasks remain?¶
As for now, the only tasks that are missing is the assembly of the front of the machine and the testing part with my board. This means that I have to focus on perfecting the code to make everything smoother and understandable for debugging (which is a very important part for me). Then, I will focus on the presentation and the video for the presentation day.
What’s working? What’s not?¶
As for now, the servos are acting like I wanted to. This means that they are rotating based on the color. What’s not working is the board I designed in May/June but I will eventually do another one and fix that. I am confindent it will work.
What questions need to be resolved?¶
The questions that need to be resolved all concern the debugging part:
- What happens if a cap remains trapped?
- What happens if a color is not read correctly?
- How do I debug easily these hypotetical concerns?
I plan to solve them as soon as my machine is working and eventually work on these as I am using the machine actively.
What will happen when?¶
I will start off by finishing the structure, which I had already done (which means I designed it in May and lasered at the end of May). I then will have to take a break for work matters and then step back on the project. Then I will have also the inside structure ready, which I can 3D print at work. In June I will dedicate to the programming part, which concerns:
- the boards (both design and production) which I guess will take some time since I have to solder an ESP32
- the programming per se
I will focus on these tasks until the end of July, with the time I have left from work. I want to have the color sensor tested before the summer holidays, since I think that that part will be tricky since there are many shades and the light tends to change the perception.
I also want to have the servo motors part finished, since I need to understand their pattern and the connection with the color sensor (in addition to their functioning).
In September I will have few time to dedicate to the project so I guess I will be finishing the parts that will be missing, since there are always unforeseens in life and in projects and I expect this plan to fail miserably.
Hopefully, by October I will have finished the project assembling it.
What have you learned?¶
From the whole FabAcademy journey I learned a lot. First off, I acquired a lot confidence in myself I was lacking. I mean, I acquired it by doubting myself every week with every assignment and new machine to learn. I decided to do the FabAcademy to be more prepared for the job I was already doing and, to be honest, to feel more present and capable of doing my job. I only new how to 3dprint at the beginning and now I know a lot of things.
I learned also that time management is crucial when dealing with the complexity of a project and the complexity of learning. And that errors are part of the journey.
Lastly, I acquired technical skills I did not have before that will help me in my work and life experience.
From the project, I learned that the unpredictable happens and what you can do is shift your schedule, rearrange it and go on. The electronic may seem difficult and unapproachable but they just take time for the information to settle in.