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17. Applications and Implications

This was Applications and Implications week. The goal was to detail our final project and answer the different questions presented to us, with the goal being to ascertain a better understanding of the product’s impacts beyond the base functionality. This week also reminds students some of the requirements for creating their final project - primarily through telling them once again what elements need to be included.

Assignment:

  • Propose a final project masterpiece that integrates the range of units covered, answering the following questions.

  • Your project should incorporate:

    • 2D and 3D design

    • Additive and subtractive fabrication processes

    • electronics design and production,

    • embedded microcontroller interfacing and programming,

    • system integration and packaging

  • Where possible, you should make rather than buy the parts of your project

  • Projects can be separate or joint, but need to show individual mastery of the skills, and be independently operable

Answers

  • What will it do?

The Integrated HUD Helmet system (new name) will display various information about the user’s movement and position.

  • Who’s done what beforehand?

Two previous Fab Academy students who have done helmet projects before were Jasmin Rubinovitz’s bike helmet design and Fabio Bobadilla’s urban helmet design. Both of these creators took unique approaches to creating helmets and applying them.

  • What will you design?

I will design a helmet with four main 3D printed pieces, a laser cut goggle system, and the electronics boards for the sensors and OLED screens.

  • What materials and components will be used?

I will use various filaments to 3D print those parts, 1/8” wood to laser cut the goggles, the BNO-055 9DOF sensor, two OLED screens, and various electronic components for connections.

  • Where will come from?

The majority of these materials will come from the lab directly, but the BNO-055 sensor can be bought from Adafruit here. The lab had to order three of these sensors, as the first was lost in delivery, the second was fried from excessive heat, and the third is the current one.

  • How much will they cost?

The filament, laser cut materials, and most electronic components were obtained in the lab, so it is not known how much each costs, but the sensor cost roughly $35.

  • What parts and systems will be made?

This question is a bit ambiguous, but there will be the the 3D helmet parts, the goggle parts, and the electronics system that will use both of these to connect together. This electronics system will be the primary system used, with not much else being involved with it.

  • What processes will be used?

I will use 3D printing, laser cutting, milling, soldering, and programming.

  • What questions need to be answered?

The primary question currently would be the power source, as I will likely try to use some sort of battery but it has not been thought through as much as it should have been.

  • How will it be evaluated?

The main critea that I expect this to be evaluated on will be if the OLED screens properly display the data from the sensor, if the system integrates with itself properly, and whether or not it can actually be worn around and used outside. I do not expect it to be actually used outdoors or while skiing, as it would not have enough resiliance and the parts used are not meant to be particularily strong.

BOM

Some of these answers relate to the Bill of Materials that I had to create earlier in the year, so I updated it and will put it here for reference. It particularly relates to the fourth, fifth, and sixth questions. While Google links are finicky sometimes, here is the link for the spreadsheet, and it should hopefully work with the links to vendors.