Applications & Implications¶
Propose a final project masterpiece that integrates the range of units covered, answering:
- What will it do?
- Who's done what beforehand?
- What will you design?
- What materials and components will be used?
- Where will come from?
- How much will they cost?
- What parts and systems will be made?
- What processes will be used?
- What questions need to be answered?
- How will it be evaluated?
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.
Project Information¶
What will it do?¶
TRACK (The Royal Academy Card Keeper) is a project that’s aimed at helping out with the attendance system at my school. Students come to morning exercise, and then tap their student card on the project, which will then scan the student information, and record this data on a database (Google Sheets) along with information such as the card UID, and the time of scanning.
Who’s done what beforehand?¶
Going through past students’ documentations, here’s a list of projects that I find quite similar/useful to mine.
-
Diego Meono (TCG Card Reader)
-
Hiroe Takeda (Run Time Checker)
-
Nishtha Kaushik (Tool Management System)
What will you design?¶
I’m going to be designing everything from scratch except for the raw materials, and the electrical components (resistors, capacitors, et cetera). This includes: 1. 3D designing my project enclosure on Fusion360 2. 3D printing the walls with the Prusa printers 3. Laser cutting the top and bottom of my project 4. Designing my development board on KiCad
What materials and components will be used?¶
Physical Materials & Components¶
| Material/Component | Purpose |
|---|---|
| PLA and XT Filament | 1. Printing the walls of my enclosure 2. Printing the screws to hold my enclosure together 3. Printing the holders for my components |
| Acrylic Sheets | 1. For the the top and bottom of my enclosure |
Electrical Materials & Components¶
| Material/Component | Purpose |
|---|---|
| XIAO ESP32C3 | Development Board Microcontroller |
| 16x02 i2c LCD | Displaying Information |
| RC522 RFID Module | Scanning Student Cards |
| Power Bank | Power Supply |
| Resistors | Final Project Board |
| Capacitors | Final Project Board |
| LEDs | Final Project Board |
Where will they come from?¶
The only components that weren’t avaliable in my local lab are:
| Material/Component | Sourcing |
|---|---|
| RC522 RFID Card Reader 13.56MHz | OpenCircuit |
| Power Bank | Amazon |
How much will they cost?¶
| TRACK | Available Locally? | Amount | Price (USD) | Total price (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| XIAO ESP32C3 | Locally | 1 | 11.00$/unit | 11.00$ |
| Acrylic 6 mm | Locally | 1 (305 x 203mm) | 6.08$/unit | 23.65$ |
| PLA 1,75mm. filament | Locally | 250 gr. | 28.05$/kg. | 2.98$ |
| Yonii BL2 5V Power Bank | Alibaba | 1 | 4.19$ | 4.19$ |
| 16x02 i2c LCD | Robu.in | 1 | 1.72$/unit | 1.72$ |
| RC522 RFID Module | Robu.in | 2 | 1.11/unit$ | 2.22$ |
| Others (wood glue, tape, soldering tin, cables, et cetera) | - | - | - | 5.91$ |
| Total cost (USD) | 51.67$ |
What parts and systems will be made?¶
- Project Enclosure Walls
- Project Enclosure Top & Bottom
- Development Board
- Communication Protocol
- Component Holders
What processes will be used?¶
1. Project Enclosure Walls - Fusion360, Prusa Slicer, 3D Printing
2. Project Enclosure Top & Bottom - Laser Cutting
3. Development Board - KiCad, ModsCE, and Roland SRM20
4. Communication Protocol - Google Sheets, Arduino IDE
5. Component Holders - Fusion360, Prusa Slicer, 3D Printing
What questions need to be answered?¶
- How am I going to communicate and store data on Google Sheets?
- Will I finish in time?
- What do I want my final video presentation to look like?
- What information do I want to display?
- How can I make the design more user intuitive?
- What are the limitations of my project?
How will it be evaluated?¶
My 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.