Assignment 2
Brief
- Model (raster, vector, 2D, 3D, render, animate, simulate, ...) a possible final project
- Compress your images and videos,
- And post a description with your design files on your class page
Model a possible final project
Putting the sensors in the field without protection will leave them open to the elements. A sturdy enclosure will be designed and 3D printed, the design ought to be sturdy and water-resistant.
I want a way to add some flair to the website and project through a logo. Labelling and managing assets is often left behind on projects, for the 2D design I want to make some way to keep track of nodes, a label outlining the 'name' of the node and some other information.
Modelling an enclosure - Fusion360
Fusion360 is a free Maker friendly 3D design software (parametric). I have experience in another CAD program, CREO through university, so adapting the workflows for this similar program was not too hard. Neither of the software suites above are open-source, I'd check out FreeCAD and OpenSCAD for some great alternatives!
My goals for this section was to design a water-resistant enclosure to house the electronics of a node. A side quest was to optimise the design for 3D printing.
Design posibilities
I started out with an idea to use cable glands for the external connections to the sensors, though given that the soil sensors used Dupont style wires, this would mean there is a moisture ingress point somewhere in the cable assembly.
I originally was not going to use a window on the front of the enclosure, this might have made the seal easier to create but would lack any wow factor from seeing the electronics (and would be harder to debug), so an acrylic panel would be used for a window and a seal would have to be included in the design.
From my time doing 3D printing there is a definite trend in Makers putting most (if not all) geometries on the bottom so no supports are needed, vertical walls and attempts to reduce as many over-hangs as possible.
Using the 3 strategies above I ended up with the rough idea that ended up eventuating in CAD
Modelling process
- I started out with a box with 5mm thick walls. I wasnt concerned about changing the internal dimensions as the main advantage of parametric modelling software is being able to change measurements after the fact. Parametric software defines mathematical relations between each of the geometries of a model.
- Next was adding water resistance. The cables for the soil moisture sensors have to come from somewhere! A small opening was made on the bottom allowing the cables to pass through and the extrusion should stop water ingress.
- Rounds were added to each of the vertical internal edges (the outer edges will get rounded later) and holes to attach a clear front plate and gasket on top.
- There should be many mounting options, zip-ties, a pre-existing screw or nail or screwing it in directly. Since it will be going into a garden or pot plants ,stakes will likely be the desired way to put them in a field.
With the first iteration in CAD complete I learnt that a seal would be required to properly keep moisture out (for the most part), that would have to be worked in later. Keeping mounting options open is another great idea that only really popped up for this project, where I'm not too sure where my Mum or other Makers looking to replicate this project would want to mount them. (see the zip tie holders on the side, and screw/nail mount on the top edge)
Designing stickers - Illustrator
My workflow, although primitive and based around how I work in CAD. Usually starts with picking an artboard far too large for the artwork I'm looking to do. (In this case the logo was an A4 page with a logo with dimensions ~25x25mm from memory).
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After asking ChatGPT for some names and workshopping them with Michael, I came up with 'PlantPulse' I want to design a logo to resemble this name, a leaf and a normal ECG plot would look sweeet.
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I drafted this up in Illustrator and tinkered around with the look and feel of the lines. This logo could go on my website, and the labels I'll make now.
The line tool was heavily used, the borders were made with bezier curves, and the line down the middle was a collection of straight lines at kind of random distances (trying to keep the angles consistent).
- I added the logo, and 2 fields where a permanent marker could be used to write the 'MAC ID' and Pump Numbers for the respective node.
I was able to import the logo using the 'link' tool in Illustrator. this let me use an asset from another file in this new file. The line tool was used to create the corners and the text tool for the rest of the sticker.
Compressing files
Compressing media for web is a key aspect of publishing content to the internet. Many tools, both command line and GUI options are availble.
Image compression
I like a more manual process for processing images, paint.net allows for the resolution to be changed (so that all content is aligned at its native resolution). And image compression with a sliding scale and a preview window to make sure it doesn't get deep fried.
Video compression
The first pass of video compression will be to cut unnecessary content using ClipChamp, the updated Windows Movie Maker. Then the resolution and bit rate will be reduced in Handbrake or ffmpeg At the time of writing I don't have a lot of experience with this tool so will stick with the defaults and learn from the internet, GPT, and others that have more experience with video creation!