Project Development
Complete your final project, tracking your progress:
- what tasks have been completed
- what tasks remain?
- what has worked?
- what hasn’t?
- what questions need to be resolved?
- what will happen when?
- what have you learned?
Tracking
What tasks have been completed?
Well… there are still alot of work to be done. Originally my final project was meant to look like this
But in the end I could only do the wireless display… and that too is still very imperfect.
What tasks remain?
It maybe a final project for some.... but for us in Fab Lab Bali, it is a project that is just starting. We received a 2 year grant funding for this project so obviously - from the original plan, I will dive deep into prototyping the other parts. The idea is that it will cover all of these components.
What has worked? What hasn’t?
Everything worked but there are still may rooms for improvement. Just some key takeaways that could be done better:
- I still need to refine the data mapping on the UI animation
- Enclosure design needs to be improved with a snap fit lid mechanism
- Rotary encoder programming needs to be embedded into the prototype
- I still need to make the enclosure for Rx Board and figure out how to integrate it with a fuel cell and hydrogen tank.
What questions still need to be resolved?
- Will it work with a Hydrogen Fuel Cell?
- Can people understand about power consumption using power meter?
- How do I make this prototype even more frugal? Rp 509 000 is expensive.
- The TX board at the moment has no enclosure so the attachment onto the Fuel Cell is still a missing piece. How do we ensure that end users know how to install the TX board to the fuel cell?
- Is my power meter accurate enough?
- Is it easy to produce at scale?
- The plasticky device is still in its early stage of prototype. How do we produce at scale while keeping it frugal?
- Will it survive usage in real world conditions?
What will happen when?
I hope that by then I would be able to answer those questions. I will make sure that I include those questions into refining my prototype iterations. The aim is by end of 2024 that somehow we have a working prototype that could be showed to the funders. Those questions will be important for the funders and they would want to see that reflected onto the project.
What have you learned?
- Digital Fabrication Skills. I think I have improved a little bit in this aspect. I had stopped doing things related to digital fabrication after I graduated and what I learned in Fab Academy was way more detailed compared to university.
- Electronic Design & Production. Truthfully this was a completely new area for me. Despite my early failures - I found these weeks to be the most rewarding. Designing electronic boards and connecting the traces actually feels quite therapautic. Trying to figure out our janky milling machine can be quite time consuming but it made me understand the machine much more. Also I am getting better at soldering.. although I am still not there yet
- Time Management. I have very poor time management. Balancing work and Fab Academy smells like a disaster and personally I felt that. Obviously I could have spent my time better… but at some point I just couldn’t work even if I had to. I really felt like my life was spiralling endlessly trying to balance both work and fab academy
Massive thanks to:
- Eka & Tafia, without them I wouldn’t be able to survive Fab Academy
- Rico & Kurumi for their time in teaching and instructing us.... I am really sorry that my poor time management skills give you both constant heart attacks.
- Tomas for giving me the opportunity to join this program.