Hello! I am Gonzalo

Here I am, with this LinkedIn-kinda face on, ready to deliver a text full of "I"s. No beating around the bush, I promise.

I'm from Barcelona. I studied Physics for my Bachelor's and spent a year in Breda, NL, pursuing an MSc in Game Technology were I focused on studying Swarm Intelligence—a branch of complex systems theory. Since then, I've worked for a startup as a Digital Twin & Unity Developer, programming and often learning new technologies (from 3D modelling to back-end software) to apply to our projects. I've also been a Maker since around 2013-14, when I built my first RepRap 3D printer.

Weekly Assignment Index

• Week 1. Project management
• Week 2. Computer Aided design
• Week 3. Computer controlled cutting
• Week 4. Embedded programming
• Week 5. 3D Scanning and printing
• Week 6. Electronics design
• Week 7. Computer controlled machining
• Week 8. Electronics production
• Week 9. Input devices
• Week 10. Output devices

Week 1. Project management

Getting started with Fab Academy! Here I will document an overview of my progress and weekly work. Click on the "+" button at the bottom right of the book to read the full documentation.

Assignments:

• Read, sign the agreements, and commit to your repos.

• Work through a git tutorial.

• Build a personal site describing you and your final project.

• Plan and sketch a potential final project.

Technologies & Learning Outcomes:

• Git: Git bash and Github Desktop.

• Sketching: Krita.

• Web: html, css & js

• Also started using DeepSeek.

For the website, I decided I wanted to use a nice layout with different boxes for each week like the masonry or timeline layouts. After a few trials on building a timeline I took a rest and stumbled upon CodingStar's fantastic video on book layouts. And oh boy, what an odissey I set myself into.

Week 2. Computer Aided design

Assignments:

• 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.

Main Technologies Used:

• 2D: Inkscape.

• 3D: Blender and Rhino 8.

Results:

• A 3D model of my final project, a headband with cameras and audio output, connected to an AI-powered brain.

• Modelled a repeatable pattern in Inkscape. Using it as background of week 2's extended content.

• Played around a bit with material shader graphs in Blender.

• "Finished" the book-style website, adding an extended documentation section.

Week 3. Computer controlled cutting

Group assignment:

• Do your lab's safety training

• Characterize your lasercutter's focus, power, speed, rate,

kerf, joint clearance and types

Individual assignment:

• Cut something on the vinylcutter

• Design, lasercut, and document a parametric construction kit,

• accounting for the lasercutter kerf,

• which can be assembled in multiple ways,

• and for extra credit include elements that aren't flat

Main Technologies Used:

• Vynil: Inkscape & Silhouette studio.

• Construction Kit: Fusion360 & Rhino 8.

Results:

• Produced a vynil sticker.

• Produced a 12 piece kit, built from a base 1x1 piece and a base connector, as well as a flexible piece. Fully parametric.

• Characterized our laser machine for wood, cardboard and acrylic.

Week 4. Embedded programming

Group assignment:

• Demonstrate and compare the toolchains and development workflows for available embedded architectures.

Individual assignment:

• Browse through the datasheet for your microcontroller.

• Write a program for a microcontroller, and simulate its operation, to interact -input&/output- and communicate -remote & wired or wireless.

• Extra credit: test it on a development board.

• Extra credit: try different languages &/or development environments.

Main Technologies Used:

• Microcontrollers: Simulated ESP32-S3

• Simulation platform & IDEs: Wokwi & Arduino IDE

Results:

• Browsed through the datasheet of the ESP32-S3.

• Built a simulation of the input->microphone-recording part of my final project. The circuit uses an ESP32, interacts with the environment through a microphone and communicates with a display screen to plot the sound waves.

• Pending: Test with the Barduino ESP32-S3.

• Additionally added embedded code support on my website.

Week 5. 3D Scanning and printing

Group assignment:

• Test the design rules for your 3D printer(s).

Individual assignment:

• Design and 3D print an object that could not be made subtractively.

• 3D scan an object and optionally print it.

Main Technologies Used:

• 3D printing: Bambu Studio & Cura

• 3D model: Fusion360

• 3D scanning: RevoPoint 3D Scanner & KIRI Engine

Results:

• 3D-printed a compartment for the final project's front camera.

• 3D-scanned a face with a 3D scanner and a still object with my smartphone.

• Built a parametrized compartment 3D model.

Week 6. Electronics design

Group assignment:

• Use the test equipment in your lab to observe the operation of a microcontroller circuit board.

Individual assignment:

• Use an EDA tool to design a development board that uses parts from the inventory to interact and communicate with an embedded microcontroller.

• Extra credit: Try another design workflow.

• Extra credit: Simulate your design.

• Extra credit: Design a case around your design.

Main Technologies Used:

• PCB design: KICAD.

• PCB compartment: Fusion360.

Results:

• Designed a PCB for the ESP32 microcontroller.

• Designed a compartment for the PCB design.

Week 7. Computer controlled machining

Group assignment:

• Do your lab's safety training.

• Test runout, alignment, fixturing, speeds, feeds, materials, and toolpaths for your machine.

Individual assignment:

• Make (design+mill+assemble) something big (~meter-scale).

• Extra credit: Don't use fasteners or glue.

• Extra credit: Include curved surfaces.

Main Technologies Used:

• Design: Fusion360

• CAM: Rhino6 CAM

• CNC: RaptorX-SL60

Results:

• Designed, cut and assembled a decorative stair railing

Week 8. Electronics production

Group assignment:

• Characterize the design rules for your in-house PCB production process.

• Submit a PCB design to a board house.

Individual assignment:

• Make and test a microcontroller development board that you designed.

• Extra credit: Make it with another process.

Main Technologies Used:

• KICAD9

• INKSCAPE

Results:

• Produced the board for an ESP32 microcontroller.

• Perhaps the processes of this week probably have stuck with me the most, courtesy of repeating them fail after fail.

Week 9. Input Devices

Group assignment:

• Probe an input device's analog levels and digital signals.

Individual assignment:

• Measure something: add a sensor to a microcontroller board that you have designed and read it.

Main Technologies Used:

• Soldering station.

• Punch through machine & vias.

• Multimeter.

• Drill tip.

• The USB-A version of the ESPAIN32.

Results:

• Finished the previous week's board, cutting and soldering its components.

• Tested my custom PCB board, reading switch input.

(new!) Excuses:

• Only reading input from a switch is kinda lame, that's why this week I bring forth a curated set of excuses. More below.

Week 10. Output devices

Group assignment:

• Measure the power consumption of an output device.

Individual assignment:

• Add an output device to a microcontroller board you've designed.

• Program it to do something.

Main Technologies Used:

• Programming: Arduino IDE & Wokwi

• Output device, LCD screen: DFRobot_RGBLCD1602

• Microcontroller boards: ESPAIN32 and Barduino

• Questions about life: DeepSeek

Results:

• Programmed an LCD screen to display:

  • Happy Birthday messages

  • Custom characters

  • Conway's game of Life

• One of the main takeaways is that simple lcd screens can only store 8 custom characters.

Week 11. Mechanical design & machine design

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Week 12. Molding and Casting

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Week 13. Networking and communications

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Week 14. Interface and application programming

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Week 15. Wildcard week

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Week 16. Applications and implications

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Week 17. Invention, intellectual property and income

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Week 18. Project development

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Final Project.

Where did you leave your keys this morning? How many red cars have you seen today? Met this person before... but what was their name?! What if your memories, even those you don't remember, could explain themselves? These questions and more sparked the creation of this project after the release of ChatGPT Vision.

The End

That’s all folks! Thank you for joining.

GG