Preparation
The group
The group is working from different location in Iceland so some preparation was done online before the main week. Here are links to the individual documentation pages of group members:
The assignments
The group assignments:
- Design a machine that includes mechanism + actuation + automation + application
- Build the mechanical parts and operate it manually
- Actuate and automate your machine
- Document the group project
The individual assignment:
- Document your individual contribution
Questions to be answered/from Nueval:
Have you answered these questions?
- Documented the machine building process to the group page
- Documented your individual contribution to this project on your own website
- Linked to the group page from your individual page as well as from group page to your individual pages
- Shown how your team planned, allocated tasks and executed the project (Group page)
- Described problems and how the team solved them (Group page)
- Listed possible improvements for this project (Group page)
- Included your design files (Group page)
- You need to present your machine globally and/or include a 1 min video (1920x1080 HTML5 MP4) + slide (1920x1080 PNG) (Group page)
To have in mind
Important factors to have in mind from FAQ in Nueval:
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We don't have to design new boards, we can use any board.
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Each member needs to provide at least a week's worth of work.
The general idea
Desktop 3D landscape model of an Icelandic fjord with realistic simulation of sun path
Our project was sparked by this idea. Then it was the developed further by Jóhannes who visualized this idea as a machine as can be seen here below. Then Bjartur Leó Hlynsson and Högni Friðriksson added to the development of the idea when the group started working together. The main idea is to create a machine that shows how the sun disappears behind the tall mountains for a few weeks each year in some places in Iceland. We are a group of four and three of us live in places where the sun disappears, Ísafjörður and Neskaupstaður. Only one in our group, Bjartur, lives in a place where the sun can be seen all year. He lives in Vestmannaeyjar. It would be fun to create a model for all three places, but we will begin with Ísafjörður. Then we will see if there is time to create a model for the other places.
Buttons are used to choose time and date and then the light should move to the spot where the sun would be.
Assembly tree and who does what
We held some online meetings in advance to the machine week and discussed how to split the machine up into subassemblies and devide the tasks between us. Also we discussed possible materials and components to use as well as processes. We also agreed, that each group member should write a functional description for the assigned task.
Enclosure with cutout for DC-supply and input switches
Assigned to Ólöf Hannesdóttir.
Material: 4mm MDF. Manufacturing: Lasercut and rasterized in Epilog laser. Notes: Include space for PCB, motor control, cables, motors, gears.
Functional description for base with cutout for DC-supply and input switches
This task includes designing and manufacturing a base for the landscape model. It will also serve as an enclosure for the machine. The base will have cutouts for buttons and the size and position of these cutouts has to be adequate for the buttons to be accessible, for the cable and for the arm to move. The base has to fit snugly with the top/landscape. The base will be decorated, it will either be rasterized or decorated with stickers.
Arm with sun
Assigned to Högni Friðriksson.
Material: The arm with sun can be modeled after a simple Ikea style lamp and made by 3D printing or laser cutting.
Manufacturing:
Notes: Include cable routing, homing switch and seat for light bulb.
Functional description for arm with sun The lamp will need a track to adjust up and down to attach to as well as an on and off switch. The track mechanism will need to connect with a motor that can adjust it up or down to simulate the changing position of the sun with the seasons. It will need at least one pin on the microcontroller to turn it on and off and potentially a second one if we want to be able to dim the light.
Input:
- Electrical connection to turn it on
- Connection to motor for height adjustments
Components:
- Lightsocket
- Lightbulb/LED
- Wires to connect to powersource
- Connection to microcontroller to turn on off
- Connection to motor to move lamp up and down
Plate with 3D landscape
Assigned to Bjartur Leó Hlynsson.
Material: PLA
Manufacturing: 3D printing
Notes: Maybe two-colour print, Could even be five color or multi material. Whould be cool to have atleast the ocean and landscape in different colours. One idea was to use Transparent Blue PVB for the water. The sun path will only be true for the center of the map (rotational axis). Make sure the POI is centered on the model. The height of the terrain must correspond to the length and width of the model. We must not distort the geodesic model. Ideally, we must select the radius of the model, that all from the POI visible mountains (that could cast shadows) are contained.
Functional description for plate with 3D landscape
PCBs with microcontroller and motor controls
Assigned to Ólöf and Jóhannes Notes: Calculate current consumption, voltage regulator.
Material/components:
- PCB board with SAMD21E18A microcontroller (changed to AVR128DB32 on Day 4 in the main week)
- Power supply: barrel plug 12 V DC power supply (later changed to 5 V DC)
- Voltage regulator: We need to calculate the size according to the power consumption of the components.
Input:
- Knobs (On/off switch , Set push button (one for the sun and one for the machine), Adjustment knobs/4pcs). -Sensors: Hall effect sensor for home station on rotating plate.
Output:
- HX711 motor drivers
- PWM output (for the light)
- LCD screen 16x2.
Current consumption:
Motor drivers: 2 x 350 mA + 150 mA = 850 mA (close to 1 A) LCD: 24,19 mA The rest probably does not use much so most likely the 1 A should be enough but to be safe we will use 2 A voltage regulators.
Pins: Analog Input: 4 (Knobs and hall effect sensor) Digital Input: 1 (end switch sun) Digital Output: 8 (motor driver) PWM output: 1 (sun) Screen: I2C (SDA & SCL) UPDI: 1
Manufacturing:
Notes: PCB board with SAMD21E18A microcontroller (changed to AVR128DB32 on Day 4 in the main week)
Functional description for PCBs with microcontroller and motor controls
This task includes designing and manufacturing the main PCB board that will be used to control the main functions of the machine.
Internal mounting brackets
Assigned to Bjartur Leó Hlynsson.
Material: PLA
Manufacturing: 3D printing
Functional description for internal mounting brackets
This task includes designing and manufacturing brackets holding the buttons/dials/motors/PCB inside the main enclosure. The function is to hold every component in the right place and allow for easy assembly and maintenance access.
Details needed:
- motor position and flange size
- PCB dimensions and hole pattern
- Number and size of components added into the main enclosure
- number of wires and size
Gear for vertical rotational axis
Assigned to Jóhannes.
Material: PETG
Manufacturing: 3D printing
Functional description for gear for vertical rotational axis
The vertical gear/motor assembly will turn the landscape model plate around the vertical axis. It includes a shaft with bearings and defines by the position of the gear motor the gear ratio of the axis. The task also includes mounting of a home position sensor for the plate.
Input:
- electrical connection to servo motor (5 wire)
- electrical connection to hall effect sensor
- magnetic field from magnet in rotational plate
Components:
- servo motor 2138812
- 2x bearing 6806RS
- 1x hall effect sensor breakout board
Dimensions/Interface:
- center distance between gears
- gear ratio
Output
- support by shaft
- torque connector/clutch to rotational plate
- drive force by sprocket on servo mótor M0,6 T10
Design the mathematical model behind the sun path depending on geographical location
Assigned to Jóhannes.
Notes: The sun path will only be true for the center of the map (rotational axis). Make sure the POI is centered on the model. The height of the terrain must correspond to the length and width of the model. We must not distort the geodesic model. Ideally, we must select the radius of the model, that all from the POI visible mountains (that could cast shadows) are contained.
Functional description for designing the mathematical model behind the sun path depending on geographical location
This task involves the development of the mathematical model to control the two axes of the model.
Input:
- dd:mm:(yyyy) hh:mm
- Lat / Lon
Output:
- Azimuth of landscape plate \(0° <= \alpha <= 360°\)
- Elevation of the sun \(0° <= \beta <= 90°\)
Information / Sources:
- Solar calculator from NOAA
- Arduino Library Solar Calculator
Because we found a library for Arduino, that includes all necessary calculations, there is no reason for reinventing the wheel. We will instead use the library, which seems to provide good results that match with the online calculator from NOAA.
Write and debug the programs
Assigned to Jóhannes.
Notes: Which programming language should we use?
Functional description for writing and debugging the programs
This includes working with all inputs and outputs of the main PCB. The program can be devided into two different loops
- Power on and homing
- Standby, select date and time
- Go to
Inputs:
- Home position signal
- Lat / Lon / location
- Date and time selector
- Set button
Output:
- Servo motor rotation
- Light on/off and brightness
Design interfaces between different subassemblies
Assigned to everybody.
Functional description for designing the interfaces between different subassemblies
Everybody should design (if possible) the subassemblies in the shared Fusion project and add them to the main assembly to check for interference and collaborate on interfaces.
Complete the 3D assembly
Assigned to everybody.
Functional description for completing the 3D assembly
This task includes assembling all parts of the machine and making sure that everything fits together. The landscape model and the bracket will be on top of the base. They have to be stable on top and also be able to rotate freely. The arm with the sun has to be able to move in and out of the enclosure so that the sun can be located either behind the mountains or above them. Knobs and LCD screen will be fastened to the surface of the enclosure. Other components will be located inside the enclosure and will be fastened with mounting brackets.
Presentation video and slide
Assigned to Ólöf Hannesdóttir.
Taking videos and photos is assigned to everybodyall members of the group.
Notes: Use the landscape setup. Question: Do we all need to use the same method when taking short videos?
- Write a storyline
- Design a title page
- Line up videos and images
- Add text/information
- Completed!
Slide: - Design a presentation slide - Completed!
Functional description for video documentation
This task will include a video documentation of all the process. It will include an introduction that explains the concept and main function of the machine. It also includes photos and short videos that all members take of each step until the machine is fully assembled and functioning. Finally, a short video and explanatory photos are used as input for description of function. The output will be a maximum 5 minute video that will be used as a full presentation of the progress and outcome.
Purchased parts
What do we need and where from?
Assigned to...
- Two motors - Jóhannes Andrésson
- Microcontroller - Jóhannes Andrésson
- Two Motor drivers - Jóhannes Andrésson
- Switches (how many?) - Jóhannes Andrésson
- Potentiometer? - Jóhannes Andrésson
- Home position switch - Jóhannes Andrésson
- DC power supply - Jóhannes Andrésson
- Voltage regulator - Jóhannes Andrésson
- Light source - Högni Friðriksson
- Screen - Ólöf Hannesdóttir
- Birch plywood for base - Ólöf Hannesdóttir
Creating a landscape model
Here we document on how the 3D landscape model can be created.
How to create a landscape model
The creation of the landscape model was assigned to Bjartur Leó Hlynsson but Ólöf Hannesdóttir also know the process so Jóhannes Andrésson showed them how to do it.
A 3D map of Iceland
Jóhannes Andrésson found a 3D map of Iceland here. This site belongs to the Icelandic Institute of Natural History. On the map you can choose which part of Iceland you want to download and we chose the area where Ísafjörður is. Then we downloaded the elevation model named ISN2016, as you can see in the picture below.
Converting a GEOTIFF file into a grayscale image
The QGIS needs to be downloaded in prior and then it can be used to convert a GEOTIFF file into a grayscale image. We used the QGIS in Icelandic and used these commands: Þekja - bæta við þekju - bæta við rastaþekju (probably raster - add raster - import raster layer in english)
In the image you can use your mouse to draw a rectangle to choose the area you want to export. Then you can use the presettings and click on Add. The scale is shown on the left side. The white areas in the image are the highest points and the black points are the lowes ones. You have to select how high you want the resolution to be and we chose it to be 1000 dpi. Then the image is downloaded as .png.
In the exported image the sea is white, so it has to be changed. It can be done in different ways. You can make it transparent in Inkscape or make it black with some image editing program, f.ex. Paint net.
Converting an image to .stl
Jóhannes Andrésson used the ImgConverter found here here to convert this image of Iceland to a .stl file.
Adjusting scale and changing the form
Jóhannes Andrésson opened the file in Fusion. To find out the right ratios for the model he measured a certain distance on map.is and then measured the same distance on the model in Fusion. He found the ratio by dividing the distance in km with the mm on the map. Then he used this ratio to find out how tall the model should be by using the same ratio for the highest mountain in the area, which is 913 km heigh. By choosing Modify under the Mesh tab, then Scale Mesh, the map could be scaled on the z axis. The Non-uniform had to be chosen so that only the z-axis would be scaled.
Spiral 1 - Designing an enclosure in Fusion
Ólöf did her best to design the first version of the enclosure without assistance. When it was ready, she asked Jóhannes Andrésson if there was anything wrong with the drawing. He told her that you can use Utilities - inspect interference to see if components interfere with each other. The results were not good:
He also pointed out other parts that looked wrong:
Ólöf decided that she would draw the next one with assistance.