Week 17 : Applications and Implications
We are to plan our final project masterpiece that integrates the range of units covered by answering a hand full of questions to help breakdown our project into digestible pieces.
What will it do?
- This display stand will hold jewelry made by yours truly. It will have a movement and light up component that interacts and responds to viewing interaction with a motion sensor. The stand will have a spinning tower and LED lights to draw in viewers. Once viewers are close enough to trigger the motion sensor, the stand will stop moving so they can get a better look at the jewelry on display. It will also sit and look pretty.
Who's done what beforehand?
- There are tons of display stands in existence and many that rotate. Typically, jewelry stands that rotate do not automatically do so because they are intended for viewers to have control and look at their own pace. Display stands that do rotate automatically usually are used with more obviously 3 dimensional products or meant for one single object. I’m taking these concepts and mixing them up a bit to use the movement less of a feature to view the products and more of a spectacle to draw in more engagement.
What sources will you use?
- I will mainly use the source of shared human knowledge and experience. But along side the help and guidance of my mentors, friends, and colleagues, I will also be looking to the world wide web and chat gpt. There are a few open-source programs I will use like KiCad, Tinkercad, Sculptgl. Some shared designs from Printables and a free gear generator.
What will you design?
- I will design the PCB board and the full display structure including the base, the rotating tower, and the decorative structure.
What materials and components will be used?
- The main structure will be made of wood. Components such as the gears and the bearings will be made of pla filament. I will be using a servo motor, a motion sensor, an LED strip, a battery pack, a buck board, and a rp2040.
Where will they come from?
- Most of it would have/ or will be ordered from online. The filament and birch ply is something we keep in stock at the shop. Sometimes we can get wood from local suppliers but we have also order from online depending on availability.
How much will they cost?
- My sanity…..just kidding! For me to make this one, a lot of the materials were scraps or recycled pieces keeping the cost very cheap. But if everything was purchased new, the breakdown would look something like this:
Electronics
Build Materials
What parts and systems will be made?
- The PCB board will be made/milled with a Bantam Tools precision CNC mill. The gears and bearings will be made with Bambulabs 3D printer. The structure will be laser cut on a Full Spectrum machine. May include cast leaves as well.
What processes will be used?
- The PCB board will be designed in KiCad, then milled with a CNC and soldered using solder paste. The controllers will be coded and programmed using Arduino IDE. The 3D printed components will be designed using Illustrator and Trinkercad, then 3D printed with PLA. The structure will be hand drawn and designed in Illustrator, then laser cut. Most of the structure will be press fit but some components will have an adhesive. The wood will also get a stain coat. If I include the leaves, which were designed in Sculptgl, the mold will be a two part mold designed in Tinkercad and 3D printed to form the silicone mold. Then the leaf will be casted using liquid plastic.
What questions need to be answered?
- Will the Display be flashy enough to catch the attention of individuals or a crowd at an event with additional stimulation/distractions? Will the unit be equally intriguing from up close and at a distance?
How will it be evaluated?
- By the test of time and the attention spans of the general public. It will be evaluated by its aesthetic and attractiveness. It’s ability to look intricate and detailed while simultaneously being simple and elegant. Having it embrace nostalgia, bringing back to the art nouveau movement while having a modern features through design and components. It should invoke multigenerational processes and aesthetics.
What tasks have been completed?
-design and laser cut majority structure
-design and milled pcb board
-design and printed gears and bearings
-tested individual components
What tasks remain?
-Have code and components working all together
-Design arch and front plate
-Stain
-Maybe make more leaves to incorporate
What questions need to be resolved?
-Can the servo motor and the internal system/structure smoothly move and control the tower?
What have you learned?
-An ENORMOUS amount of new skills! How the whole electronics production process works, how to read and understand the (basic) jargon, the design and manufacturing process. How to incorporate parameters. How to make different types of molds and different casting materials. How to code both for components and for html. The expansion of the digital world has grown exponentially for me even though I know I have only toughed the surface.
