System Integration

Task:-

Instructors for this week:Saheen

Week's Overview

This week felt like the point where I had to step beyond imagination and conceptualization and actually start planning, making, and testing. Many things changed from what I had initially imagined once I started building and testing. I made mockups, explored the electronics, and figured out how the mechanism and different components could fit together.

For me, this was the most challenging part because now i explored and designed forms, but now I had to break it down for manufacturing. What fabrication methods should I use? How should I split the parts? What electronics do I actually need? I had to finalize the BOM or list down what i possibly needed and start thinking about how everything would come together and work. I had so many questions going on mind “where should each electronic component go? How do I integrate the mechanism?”.

The process was not as clean or linear as it may seem in documentation. The process involved a lot of guidance from instructors, peer support, and trial and error. Many times, I only realized what is not possible or needed to change after making and testing a prototype. Although this page is documented as Week 15, most of the work shown here continued to evolve alongside my final project over the following weeks.

User-flow

Initial Mechanism designing and testing

Cardboard Mockups

Story Concept Making

Concept sketching and Form exploration

Encloser design: Mockup

Functionality Diagram

Electronic System

Block Diagram

PCB Designing

BOM: Bill Of Material

Main PCB

Button PCB: Breakout Board

Wiring

Integration and Assembly Planning for the Final Product

This is how I planned the integration of the mechanism, electronics, and enclosure in Fusion 360 before fabrication. The CAD model video show how the different components were assembled, how the enclosure was designed around them, and how the whole system was planned.

To see whether all this whole planning actually worked, please check out the final project documentation.