Week 2 - Computer Aided Design

For my week 2 computer aided design, I first sketched my final project on paper. Then I used Tinkercad to make the box and the lid for it. I still need to do a few tweaks on the box and add some USB and Type-C ports on the side, but I am going to be making a battery tester/charger for different lithium battery packs, like ones for my robots or RC projects, and some smaller single batteries as well.

I am going to use PETG carbon fiber because it is very strong, and I really like the charcoal gray color. I started with the outside first and will begin making the code and the PCB for it soon. I will also be using the laser cutter to make a bottom platform that everything will sit on nicely so the final project looks clean and not thrown together.

I put holes around the lid so I can press brass threaded inserts down into them. That way I can screw the top on securely, and to mount it to the wood, I will just bolt it straight to the wood frame.

As you can see here in my rough draft sketch:

In this Tinkercad image, I made a simple box and used the hole square shape dropped down inside to make it a hollow shell. Then I did the same thing for the holes at the top. I used the cylinder hole and dropped it down enough so the brass threaded inserts can be pushed in while still leaving room for the bolts to tighten.

These two pictures show me getting the print started and the final print in progress.