Project 2 documentation

Heres the final documentation of project 2

Link

(As I post this its still the video is still uploading, should be up soon though)

Project 2 Finished

I was going to post a few more photos and updates of the construction, but the documentation video went through the construction process pretty thoroughly so i thought that was sufficient.

Unfortunately the finished piece doesn't work terribly well, but I just ran out of time, and injured my thumb quite badly over the weekend so i couldn't really work on it much.

The main issues were
- The original photocell module I had made didn't fit properly so I had to completely remake it
-One of the RGB LEDs appears to have shorted out and doesn't go. I believe this was caused by not planning out the inside circuitry carefully enough, and as a result when I attached the final parts of the case, The end of one of the wires from the switch was pressed up against part of the LED and a short was created. I was really unhappy about this as I was unable to get any shots of the finished piece working. There is some footage about 2/3 of the way through the documentation video showing the nearly completed model working perfectly, so this will just have to do unfortunately.

Project 2 update

Just a quick update, Been working on getting the circuit wired up onto vero board, Here is the finished photocell module (Although as I write this, I have realised i need to redo because I originally didn't leave sufficient room for the jumper wires, and as a result the, when the plastic case is placed over top, the photocells no longer sit flush like how i wanted them.

Just A quick test to make sure the module is working correctly and all the soldering is okay.

All the pieces of the case, I have just finished chamfering all of the edges with sand paper to ensure a hopefully seamless fit.

A close up of the switch

Project 3 - Design Document

Here is our groups final Design Document.

Project 2 - Early Fabrication

I have started cutting out the pieces of the final model. I decided to go for a combination of 1mm and 2mm white styrene plastic. I really like this material as it is easy to work with and one side has a nice shiny finish.
I drilled 6 holes 1cm apart, along the base of the device, for the photocells to sit flush in.

I drilled a 3mm hole in each if the side panels, this allows the RGB to sit against the surface, with the wires passing through to the inside. I then drilled a 5mm hole into the glue stick diffuser, and slid it over the RGB so it sits flush against the side and the LED is less visible.
I have sanded down the edges of each of the sides so that all the pieces will fit together nicely, and so the ugly rough edges will not be visible.

Project 2 - Prototype 2

I wasn't all that happy with the overall shape of my previous prototype so I felt it necessary to construct a second card prototype to try and iron out a few of the kinks.

My main criticism of my previous prototype was that it was too short and stubby, so to combat this i Increased the length by 1cm and decreased the width and depth by approximately 1cm each, making sure though to still leave enough room for the 9v battery (the largest component, and really the only component I really need to worry about space wise)I also changed the style slightly to reflect my original 3ds Max mock up a little more.


The prototype under construction


The finished prototype


I went back to my original idea of using hot glue gun sticks as a diffuser for the lights. At first I Planned to use the glue stick with another piece of curved frosted plastic surrounding it, much like in the paper in my first prototype. However I really liked the aesthetic of just the glue stick on its own so I decided just to leave it like that.


First and Second prototypes.

Project 2 - Prototype 1

I realised I have kinda been neglecting the blog on this project so I thought I better get cracking and post some updates. I have made an initial 1:1 scale card mock up of the final device. I felt It was better to experiment fine tuning the size and scale of the device using card mock ups, rather than the plastic of the final model.

The half completed mock up with the battery inside to make sure there is sufficient space for it.

The finished mock up, I have simulated the diffuser using a sheet of bent paper for now as I still haven't quite worked out how i am going to incorporate this.

Depicting how the device will be held. I um a little unhappy with the current form of the device, I feel it is a little short and stubby looking. Also I did a quick test with placing the two RGB LEDs inside of the makeshift diffuser and felt their illumination was pretty unsatisfactory, possibly because the diffuser was too large.