Week 5
A Mini Washing Machine
Ideation
Tell us about your assignment's idea for this week. Why do you care about this idea? What inspired you? (Please include images or links to sources of inspiration)
This week’s assignment was to simulate and build a simple electronic device that performs two different types of actions (emits light, makes noise or sound, and/or makes movement)
I searched Google, Instructables and YouTube. I found many beautiful ideas and chose to make a mini washing machine because it is easy and simple
Tool Chain
Which software/machines/materials did you use in the assignment? Why?
Tinkercad software:
to build, simulate & test the electrical circuit online
Electric Components:
5V Adaptor to power the circuit
Mini breadboard, jumpers & crocodile wires to connect the component
DC geared motor to rotate the washing machine drum and make the operating sound
Red LED & 220-ohm resistor for light emission
ON/OFF switch
Others:
Cardboard, scissors, pencil, ruler, pepsi can, and tape
Design/Preparation Process
Explain the design and/or preparation process of your assignment. How did you use the tool or software to design and/or prepare your assignment before fabrication/implementation?
Designing & simulation of the virtual circuit on Tinkercad
5V power supply, hobby gearmotor, LED, resistor & DIP switch DPST were inserted
The power supply was adjusted to 5 V (because the motor requires 3-9V, LED (which is connected in series to a 220ohm resistor) requires ~2V, and they were connected in parallel, so the motor will receive 5V and both the LED & the resistors will receive 5V (around 2v for the LED & the extra for the resistor according to the ohm law)
wires were connected from the power supply to the breadboard and between the breadboard and components (as shown in the embedded simulation)
The resistor was adjusted to 220 ohms to control the current & connected in series with the LED
The LED & motor were connected in parallel
The on/off switch was connected in series
Then, the circuit was simulated virtually.
Upon pressing the on/off switch the circuit is closed and the red LED emits light and the motor rotates.
You can try it by using the following embedded simulation:)
Input component: on/off switch
Output components: Red LED which emits light; Motor that creates the movement
Development/Implementation Process
Explain the development/implementation process of your assignment. How did you use the machine/tool to manufacture or implement the design of your assignment?
Building & testing the physical circuit
The mini breadboard, Jumpers, 1 red LED, 1 220-ohm resistor, gearmotor, ON/OFF switch, rosetta & the 5V adapter were taken from the electronic kit
The circuit was built physically (exactly as it was designed on Tinkercad) using hardware components and wires
Positive & negative wires of the rosetta were connected to the breadboard
The on/off switch was connected in series to the breadboard using crocodile wires & M-M jumpers.
Both gearmotor & the LED were connected in parallel
the resistor was connected in series to the LED
The 5V adapter was connected to the rosetta.
The circuit was tested, and it worked successfully as shown in the video
Then, I used two M-F jumpers to connect the red LED to the breadboard to facilitate placement of it in the designed place which is away from the breadboard's place
Circits.mp4
Build the cardboard enclosure & mountain the components
All faces of the washing machine were cut as rectangles of the following dimensions:
Front & back: 15* 10 cm
Top & base: 10 * 6.5 cm
Right & left: 15 * 6.5 cm
A circular place of 5cm radius for the door, a hole of 2mm radius for the LED & a 1.8 * 1 cm rectangle for the on/off switch were cut in the front face
A place for the rosetta was created on the back face
I fixed a plastic cup to the motor that simulates the work of a washing machine drum and installed them on the back side (as shown in the pictures)
A door was created from a Pepsi can and fixed to the front face
The base, front, and back faces were fixed together, the switch & LED were fixed in their places & the internal circuit components ( breadboard & wires) were inserted
the remaining faces were fixed, then the adapter was connected to the rosetta
After opening the switch, the red LED emits light & the motor rotates and spins the plastic cup
wm.mp4Overcoming Challenges
What kinds of challenges or problems did you face while doing the assignment, tutorials, or exercises? How did you solve them? Did you ask for help from an instructor or peer? Please provide a link to the tutorial or article that you used to solve your problem (if any)
One of the challenges was how to mount & fixate the components inside the cardboard enclosure. The wires that connected the red LED to the breadboard weren't stable, so I had to open the top face many times to reinstall the jumpers. In the EOWeek session, we fixate the wires & M-F connection together using tape, I think it was the right solution.
Also, the used cardboard was very weak and easily cut (it was the only available material around me), and there was no cutter with me. Another time, I will use a good quality cardboard ISA.
Final Project
How can you use the skills and knowledge that you've acquired this week in your final project?
I am impressed with all information and applications that we learned this week, and I really enjoyed all the activities that I never imagined I would be able to do before.
WOW!
RC Car.mp4I was thinking that making RC cars is exceedingly difficult & requires a lot of effort & skills. I can't believe that we made it in 3 hours only!