Design 2 Project

Project Ideas:

*The only requirement for this semester's project is that we use the shopbot. If the design or the project we choose to do is not elaborate enough or doesn't demonstrate a lot of the skills we can use on the shopbot, then we have to add intelligence to the project.

I found three options for my second semester project. My three options for a project are a corn hole game, a cylinder with texture and design added to it that can hold coffee packets, and an elaborate chair that I could use outside. My first idea of a cylinder with texture and design that is used to hold coffee packets, and would look similar to a log and would have tiny holes in it, enough to hold several containers of coffee packets. It would also rest on two lighter circular pieces of wood, on both sides of the log, and I could add even more design to those ends. I will be able to make this project more intricate because I will be able to add designs to all sides of the wood and can add texture be making some pocket cuts or engraving slightly deep into the wood. This would be a great Mother's Day gift because it could be patterned and designed to be intricate, but also have the holes, which I could make with a pocket cut, in order to hold the coffee packets. I think the most exciting yet challenging part of this project would be "carving" or using engraving or pocket cuts on the piece of wood in order to making the texture of the wood, it would be challenging to add all of the grooves in the wood and the different colors of the wood vs the pieces that look like they have texture using the engraving bit, but it would look really cool in the end. I also, think this would be a great mother's day present for my mom. I am also worried about how I will secure the cylinder wood to the Shopbot.

My second idea was a chair. I would make the chair as elaborate as I could in order add to the chair and not have to use electronics with the chair. I could possibly make a rocking chair with all different types of pocket and engraving cuts, like engraving designs I like, for example college or pro sports teams, but I could also do stripes or a tree for a design on a rocking chair or just outdoor patio chairs that fold together and apart. I think most challenging part of this project, would be making each individual part of the chair and then having to put it together, and every piece would have to be the specific and correct measurements in order for the chair to fit together, and also if I was going to do a patio chair, I would have trouble figuring out how to make the wood or chair as a whole, fold. I think it will also be challenging to find a very intricate char, but I would be fun to add my own designs to a chair, and I could customize it for someone in my family using engraving a pocket tools, which can't be found on normal chairs. This would also be something I could use in my everyday life.

My third idea is a corn hole game. Since the boards to make the corn hole game is pretty basic, I would probably have to put intelligence into my project. I would be able to add lights, where anytime someone made a bean bag into the hole, the lights would light up. I could also add a speaker because that is also intelligence, and I like to listen to music, and I would be able to listen to music and play corn hole a the same time. The top of the corn whole boards will be basic and just simply have a hole cut out on the top, but the sides, which support the top board and create the corn hole board, will have elaborate designs that allow the boards to stand up. I think the most challenging part of this project will be making the correct measurements, to be close to exactly like a korn hole, so the bean bags will be able to go into the hole and won't slide off the board because it is too high. I am most excited about this project because I have always wanted a korn hole game, and I would be able to customize it the way I wanted to. I would even be able to engrave my favorite colleges or even my name if I wanted to, using the engraving bit. I am excited about all three of my project options.

Final Project Choice:

I decided to make my second semester project a corn hole game with a speaker in it. I have wanted a corn hole game for a long time, and now I have the opportunity to make one myself. Since the corn hole boards themselves are not a very elaborate design and don't require very intricate work on the shopbot, I have to add intelligence, and I decided what I wanted to do was add a speaker because that would be the most fun for me when building the project as well as when I am playing the game. I want to add a speaker that is not super complicated to where it could have been my whole project, but it does need to display my knowledge of how to incorporate intelligence into a project. I found a design for corn holes on shopBot Projects, the website, (http://www.shopbottools.com/mSupport/projects.htm) and that allows me to download the toolpath and design for the project, but it will have to be modified to incorporate the speaker and add the speaker toolpath into it as well as it be able to fit onto the piece of wood I buy, depending on what thickness I buy, the tool paths will have to be changed. If downloaded the zip file from ShopBot Projects for this project into my google drive, in order to use it later, but if it doesn't work with my wood, or I don't like the design, I'll either have to find a new website file or make one myself on Inkscape, and I also have the ability to maybe engrave different designs or words on here to whatever i want or like, for example a college or pro sports team. I researched information for my speaker that will be attached to my corn hole game. I want a speaker that is not super complicated to where it could have been my whole project if the only requirement was intelligence, but I also need to show that I know how to add intelligence into my project and can do that. My teacher found a simpler way to make a speaker on adafruit, and he said he would be willing to help me make my speaker for my project by guiding me on the tutorial on adafruit because I have not worked with bluetooth yet, and so this will make making the speaker more efficient and very helpful for my project in the long-run and will help me get the end result of having a working speaker on my korn hole game. When I am done with this project, I will be able to play music through the speaker and will be able to play the game korn hole, where the bean bags can fit through the hole on the board, and the board won't be too steep to where the bags can't stay on the board.

1. Shopbot Machine
   1. Check to see bit is not loose
   2. Set new X and Y Origins
      1. Raise the Z-axis so the bit won’t drag on the table
      2. Using keyboard move to the appropriate X and Y location.
      3. Using keyboard to zero the appropriate X and Y Location.
      4. set origin.
   3. Calibrate Z AXIS on the material.
   4. Select Cut
   5. Select C2 - Zero Z axis with plate
   6. Be sure remove alligator clip and put away plate
2. Start up VCarve software
   1. Open your file
   2. Select objects you wish to cut
   3. Select Toolpath
3. Click on material setup
   1. Check Z-0
   2. -make sure it agrees with your Z-0 when you calibrated it
   3. -did you 0 off the board or off the material- need to zero off board
   4. Enter the thickness of the material *
      1. Model position material should be the same thickness of the material.
   5. Go to home start position
      1. Confirm x and y axis are both zero
      2. The z axis should one inch plus the thickness of the material.
   6. Click OK.
4. Go to TOOL PATH OPERATIONS
5. Select 2D Profile Toolpath
   1. Under cutting depth, select the cut depth of the material (CLS tools).
   2. Select the proper tool -CLS down bit 1/4
   3. Edit passes, change number of passes from 3 to 5.
   4. Under machine vectors, leave default.
   5. Click add tabs to tool pads.
      1. Add ramp to tool pad.
   6. Hit CALCULATE.
   7. Preview toolpath
   8. Click on CLOSE
   9. Select SAVE TOOL PATH and save the file in a shopbot fomat
6. Start ShopBot Command Console
7. Conduct air cut
   1. Select FILE-LOAD
   2. Load the appropriate file
   3. Select 1 3-D offset
   4. Press ENTER
   5. You should hear a “SOUND”
   6. Turn on the spindle
   7. Press green button
   8. Press ok
   9. After checking that everything is good press space bar
   10. Return to origin
8. Perform cut
   1. Select FILE-LOAD
   2. Load the appropriate file
   3. Select no offset rather than 1 3-D offset
   4. Press enter
   5. You should hear a “SOUND”
   6. Turn on spindle
   7. Press green button
   8. Turn on fan
   9. Press enter again to start cut
9. Cut is done
   1. Turn off fan (which is so loud you shouldn’t forget)
10. Clean up after yourself

Adding Speaker to Design and Toolpath:

I made a toolpath and hole in my project for my speaker. I started by measuring or finding out the diameter of the speaker in order to make the circle for the speaker to eventually go into. The speaker was about 49mm, and since vcarve's dimensions are in inches, I changed the 49mm into about 1.9 inches. I used the draw a vector tool in vcarve and made a circle and then selected the circle in order to scale it to make it the dimensions I wanted. It allowed me to type the diameter I wanted for the circle and it to be the size I wanted. Then, I selected the circle and created a 2d profile cut for it. I made the start depth zero, the cut depth .5 and the bit a 1/4 down bit, and did not add tabs because the shape was so small, so it doesn't need any tabs. Then I named it Zoe Claytor Corn Hole Speaker Profile Cut and then calculated it and changed the material to oak and then saved the tool path and saved the file and then saved it to my google drive.

Creating a scale model:

I worked on creating my scale model of my project in Inkscape. I opened a document on Inkscape and put in the correct document settings of 20in by 30in and putting the units into inches. Then from my downloads from my project's original instructions, I looked to see if there was a pdf or svg file, and there was not, and so I decided to copy and paste from vcarve file. I copied the objects from my vcarve file, and then on Inkscape I pasted the object, and once they were in there, I selected all of the objects together and shrunk them down in order to fit in the 20in by 30in rectangle, that is the laser cutter's dimensions. Then I selected all of the objects again and changed the darkness of the lines and the thickness of the lines, so it would be a dark red, and so I would be able to see the lines and manipulate them from there. I then saved this file as an svg.

I did the math to find my scale from the Shopbot to Inkscape and also added the speaker hole and made the speaker whole actual size. I decided that I wanted to make a precise model and find out exactly how I am scaling and making a model of this design. I realized that if the actual size of the board I am cutting is 8ft by 4ft, and maximum piece of material the laser cutter can be is 20 in by 30in, which is actually 2.5 ft by 1.67ft, then the scale is 3.2. I also added my speaker to my model today, and I began by making it a scale of 3.2 like the rest of my project model, but then I decided to make the speaker cut actual size, so I could see if it actually fits or not in the circle I am creating, so it won't be too big or small when I actually cut my wood, and then there wouldn't be an awkward gap in the middle of one of the boards. I made the speaker with a diameter of 1.9 inches.

I changed the settings on my model lines to .001, in order to cut straight through the card board on the laser cutter. I then saved the file as a pdf and svg. I then downloaded both files into my google drive and will use the pdf to laser cut my model. I downloaded the pdf to the computer connected to the laser cutter and put the settings of the laser cutter to the correct settings for cardboard, which are 12 for speed, 100 for power, and frequency 10. The laser cutter now automatically has color mapping turned off, so I didn't need to change that, and it was automatically set for raster, which is what I needed. I also made the settings of the board 30in by 20in, which is the length and width of the laser cutter. I then saved my preferences and printed/cut it.

Setback: I glued my model together and realized I will have to change the size of the tabs in order for it to work with wood vs. cardboard. I had to force the tabs together and to fit together with the cardboard, and since the cardboard thickness is only .15 inches, and my wood is .71875in, then I knew I needed to change the entire design of my project, in order to make the correct tabs for my wood, instead of cardboard, so it word fit nicely.

Creating New Design on Inkscape:

I began making a new design in Inkscape. I started by using the regulation corn hole sizes, with the top board being 48in by 24in, and the inner circle being six inches in diameter and three inches from the top and six from the sides. I then had to add the tabs to my rectangle and I decided to make 2 by 2in square tabs to go up the side of the board, so the sides and top boards can eventually fit together. Then I moved my board to be at the position zero, zero on inkscape because then, I was able to make all of my tabs according to the thickness of my wood more easily. I subtracted .17875 from 24, because that is the thickness of my board subtracted from the width of my board, to make accurate tabs. All the tabs on the right side of my board were 2in apart and at 23.28125 on the x axis, to have a .17875 tab. Then on the left side of the board, I made the tabs 2in apart as well, and then I subtracted .17875 from 0, because that is where the board was on the x-axis on the left side. It ended up making the tabs at -1.28125in on the x-axis. I then used the difference tool on Inkscape in order to make the tabs actual tabs on the side of the board, and I had to do this for every tab. I discovered that nothing can be grouped on the shape that you are making the difference of. I had to ungroup the circle in the rectangle and the big rectangle in order to use the difference tool to make tabs. After I finished differencing every tab from the larger rectangle, I grouped the circle and the rectangle, so I could connect the shapes again and move them together if I wanted to.

I copied the rectangular board I made in order to make to boards for the korn hole game, and then I began making the sides of the board, but the hard part about this is that there was no triangle tool on Inkscape, and so I had to figure out a way to make straight lines, which means I couldn't just free draw the lines, and I had to make them the correct length and width. I used the straight line tool on Inkscape. I had to look at the model from the original plans that I was going to use, in order to see how long and where the lines should be located in order to line up with the rectangular board that goes on top. It took me a while to find the correct angle and line up the ends of the triangle well, but I learned that it is easier to type in the x and y axis of where I want the lines to go, and I could also type in how long I wanted to make the lines. It took about four lines to complete the outside of the triangle, and I made a small rectangle and two other small triangles inside the triangles, to be similar to the original design I was going to use. I used the straight line tool again to do this as well.

When I finished making the triangle, I had to do the math for the tabs. I made 2in by 2in tabs, so they would fit inside the tabs on the rectangle, but I realized that they would have to be slanted in order to fit into the tabs of the rectangle, therefore I cloned the 2in by 2in tabs slanted instead of normal squares. Then I made them 2in apart, and I found out that the easiest way to decide how far the tabs would have to go into the triangle to make .17875 tabs for my wood, would be to see where the edge of the part of the triangle, for wherever on the y-axis I was doing, and subtract .17875. Since there was no pattern for this, I had to do this for every tab.

Setback: I finished the triangle with the tabs, but realized I could not union it together. I had finished the tab calculation and I selected one of the tabs, and when I tried to combine the triangle with the tab, in order to make the tabs for the wood, with the union tool, it only deleted the line of the triangle I was trying to union the tab with. Then, I tried it several times, but then I realized that I could could not union the tabs with the whole triangle, because I could only select one of the lines I had created, not all of them, because the triangle was not really a triangle, but a series of lines. I also, could not group the lines to make the triangle and tabs union because the union tool doesn't work when you group objects. Therefore, I had to come up with a new solution to make the sides of the triangle, which I decided would be making rectangle with the same dimensions of the top board, but I would union the tabs instead of differencing them, and then I would draw a line down the middle in order to turn a rectangle into two triangles.

I created a rectangle with a line through it in order to make the triangles and added tabs to both sides. I made the rectangle with the same dimensions of my top boards, which was 48in by 24 in, and then used the straight line tool to draw a line down the middle of the board, and typed in the length and also, typed in the x and y values for where the corners of board were, so it would fit more accurately. I then created the same tabs that the top board had with the same x values of 23.28125 and -1.28125 and the y values of 2in apart, but instead of making the difference of the tabs and the rectangle, I used the union tool, to combine the tabs and the rectangle, so the board and the sides will fit together because of the tabs. I then made sure all of the lines on my design had a stroke style of .001, so it would cut through the cardboard, when I laser cut it. I saved it as a pdf and svg on my google drive.

Creating model for new design:

I finished my design and laser cut my model and also made the toolpath for my project. I downloaded my Inkscape file as a pdf and a svg on my google drive and then was able to change the settings on print preferences to speed 12, power 100, and frequency 10, which are the setting for cardboard. I also make the board length and width to by 20in by 30in, and then I kept the settings as color mapping off and the setting of rastering. In order to make the model be the correct dimensions of the carboard, I had to select all of the objects and shrink them down, to about 1/3 the size of my actual model. Then I was able to cut my model, and it fit together, with the tabs, a little bit hanging over, which is what I want, so it will fit together with my wood.

Creating new tool path:

Then I decided that since my model worked, I could download my svg into vcarve, and then I was able to make my toolpath for my boards and sides. I also, added my speaker hole onto one of the the sides of my boards with the diameter of 1.9in, so the speaker would be able to rest in the side and be able to fit perfectly. I made the dimensions of my board 96 in by 48in and then the thickness as .719, because the computer rounded my thickness from .17875in, and I made sure to select z the axis from the bottom, not the top. I made the tool path, a profile cut, and set it to be a 1/4 down bit, to have a cut depth of .179, which is the thickness of my wood rounded, and the start depth as 0 inches. Then I added tabs to every part of the boards, except the speaker hole because it is too small, and then I calculated my tool path, and made sure I renamed my tool path to be Zoe Claytor Korn Hole Profile Cut, and then I saved my tool path, and my file to my google drive.

Cutting Boards on the Shopbot:

I had to use clamps to secure my board because it my design was so close to the edge. I changed the bit on the Shopbot to a 1/4 down bit, then I was ready to cut my project, and secured my wood with clamps instead of nails, because the design of my project goes to the very edge of the board. I zeroed the z axis and made my origin the very edge of the board, and did a 3d cut to view it first, and then, (Setback) when I went to cut the board, the bit ended up going straight down in my origin and kept going, so I had to stop the Shopbot, and it made a burnt mark on my wood. I then had to change the way my boards were positioned and turned it 90 degrees, but this way only one of my boards could be cut instead of both of them. Later in the day, It was okay to be cut, it just had to be reset, using the blue reset button. We found out later that the problem was that the piece that held the bit had been used over 600 hours, so it wore out and was making the bit loose and the zeroing of the z-axis inaccurate, but in the end I was bale to cut both of my boards, just at different times.

Modifying Board Height:

Setback: I put one of my boards together and realized I needed to make them a shorter height. I realized that the normal height for a Korn hole game is 12in, but mine was 18in, and so I needed to cut it, or the bean bags wouldn't be able to stay on the board. I also couldn't adjust it on vcarve or inkscape, because the sides were a full rectangle, not triangles, so I would just have to use the table saw later on the sides of my project to make it the correct height.

I drew the lines on the sides of my board where they needed to be cut. I used my cardboard model to see where I would have to cut my board and made the ratio of 12 to 18in, which is the ratio of my board height of where it needs to be to what it actually is, which is 4 to 6in for my model, so I would have to cut the sides of my model at 4in tall. I then started drawing lines, to see which one would end up going all the way to the end of the triangle and which way would be the best and still maintain the angle I needed for my board. I then used the paper cutter board to cut across the line on my model, for both sides of my board, and was able to see that it was the necessary angle I needed for my project, and I was able to make the lines similar on my actual sides of my wood by drawing them with a straight edge.

I used the table saw to make my boards the correct height. We had to turn the table saw on by making sure we flipped the on switch and that the color under the off switch is green. Then, we had to pull out the red piece that contained the on and off switches. Before we turned it on, we had to make sure the blade on the saw was the correct height for my wood, so it could cut through it all the way. We had to use an extra piece of wood as an edge to try to make the diagonal line as straight as we could as it went into the table saw. It took a while to find the right angle that the wood looked like it would end up cutting right on that line. We clamped the extra piece of wood to the table saw, and it worked in the beginning, but we ended up guiding the board along the line as best as we could to make a good cut. I did this for all 4 of the sides of my board. Then we had to turn off and unplug the saw and make sure to turn the blade all the way down.

Gluing the Boards Together:

I then used wood glue to glue the sides of my board to the top parts of my boards, and then used to clamps to made sure the glue dried, and it stayed together.

Speaker:

My teacher also began describing to me, how the bluetooth speaker was going to work. He has already built a model, but I will be learning how to built it with his guidance and a tutorial from spark fun. The spark fun program taught us how we could potentially change the name and volume of the speaker by using coding. We used a code commands through, Rouging Networks, coding program, which was not really a program, but more sending basic code. I also learned how to connect the speaker, after soldering wires to it, to the blue tooth board, in order to connect the speaker to the breadboard and arduino, which is connected to the coding. A setback we went through was we kept connecting and disconnect the board in order to have the command (CMD) pop up, which shows that it is connected to the speaker bluetooth board and will send code to the board, but at first random code was popping up and we didn't know the problem, but then realized that the computer was sending code to the 3d printer which was connected to the computer rather than the bluetooth board, so we disconnected the 3d printer from the computer, and when we pressed connect again and the CMD came up, so it was able to send code to the bluetooth board now. Other setbacks were for example the volume on the speaker was not loud enough and the name was the name of the speaker rather than something easily recognizable, and so Mr. Dubick helped me realize that through basic code commands on the tutorial, we could change the name and keep increasing the volume slowly. Also, the name of the speaker and volume did not change at first because we had to change the setting on the terminal settings from the key emulation cr +lf to just cr. (Tutorial- https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/rn-52-bluetooth-hookup-guide)

What I Have Learned:

When completing this project, I learned that it can be very rewarding to work hard to create something you really want and then be able to use it in the end. I also learned that even if I think that the easier way to do something, by downloading a file someone else made and modifying it a little, may not work out of do what I want it to do. It is just as good to make it from scratch yourself, including the design, even though there can be setbacks and it can be frustrating to make your own design, and it may not fit together as perfectly as the pre-made design would have, you made your own project including the design. I learned that adjusting and modifying can sometimes result in an even better project than another person's already designed project. I also learned that leading how to use bluetooth can be complicated and tutorials help guide the process of learning new skills

The process of completing a big project is not easy, but very rewarding. Each step ion completing a big project is important no matter how small it seems, everything has a domino effect, if one thing doesn't work it will led to another thing not fitting or working and so on. That is why, I think it is important to make models to understand how things will fit together or test a cut out before ruining your expensive material. I also know that in a big project, there will be setbacks, but that just makes completing the project even more rewarding.

I would expand on this project, by adding a few more speakers to make the sound even more louder from all sides of the game, even though I am still working on making the speaker louder, I think that adding a few more, would have made it even more powerful to listen to. I also could paint the boards or even add some vinyl stickers to it to show one of my favorite sports teams or colleges. I could also use the engraving bit on the Shopbot to add designs to it as well. I also, could try modifying it a little to make the tabs fit together even better, but overall I am very proud of the project I completed.

(All pdf, svg, and crv files on my google drive folder section of my portfolio)