Daily Journal

Project Management: For this project, I created a designated calendar to organize the work I had to complete; this included establishing days dedicated to a certain portion of the project (for ex. we spent three days soldering), as well as appropriately adjusting the task list when things didn't go according to schedule. The tasks involved laser cutting mirrors, soldering (and prototyping with the final neopixel circuit), woodcuts - which were split up between the 45º cuts and the router work, programming, tinting, etc. Like the majority of projects, these were not completed in the initial order. During the process, there were many days when the soldering irons were completely taken up, or when the line for laser cutting was too long; so, to minimize waiting and maximize productivity, I adapted an asynchronous schedule. This meant that I completed some parts of the project on different days than my classmates (for example, I did the woodcuts while others were tinting their mirrors). In the case that I fell behind, I came in during lunch and after school to make up my work. Because of that, I was able to turn in my project on the deadline, as well as finalize my digital portfolio. The entire project lasted from November 9th to December 14th.

November 9, 2022 (Start of Project)

To prepare for the final project, I completed a worksheet that involved simulating an neopixel strip TinkerCad. The sample build and code, containing eight neopixels, allowed us to observe how the current increased every time a new neopixel lit up. Using the Adafruit_neopixel.h library, we then learned what a potential neopixel code would look like and determined the possible changes that could be made. For my project, I will be utilizing RGB values to change the color of the neopixels (this will be made with a forever loop); additionally, because we will use twenty neopixels and not eight, I would also have to redefine the number of neopixels. Once I completed the worksheet, I used the electric saw to cut the four planks of wood for my frame. Uniformly measuring each side, I drew pencil marks to indicate where I would be cutting. I used masking tape to keep my wood together and wrote my name on it.

November 10, 2022

Today, I started "The Ohm Depot" as a side project in addition to my final. It included a gizmo that taught us the relationship between voltage (V), current (I), and watts (W). For my main project, I created one out of three grooves in my wood planks, the 1/8" one for the mirror. I made them by using a push block against the planks and slowly moving it through the saw.

November 14, 2022

I first measured my wood pieces using a ruler and wrote the dimensions on a piece of tape; each of my planks measured approximately 7.3125" x 2.4375". Next, in CorelDRAW, I used the rectangle tool to draw out two 6"x6" squares for the plexiglass laser cut. I colored these red for visibility and changed the thickness to hairline. At the end of class, I was given all of the materials needed for the project including the following: four neopixel strips (containing four LEDs each), 1 WEMO board, and a sheet of paper with a shiny blue side. I used masking tape to label each component with my name on it.

November 28, 2022

I tested out my WEMO board today through the Arduino coding application. Following the instructions in an article, I built a simple LED circuit with 1 red LED, a 220Ω resistor, 1 breadboard, and two male-to-male jumper wires. I copied and pasted my blinking code from Tinkercad into the application and uploaded it to the board.

November 29, 2022

In class today, we first went over the different parts of the Neopixel strip, involving the GND, 5V or power, and Data pin. For the soldering portion, I was given three frayed wires with the colors red, black, and gray. I individually stripped each one on both ends and twisted them accordingly. After tinned the soldering iron, I applied solder connecting the copper pad to the appropriate wires. My classmate helped me press the wires down to secure them in place, making it easier while I soldered. I used hot glue over the soldered areas afterward to keep them from detaching.

November 30, 2022

During class today, I completed the 45º cuts on my wood with the help of Mr. Budzikowski. Because my wood was already cut into the four smaller planks (as opposed to the two), I only had to cut the sides at an angle. Next, I made modifications to my Neopixel strip: the initial plan was to connect the WEMO to the wires through an alligator clip. However, this didn't work as the alligator clip made unnecessary electrical contact with another pin, causing a short circuit. To fix this, we used pin headers with a different kind of wire. I first used an alligator clip to strip a female-to-female wire; then, I twisted the frayed ends into the jumper wires and soldered them together. Finally, we soldered two pin headers to the WEMO.

December 1, 2022

I tested out my neopixel strip by following an article with instructions and uploading a sample code through Arduino. The code was directly copied and pasted from the website. The only thing I changed was the pin number: it initially read "D8,", but I modified it to "15." Once the neopixel successfully lit up, I soldered the others onto it; I used the same frayed wires (refer to Nov. 29 entry) with stripped ends to electrically connect the neopixels. This time, I used masking tape to hold the neopixels together while I soldered.

December 2, 2022

Today, I finished soldering the neopixel strips together. I found that it was easier to solder the wires to the copper pad if I applied solder to the pad first. I tested the full neopixel strip afterward, changing the number of LEDs from 8 to 16 in my code. Initially, all lit up except for one when I uploaded it- I thought one of the neopixel LEDs was defective; however, it turned out I changed one of the values to fifteen and not sixteen. After fixing it, the whole strip worked.

December 5, 2022

Today, I hot-glued the previously soldered areas on my neopixel strip. To do this, I applied a glob of hot glue to each copper pad and let it dry. I tested the LEDs again after finishing up. Afterward, I continued my side project, Ohm Depot.

December 6, 2022

I spent all of the class today laser-cutting my two 6" x 6" squares. I imported the design from the engproj google drive into CorelDraw, and I laser cut it after changing the material accordingly. I cut on 1/8" clear acrylic. Once I finished, I wrote a workflow for the Origin shaper tool - which is used to cut neopixel grooves on the wood planks. The process involves scanning the workspace, removing the spindle or shank from the Origin, changing the settings for offset/depth, and hovering the tool over the outlined areas. Although we ended up not using it, I still embedded the workflow (seen below).

December 7, 2022

I cut the groove for the neopixel in my wood today with the help of Mr. Budzikwoski. After cutting them, I worked on lining my mirrors with reflective film. I first wiped down the film with a clean cloth, before spraying the film/acrylic with application spray. Next, I carefully laid the film on top of the wet acrylic and used a scraper to push out the air bubbles.

December 8, 2022

Today, I laid the blue reflective sheet on top of my second acrylic square. Unlike the first, which required me to spritz application spray, I simply peeled off the white backing on the sheet and pressed it on top. Afterward, I drilled a hole into one of my wood planks, leaving an opening for the WEMO cord (completed with the help of a supervisor); I rubbed sandpaper against the drilled areas to sand down the rough edges. At the same time, I also finished up my router work to create the second groove (located on the edge). Similar to before, I used a push block against the router and switched it on and off accordingly. Within the last ten minutes of class, I started gluing my wood components together with wood glue: I slid the peeled plexiglass into the 1/8" wood groove, applied glue to the 45º edge, and pushed another side into it using a mallet. I fastened them with masking tape and set them off to dry.

December 9, 2022

I started class today by finishing up my work from yesterday- assembling the wood planks together. I followed the same process to glue the pieces together, making sure not to damage the plexiglass. When they were all glued together and taped, I applied hot glue to the solder between the female-to-female jumper wires and the frayed wires on my neopixel (doing so will prevent accidental contact - potential fire). Next, because our infinity mirrors were intended to be plugged into an outlet (and not a computer), we had to test it out using a 5V cord and a breadboard. Thus, I created a simple circuit using male-to-male wires and a mini-breadboard. I used the wires to connect the WEMO, the cord, and the neopixel strip to the negative and positive buses on the breadboard.

December 12, 2022

Today I started soldering the neopixel strip and the WEMO onto the cookie breadboard. Following an example, I connected stripped wires from positive to positive and negative to negative. Additionally, I also soldered the WEMO's header pins to the breadboard. I trimmed the backside with a pair of wire cutters once they were secured.

December 13, 2022

I finished up my soldering today and began testing the neopixel strip through the 5V cable. Initially, only one or two neopixels lit up, meaning that while the voltage was going through, there was a slight error with the soldering. I discovered the problem originated from the two wires that connected to the LED terminal connector. Because they were not soldered all the way in (and there was a hole in the solder as a result), the contact was poor and often disconnected with the strips. I had to look under the microscope to identify where the soldering issues were. Once I fixed them, the strip successfully lit up.

December 14, 2022

With the help of a classmate, I threaded my neopixel strips into my wooden frame and peeled the backside off to fasten them. The wires connecting each neopixel were too long, so I scrunched them up and pushed them into the four corners. After testing the neopixel one last time without the back acrylic, I hot-glued the rest of the components together.