Engineering

SEMESTER 1

Inventory Kit & Labeling

To the left I labeled the pieces needed for our Empowerment Window Sign Project.

Electronics Entry Event

This is our Electronics Entry Event Project. In order to make it, you'll need the wooden laser cut parts that you'll find in the photo above, the laser cut plastic piece, an LED, copper tape, nuts and screws, and a battery.

Project Title

Project brief for the first project in engineering

Project Requirements

Guidelines for the project

Project Requirements

Research guidelines for the project

Engineering light blinking.mp4

Arduino Light Blinking

This is a video of the circuit coded and pieced together with 1 LED flashing. In order to get the LED to blink, you will need an Arduino, a bread board, an LED, and an A-B cable. Place the Arduino in the breadboard and attach the LED into the wholes next to D2 and GND. Plug the A-B cable into your computer and Arduino and paste your code into Chromeduino2

Circuit Diagram

This is the circuit diagram for the circuit in the video to the left.

6 LED Light Arduino Image

This is the top view of the circuit. The materials needed for this are 6 LEDs, an Arduino, a bread board, an A-B cable, and a jumper wire.

6 LED Light Arduino Image

This is the side view of the circuit.

6 LED Light Arduino Circuit Diagram

This is the diagram of the circuit we created in class.

Code for the 6 Flashing LEDs

int led2 = 2; int led3 = 3;int led4 = 4;int led10 = 10;int led11 = 11;int led12 = 12;
void setup() {
pinMode(led2, OUTPUT) ; pinMode(led3, OUTPUT) ; pinMode(led4, OUTPUT) ; pinMode(led10, OUTPUT) ; pinMode(led11, OUTPUT) ; pinMode(led12, OUTPUT) ;
}
void loop() {
digitalWrite(led2, HIGH); delay(1000);
digitalWrite(led2, LOW) ;delay(1000);
digitalWrite(led3, HIGH); delay(1000);
digitalWrite(led3, LOW) ;delay(1000);
digitalWrite(led4, HIGH); delay(1000);
digitalWrite(led4, LOW) ;delay(1000);
digitalWrite(led10, HIGH); delay(1000);
digitalWrite(led10, LOW) ;delay(1000);
digitalWrite(led11, HIGH); delay(1000);
digitalWrite(led11, LOW) ;delay(1000);
digitalWrite(led12, HIGH); delay(1000);
digitalWrite(led12, LOW) ;delay(1000);
}

Engineering Light Project.mp4

Neopixel Strip

This is a video of the neopixel strip lighting up after we coded it and put it together. To make it, I used a phone charger and stripped the wires inside it. When that was done, I connected them to the Arduino and neopixel strip. When I plug it into the computer, it lights up and changes to the colors we coded it to.

Code for Window Light

// A basic everyday NeoPixel strip test program.

// NEOPIXEL BEST PRACTICES for most reliable operation:

// - Add 1000 uF CAPACITOR between NeoPixel strip's + and - connections.

// - MINIMIZE WIRING LENGTH between microcontroller board and first pixel.

// - NeoPixel strip's DATA-IN should pass through a 300-500 OHM RESISTOR.

// - AVOID connecting NeoPixels on a LIVE CIRCUIT. If you must, ALWAYS

// connect GROUND (-) first, then +, then data.

// - When using a 3.3V microcontroller with a 5V-powered NeoPixel strip,

// a LOGIC-LEVEL CONVERTER on the data line is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.

// (Skipping these may work OK on your workbench but can fail in the field)

#include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h>

#ifdef __AVR__

#include <avr/power.h> // Required for 16 MHz Adafruit Trinket

#endif

// Which pin on the Arduino is connected to the NeoPixels?

// On a Trinket or Gemma we suggest changing this to 1:

#define LED_PIN 6

// How many NeoPixels are attached to the Arduino?

#define LED_COUNT 17

// Declare our NeoPixel strip object:

Adafruit_NeoPixel strip(LED_COUNT, LED_PIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800);

// Argument 1 = Number of pixels in NeoPixel strip

// Argument 2 = Arduino pin number (most are valid)

// Argument 3 = Pixel type flags, add together as needed:

// NEO_KHZ800 800 KHz bitstream (most NeoPixel products w/WS2812 LEDs)

// NEO_KHZ400 400 KHz (classic 'v1' (not v2) FLORA pixels, WS2811 drivers)

// NEO_GRB Pixels are wired for GRB bitstream (most NeoPixel products)

// NEO_RGB Pixels are wired for RGB bitstream (v1 FLORA pixels, not v2)

// NEO_RGBW Pixels are wired for RGBW bitstream (NeoPixel RGBW products)

// setup() function -- runs once at startup --------------------------------

void setup() {

// These lines are specifically to support the Adafruit Trinket 5V 16 MHz.

// Any other board, you can remove this part (but no harm leaving it):

#if defined(__AVR_ATtiny85__) && (F_CPU == 16000000)

clock_prescale_set(clock_div_1);

#endif

// END of Trinket-specific code.

strip.begin(); // INITIALIZE NeoPixel strip object (REQUIRED)

strip.show(); // Turn OFF all pixels ASAP

strip.setBrightness(255); // Set BRIGHTNESS to about 1/5 (max = 255)

}

// loop() function -- runs repeatedly as long as board is on ---------------

void loop() {

// Fill along the length of the strip in various colors...

colorWipe(strip.Color(212, 167, 157), 200); // Red

colorWipe(strip.Color(240, 212, 137), 200); // Pink

colorWipe(strip.Color(240, 223, 177), 200); // Purple

colorWipe(strip.Color(188, 212, 203), 200); // Blue

colorWipe(strip.Color(195, 214, 204), 200); // Blue Green

colorWipe(strip.Color(165, 196, 207), 200); // Teal

colorWipe(strip.Color(190, 176, 214), 200); // Green Blue

colorWipe(strip.Color(213, 197, 214), 200); // Green

colorWipe(strip.Color(209, 167, 191), 200); // Yellow

colorWipe(strip.Color(222, 153, 161), 200); // Orange

colorWipe(strip.Color(255, 255, 255), 500); // Orange

// Do a theater marquee effect in various colors...

// theaterChase(strip.Color(127, 127, 127), 50); // White, half brightness

// theaterChase(strip.Color(127, 0, 0), 50); // Red, half brightness

// theaterChase(strip.Color( 0, 0, 127), 50); // Blue, half brightness

rainbow(20); // Flowing rainbow cycle along the whole strip

//theaterChaseRainbow(50); // Rainbow-enhanced theaterChase variant

}

// Some functions of our own for creating animated effects -----------------

// Fill strip pixels one after another with a color. Strip is NOT cleared

// first; anything there will be covered pixel by pixel. Pass in color

// (as a single 'packed' 32-bit value, which you can get by calling

// strip.Color(red, green, blue) as shown in the loop() function above),

// and a delay time (in milliseconds) between pixels.

void colorWipe(uint32_t color, int wait) {

for(int i=0; i<strip.numPixels(); i++) { // For each pixel in strip...

strip.setPixelColor(i, color); // Set pixel's color (in RAM)

strip.show(); // Update strip to match

delay(wait); // Pause for a moment

}

// Theater-marquee-style chasing lights. Pass in a color (32-bit value,

// a la strip.Color(r,g,b) as mentioned above), and a delay time (in ms)

// between frames.

void theaterChase(uint32_t color, int wait) {

for(int a=0; a<10; a++) { // Repeat 10 times...

for(int b=0; b<3; b++) { // 'b' counts from 0 to 2...

strip.clear(); // Set all pixels in RAM to 0 (off)

// 'c' counts up from 'b' to end of strip in steps of 3...

for(int c=b; c<strip.numPixels(); c += 3) {

strip.setPixelColor(c, color); // Set pixel 'c' to value 'color'

}

strip.show(); // Update strip with new contents

delay(wait); // Pause for a moment

}

// Rainbow cycle along whole strip. Pass delay time (in ms) between frames.

void rainbow(int wait) {

// Hue of first pixel runs 5 complete loops through the color wheel.

// Color wheel has a range of 65536 but it's OK if we roll over, so

// just count from 0 to 5*65536. Adding 256 to firstPixelHue each time

// means we'll make 5*65536/256 = 1280 passes through this outer loop:

for(long firstPixelHue = 0; firstPixelHue < 5*65536; firstPixelHue += 256) {

for(int i=0; i<strip.numPixels(); i++) { // For each pixel in strip...

// Offset pixel hue by an amount to make one full revolution of the

// color wheel (range of 65536) along the length of the strip

// (strip.numPixels() steps):

int pixelHue = firstPixelHue + (i * 65536L / strip.numPixels());

// strip.ColorHSV() can take 1 or 3 arguments: a hue (0 to 65535) or

// optionally add saturation and value (brightness) (each 0 to 255).

// Here we're using just the single-argument hue variant. The result

// is passed through strip.gamma32() to provide 'truer' colors

// before assigning to each pixel:

strip.setPixelColor(i, strip.gamma32(strip.ColorHSV(pixelHue)));

}

strip.show(); // Update strip with new contents

delay(wait); // Pause for a moment

}

// Rainbow-enhanced theater marquee. Pass delay time (in ms) between frames.

void theaterChaseRainbow(int wait) {

int firstPixelHue = 0; // First pixel starts at red (hue 0)

for(int a=0; a<30; a++) { // Repeat 30 times...

for(int b=0; b<3; b++) { // 'b' counts from 0 to 2...

strip.clear(); // Set all pixels in RAM to 0 (off)

// 'c' counts up from 'b' to end of strip in increments of 3...

for(int c=b; c<strip.numPixels(); c += 3) {

// hue of pixel 'c' is offset by an amount to make one full

// revolution of the color wheel (range 65536) along the length

// of the strip (strip.numPixels() steps):

int hue = firstPixelHue + c * 65536L / strip.numPixels();

uint32_t color = strip.gamma32(strip.ColorHSV(hue)); // hue -> RGB

strip.setPixelColor(c, color); // Set pixel 'c' to value 'color'

}

strip.show(); // Update strip with new contents

delay(wait); // Pause for a moment

firstPixelHue += 65536 / 90; // One cycle of color wheel over 90 frames

}

Window Light.mp4

Window Light

This is the finished project. The laser cutter engraved the design we made on Canva onto the acrylic, so when we put it in the box, the words light up.

Empowerment Hashtag

Since I chose my topic of Women's Rights, I designed what would go on the acrylic for the laser cutter to engrave. The black is what will be etched into it, and each different shade of black is etched differently.

Empowerment and Change Research Poster

For our window light, I wanted to focus on Women's Rights. I researched about Elizabeth Cady Stanton because she made a big impact in the Women's Rights movement and organized the first ever women's rights conventions.

Design Process

Brief - Guidelines for a project or a question you can create an answer or solution for.

Research - Search for solutions, answers to your questions, and information related to your topic.

Idea and Brainstorming - With the research you've collected, think of ideas that solve your problem or answer your question from your brief.

Prototype - After you've finished coming up with an idea, build an object you can use to test during the next step in the design process.

Testing - When your prototype is complete, start running tests and gathering data on whether your idea works, needs improvement, or needs to be changed.

Evaluation - After reviewing the data you collected, think of ways to improve it or change it if it needs to be changed. This step can happen at anytime throughout the process, and if you need to go back to a different step you can.

SEMESTER 2

Brief

Project Constraints

Guidelines for the project.

Desktop Organizer

Project brief for our new project.

Design Problem

Guidelines for the project.

Research

2" x 2" Cube Exercise

On graph paper, I measured 6 sides, and subtracted one eighth of an inch on some sides so that the box would fit together. Then, I cut them out and traced them onto the cardboard. I used my exacto knife to cut the traced lines and taped the cardboard sides together.

Research for organizers

This uses the element of space and principal of space. When it is closed, it is a small rectangular box, but when its opened there are many compartments for storage.

Research for organizers

This uses the element of space and the principal of pattern. It has two secret compartments that open up where more objects can be stored. It reuses paper towel rolls, paper, and cardboard.

Research for organizers

This uses the element of form and the principle of rhythm.

Idea and Brainstorming

First Draft

My design has eleven compartments, including three secret ones. It uses the element of space and the principal of pattern. On the left, the side opens up, revealing three compartments for extra storage. The dimensions are exactly 10" x 10" x 10".

I got my inspiration from the three images in my research section. I liked how the first and second models used space, so I decided to do something similar in mine as well. The second model glued recycled paper to the cardboard to use the principal of pattern, so I incorporated pattern with paint.

Side View

2 point perspective

Front View

1 point perspective

Measurments

1 point perspective

Prototyping

This is the prototype of my first draft. It uses the element and principle of space and pattern, and has eleven compartments. The model is half the size of the finished model, and the finished model will be painted like the second photo shows. The hidden compartments will closed with Velcro.

The feedback I received from my classmates said that they liked how the side compartments open and close to save space, but that I could use a larger variety of shapes.

Testing

The model, being 10" x 10" x 10", can hold all my pens, pencils, scissors, glue sticks, paint brushes, measuring tapes, erasers, notebooks, papers, and more. In total are eleven compartments, including three open compartments and two secret compartments. On the left side of the organizer, there is a flap that opens to reveal three compartments, two in which couldn't be seen unless opened. The feedback I received said to use more shapes, but since I couldn't add a different shape other than squares or rectangles without changing my whole design, I added more open spaces. Originally, on the left side of the organizer, where my notebook is, the top part was closed, so I couldn't fit papers or notebooks in without folding them. There was also six drawers in the middle section originally, but now there are five. The cardboard piece separating the open compartments in the middle section can come out, which makes a bigger space for more storage. To make the organizer, I cut all the pieces out in cardboard first, and subtracted 1/8 of an inch from the sides that needed it, because that is how thick the cardboard I used was. Then I painted all the sides white and went over it with black, pink, blue, and purple.

Evaluation

We were assigned a project where we had to make a cardboard desktop organizer with at least one secret compartment that uses an element and principal of art. To practice using cardboard, I made a cube, and then started researching other desktop organizers for inspiration. The organizers I liked most used the element of space and principal of pattern, so I wanted to incorporate those in my model. When I started brainstorming the design of my organizer, I made it 10" x by 10" x 10", which was the height requirement, because I wanted to make it as big as possible. I wanted the principle of pattern by painting the final model, and use the element of space by making it so that it can open up. After I finished the first draft, I made my prototype. I made the prototype out of paper rather than cardboard, and make it half the size of the final model. The feedback I received from my classmates said that they liked my design and how I used space, but that it could use a larger variety of shapes. On my second draft, I took the feedback I received into consideration, and made more open spaces since I couldn't add another shape without changing the design. After the second draft, I measured all the sides I'd cut and hot-glued them together after I cut them out. When that was finished, I painted all the sides white, then went over it with blue, pink, and black. When it was dry, I placed my pens, scissors, glue sticks, pencils, paintbrushes, tape, notebooks, and exacto knifes in it. The biggest problem I faced when working on this project was when I was putting the final model together; I accidentally glued the pieces for left compartments in the wrong order. If I were to re-do this project, I would change the design so that it incorporates more shapes and isn't just a big square. I also wouldn't use paint because it makes the cardboard soggy, though painting was most fun.

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