Students will build and wire a power supply based on pre-manufactured components. They will need to measure components, design a case, crimp, solder and organize the cables and assemble the parts into the case. The final product is a current and voltage controllable power supply with a USB charging connector.
Learning Outcome: Designing case and assembling components .
Materials 2019:
Total Costs without housing and wires: $27.72
Materials 2018:
You will need Inkscape or Solidworks to make the attachement plants.
If you decide to make a box one of the best and easiest Box Generators is on www.festi.info/boxes.py The Electronics Box module creates a solid box with removable lid.
There are many other approaches listed here: http://www.instructables.com/id/The-Ultimate-Guide-to-Laser-cut-Box-Generators/
You can use the Inkscape plugin Tabbed Box Maker (https://github.com/paulh-rnd/TabbedBoxMaker) to create the tabs but you will need to install it on your own computer. The files in the box generator package need to be installed in "Inkscape\share\extensions" . If you installed Inkscape from the Windows App store you need to follow these guidelines to find the location of the extension directory: http://www.thewindowsclub.com/windows-8-metro-apps-folder-location )
If you work with Solidworks it is useful to create templates for the slots and tabs and apply those to the 2D drawing before creating a 3D plates. Examples for 1/4 inch sheets and 8-32 screws are here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1c4HW8tbbmE0gRn-6V00Mx_snPP-9eFi3 Unfortunately our sheets are 1/8 inch in thickness.
Create and enclose or attachment plate holding all parts. Wire then correctly. Please measure dimensions accurately and cut MDF sheets first before you use more expensive materials such as acrylics or plywood.
How to design and use T slots for square nuts are shown below. The dimensions on the right are for 1/4 inch plywood and number 8 screws. It will need to be adapted to the materials used for your case. Please make sure the through holes for the screws are holes not NOT slots.
Your team will need to create a programmable power supply.