Ketan Hoey

A Design/Engineering strength and area of growth: I think some design strength for myself is creativity and planning ahead. Specifically with my lamp project, I think I did a solid job with coming up with final designs. Also, I had all my measurements and attachments drawn out from the start, so I had very little improvising down the road. A design area of growth is prototyping/testing. I often find that once I have a final design pinned down, I want to start on the final product right away. Usually, the final product ends up fine but I can see how rushing to the final build could cause many problems.

I think a good project reflection should be as specific as possible. For example, lots of pictures should be included, and specific writing should accompany it, so the reader always knows exactly what he writer means. Also a simple and good-looking web design is important.



EAGLE Circuit-board Design - by Ketan Hoey and Danny Santana

Our project was to design a custom circuit board to mill out. We designed the prototype using EAGLE software and checked our design in BantamTools. From BantamTools, we uploaded to a milling machine, and watched as our circuit design was milled to TF-1. We learned the basics on how to design a custom circuit board, from the initial gathering of materials to testing the width of TF-1 before milling.

Test-mill circuit

This circuit is the realized version of the CAD drawing above. The circuit was milled out in a custom machine. While working on the project, we learned how to use the milling machine, configure settings, set TF-1 width, etc.

Digital Joinery

This project was designed to connect pieces of MDF using designed grooves and teeth to fit into each other. I designed my box with smaller dimensions such that all dimensions in the cube were shrunk by 0.6. However, I did not consider that the thickness of the MDF (1/8) would make the teeth not fit flush with the grooves. Also, I accidentally made my teeth too large, not compensating for size change I made. After laser- cutting, my pieces did not fit together. After this, I learned to pay special attention to any implications of changes I make to a Rhino drawing, and always double check my rhino drawing. In this case, that would be extruding the edges of my 2d shapes, and seeing how they did not fit together flush.

Finished Breadboard

This project was essentially the first step in designing the electronic parts of our speaker. Using an integrated circuit and a circuit map, we were able to design the full speaker (including elements such as the bluetooth module, external on/off switches and inductors) on the breadboard. I also added a potentiometer to the breadboard to control volume externally, but I didn't have time to wire it fully. During this project, we learned how to design the electronic aspect of a working speaker system. We also learned the purposes of many more parts. For example, our schematics used a series of capacitors to keep the speaker from blowing out by making sure the electrical input doesn't increase too rapidly.

Rapid Visualization: 10 Speaker Enclosure Ideas (pictured above)

These are my 10 first sketches for speaker enclosures. Speaking in generalities, my speaker enclosures are made mostly with wood, with metal accents and the circuit board sitting inside. I think the speaker design I have the greatest chance of realizing is the top right design on the 2nd (middle) sheet of paper. The design's base is a hexagon, with an inverted truncated hexagonal pyramid, narrow side coming from the base. On top of the pyramid sits another base, about 1.5 times the size of the original base, with a speaker, external on/off switch and volume potentiometer on it as well.

Speaker design in Rhino

I chose this design because I wanted to make a geometric design. Rather than making a lamp design to resemble something, I wanted to create one that was an intricate shape. I chose to make my design a truncated pyramid because I thought it was a unique shape that wouldn't be too impossible to make, and would yield good results in the end. I also added a larger base, because I thought it made the design easier to construct overall, and added some extra element that I thought a simple pyramid needed.

This is my circuit schematic and board, both designed in Eagle. For the most part, I stuck to the most basic board design. By that, I mean I did not add many other parts to the design. However, I added a potentiometer to my circuit, so that I will be able to control volume externally on my speaker.

This is my cardboard model of my speaker design. I laser-cut many pieces of chipboard, and taped to design together with clear and red tape. A problem that I might have with my speaker design is space. The space available for the speakers may be a problem once I add thickness to my wood. I can test this later, when I have a cut piece of wood for my design. If my design is too small, I can change the orientation and spacing of the speaker holes to ensure I have enough space to place my speakers.

This is a picture of my soldered circuit, connected to my two speakers. On my circuit is the bluetooth module, a potentiometer to control volume and a switch. One thing I learned in this experience was how to problem solve. Many times, I accidentally soldered the wrong piece into the wrong hole. Also, many times I ran into problems of angling of soldering, where a piece did not have long enough wires to solder it in without the piece falling out the other end. During this process, though, I learned tactics of problem solving. I solved the solder angle problem by soldering a glob on the board itself, re-heating it and placing the piece on the board so the piece attached to the board as the solder cooled and hardened. Reading the schematic was very challenging for me, so I accidentally soldered pieces into the wrong hole often. When I did this, I would remain calm, and desolder the incorrect piece, and solder in the correct one.

First Cuts

I have made a few test cuts so far. I have made a full scale model of the hexagonal-pyramid portion of my speaker enclosure. The model (and most importantly, the angles on the bevels) are correct, and make a proper hexagonal-pyramid. Next, I'm planning to make both the top and bottom of my speaker enclosure, both regular hexagons of different sizes.

Enclosure Progress

So far, I have successfully cut my top and bottom hexagonal pieces, and added a beeswax coating to the bottom piece. With my other time, I was working on my six trapezoid prices which wrap around the hexagonal pieces. However, I accidentally inverted one of my most important cuts, and did not realize until very recently. Because I cut on off my cuts in the wrong direction, I wasted a couple classes working with the incorrect pieces. I recently came in during my free block, and re-cut a board which I will use for my correct trapezoid pieces. I lost a lot of time in working with the inverted cut, so I will probably have to come in during tutorials and free blocks to finish my project.


This is a picture of my board after I have made the correct cut.

This is a picture of my six hexagonal pieces gluing together.

Further Enclose Progress:

I am fairly close to finishing my speaker as a whole. I have cut all of my large pieces, including my six side pieces and top/bottom pieces. I have cut my speaker holes in my top hexagonal piece, but I still need to cut out spaces for a potentiometer and external on/off switch. But after that, I just need to glue my pieces together. My plan is to glue the top piece, but leave the bottom unglued so I can access the speaker. I plan to secure my bottom piece using velcro or screws.

Final Enclosure Progress:

I think I am most satisfied with my individual pieces this semester. I still haven't attached the three main components together (although, I plan to next semester after break) but I think they all look very nice individually, and work together as a whole nicely. If I were to start over on my project, I think I would have made the entire speaker a bit larger. I ran into a few problems because my design was too small, namely, the problem that my original speakers did not fit inside the enclosure (pictured below). A lesson that I will take with me which was informed by this project is the idea of planning ahead. I think I had the attitude that I could figure out specifics later (such as how to attach the three components together, the angles of my trapezoid pieces, where to access the speaker on the inside and how and where I would attach the external on/off switch and potentiometer. By postponing this, I took time out of my building phase to plan ahead something I should have already figured out.



This is an image of my original speakers, which were too wide to fit into my base. So, I changed my speakers to the slimmer white ones, which made up my final product.