Strengths and Weaknesses:

• One of my design/engineering strengths is my ability to put my plan into action and persevere through setbacks. I think I'm pretty good at assessing what needs to be done and finishing it in the time allotted.

• One of my areas for growth is picking a project that is doable and allows for adaptation. Sometimes, when I get set on a complex idea, I shy away from adapting and revising it, which could have significant impacts.

Commitments

• Taking lots of clear photos; last year one of my biggest challenges was taking good-quality photos that accurately documented my process

• Writing helpful notes that reflect not only my final process but my experience class by class. 

• Leaving adequate time at the end of each class to accurately write down what I accomplished during that class period. 

I worked with Alexa to craft this strawberry shaped parallel circuit board. We used Rhino to form out the outside strawberry shape and later used the silk screen feature to print on the leaves. We placed LED lights in place of all of the seeds, and placed the battery on the back to allow for more space on the top of the circuit board. One thing I will remember is the perseverance and problem solving that my partner and I had to exhibit throughout this process.

Overall, I received a lot of helpful feedback on which materials I could use and questions about shapes and sizes of things. 

This is my phase two design drawing. Though I have not worked out all of the details as far as measurements, I am excited to start working with the materials and programming my speakers.  

This is my cardboard prototype of my milk carton which features correct measurements and proportions for my final speaker. I struggled with making all of the pieces the correct size and with cutting out the circles for the speakers. One thing that I think went well was the learning process in which I was able to refine my ideas based on plausibility. 

This is my amplifier circuit displayed on the breadboard. I spent a lot of time on this and was very proud when it got working. One thing that was difficult was troubleshooting given the amount of wires and other things plugged into the breadboard, however I was able to complete it using bluetooth from my phone. 

Up until this point, I have been working on soldering my amplifier and making my rhino design, which I will cut out soon! Once all of my pieces are laser cut I will spray paint and assemble them. I'm planning on using finger joints to join my box together, and metal to form the folded top of the carton. One challenge that I anticipate is getting the finger joints to fit perfectly together, so I will be sure to be super precise with those. Though I still have a good amount of work to do, I am confident that I can finish it. 

This is my (almost) finished milk carton speaker!! In thinking about all of my work for the semester, I am satisfied with my the folded metal top of my milk carton, because I fidgeted with the rhino design and plasma cutter a couple times to ensure that it worked. If I were to start over, I would have spent more time on my initial rhino design, because I ended up redoing it in order to incorporate the accurate measurements and finger joints. I also would have tried to move more efficiently while soldering my amplifier to allow more time for me to cut my parts. I will take away the perseverance that I gained in this class, through working with machines and concepts that I am not familiar with. Overall, though I did not quite finish, I am super proud of my ability to overcome the challenges that this class produced, and come out with a working final product.