Joe Lu A&D 2023-24

Hello Post!

A design/engineering strength: I'm very good at picking up new things, and with that knowledge, I am able to help my classmates with any questions or problems they may have. For example, when Samu introduced the Laser Cutting machine to my D&T class last year, I was one of the few students who learned how to work the software quickly, and helped most of my class laser cut their acrylic pieces.

An area for growth: I would say an area for growth for me would be ideation because last year in D&T, it was very difficult for me to come up with new and original design ideas that I actually liked.

3 things I want to commit to in the documentation of my learning and projects:

Taking clear, well lit, in-focus images without busy backgrounds
Writing descriptions that tell the viewer everything that’s not obvious in the image
Images that are correctly oriented and nicely cropped

PCB Idea Drawings

I forgot to circle my top design(s), but I really like both the Christmas tree and fireworks ideas. For the Christmas tree design, there would be a trio of white, red, and green colored lights throughout the tree. In the fireworks design, I thought a mix of red, white, and blue colored lights would be nice for July 4th!

Project 1 PCB

Thijs and I worked on this PCB project together, and we made a California-shaped board with 10 lights locating the top 10 cities in the state.

I will remember that printed circuit board designs are circuit boards with batteries, resistors, switches, lights, etc., and the boards themselves can be made into different shapes. I will also remember that PCB boards are mass-manufuctured and are used in all of the electronic devices in everyday life.

Speaker Design Ideation

Design Feedback

A large amount of the class liked my record player and and Taylor Swift design. However, there were concerns about what materials I would use, design proportions/size, and time constraints due to the complexities of the each design. The position of speakers for the record player was also brought up, and I really liked the idea of making the record player with a spinning disc (although I don't think that is possible due to the time constraints). I thought the feedback session was helpful because the comments provided made me reconsider my designs and what I should do to improve them.

Phase 2 Design Drawing

Enclosure Design

I'm making a record player for the speaker project, and I will be using mahogany wood for the record player body and a piece of scrap acrylic for my "record" disc. I am assembling the box via press-fit, and all sides are closed except for the two holes for the speakers. I am still deciding whether I will include the Featherboard OLED screen next to the disc. I did not recieve any feedback because I had previously lost my Rhino file.

Prototype

The body of my record player will be made with mahogany wood using press-fit cutouts so I do not have to use glue to keep the box together. Not shown in my prototype, but in the Rhino models in my previous post, there will be two cutouts on 1 side of the square for the speakers and possibly a circle-shaped piece of wood as my "record player."

Through the process of making this prototype, I have learned that manually changing your Rhino model to press-fit instead of using MakerCase can make my design more aesthetically pleasing (I used MakerCase last year for my acrylic and had to use glue). However, I may need to think about how I could possibly make my record disc spin (perhaps a piece of wood sticking out from the middle?) and how to make my design more complex.

Amp Circuit on Breadboard

Python Worksheets

Link to Python Worksheet #1: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xNbfiBegCEI9cy9hhgFkR0UjPNsa_vZiFYjJTMwGjqE/edit

Link to Python Worksheet #2:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1z4AD1qqdVMnwC4cRxenG4G2cfRjV2A1HRbY-q8G3ZFs/edit?usp=sharing

Collabrative PCB

I fixed an error in our PCB by deleting the connection and reconnecting the two ports. I also re-autorouted the PCB after fixing the error and adding our names to the board.

Microcontroller Documentation

I tried solving Challenge #1, which was to program 4 quadrants on the grid and make each one a different color, with one of those colors change every 10 seconds. I was not able to fully solve Challenge #1, but I was able to use "for loops" to light up the quadrant in the photo shown!

Here is a link to the Github gist of my code: gist.github.com/joejlu/4194ea2e48fd8b5d30b827ab5658a7f5

Digital Project

For my digital project, I choose to do the Feather M4 Neopixel grid, and I will be using it in my speaker project. I plan on displaying a sequence of colors from Taylor Swift's albums (I don't think I will have the time to program it to display the color of the album I'll play on the speaker). The rectangle cutout on the top of my "record player" speaker design is where I will be attaching the neopixel grid.

Unsoldered Amplifier PCB

Lit PCB Project Documentation

Soldered Amp PCB

Amp Build WIP

I still need to debug my circuit to see what is causing my speaker to not play any music, and I need to finish up the code for my digital project as well.

Amp Project Documentation

I made a record player for my Amp Project this semester because I really wanted to incorporate my love for Taylor Swift into my project. I am most sastified with the outcome of my speaker, but more specifically, the amp circuit because it was a "light bulb" moment for me. If I were to start over, I would have checked my Rhino file to make sure that my speaker design would fit on the 2 sheets of wood, and I would've also been more careful when lasercutting. A lesson from this class that I will take with me and use in future projects is that sometimes you need a five minute break when you're frustrated with your work to clear your mind.

Page updated

Report abuse