Siddharth Chibber

HELLO POST!

A design/engineering strength of mine is that I give a lot of thought to every step of the process, from design to completion. I try to make my Rhino models as clean as possible and as close to the way that I will build the actual project, and at every step I think about how the implications of my current actions will affect building another part later on. An area for growth for me is probably a bit of a contradiction to the previous point, which is knowing when to speed up the process a bit, take a risk with a new strategy, or knowing when to pivot.

I commit to taking clear photos throughout the documentation process, explain in detail how my creations work, and showcase a variety of different aspects of the build process.

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Design Ideation:

The design we chose is a map of the United States, with LEDs placed in the nation's largest metropolitan areas/most densely populated regions. We assumed that this would correlate with light pollution levels visible from satellite imagery of the US, with larger population centers being completely lit up at night while other parts of the nation largely remain dark. Another interesting aspect we wanted to incorporate is that the nation's light pollution only shows at night, which correlates to time zone; so generally what satellite imagery might display is part of the country experiencing daytime while the other part is completely lit by human-made lights. To incorporate this aspect, we wanted to divide our LEDs into "time-zones," and have each set of LEDs controllable with its own switch.

PCB Design

Lily and I designed a PCB board in the shape of the United States with LEDs located at the most populated metropolitan areas of nation. The groups of LEDs are divided into timezones, with each timezone controlled by its own switch. Something that I will remember about printed circuit board design, which was probably my favorite part of it, is how the finely-machined end product that is produced can be created with a simple set of materials and a breadboard. It was really amazing to be able to first draw out the schematic on paper, create a working breadboard of that drawing, and then enter it into a computer program and end up with a final, printed product.

Amplifier Design Ideation

Feedback

I think I'm going to end up going with the box-shaped speaker with South Asian designs and patterns engraved onto it. Two things I've taken into account after reading the feedback are that I should maybe add something onto the box to give it a slightly more unique shape and that it will likely take me a long time to trace intricate patterns onto Rhino, so I should anticipate that and appropriately schedule my building process around that.

Final Design

I think this will be a good choice to work on my areas for growth because I don't yet have a clear idea of what exactly my designs will look like. I will need to be creative but also efficient in coming up with good digital designs before seeing physical results. I think this so-far unplanned designing will help with spontaneity and coming up with things on the spot.

I'm challenging my skill set because for the first time in a shops class I'm not really building something for its functionality (aside from its speaker) but rather for how nice I can make it look. I don't know too much about design but I want to focus on making a speaker that looks both clean and professional, and intricate and authentic to the original South-Asian inspired design.

80% Completed Rhino Model

This is the design of my speaker, with the specific parts lined up to be ready to laser cut. I left the intricate patterns out of the main model because they had too many individual curves to turn into a solid. I added in a basic grid pattern as a placeholder, and am hoping to add in some more patterns/inlay work with acrylic on the top and back of the speaker.

The Cardboard prototype of my speaker:

My idea is to use the laser cutter to create an intricate South Asian-style pattern, where there will be a mesh of acrylic in front of the two speakers and two more meshes on the sides of the speaker. I'm also thinking of using acrylic to replicate inlay work on the top and back of the speaker, although I may not have time for this. While creating this prototype, I realized that I don't have very much space within the speaker, especially when considering the two side meshes. These might end up showing the inner electrical workings of the speaker, which is not something that I want. I'm considering creating another separate compartment within the speaker for electronics, and am hoping that I won't be squeezed for space. I might have to pivot my design by moving my digital project; I initially wanted it inside of the main speaker compartment so one could look through the mesh and see a light shining through, however I don't think I'll have enough space and will likely have to move the digital project to the top/back of the speaker.

Amp PCB - Design & Schematic

I worked with Raul to design how our PCBs would look. While not directly related to the circuit, I learned that Fusion will reorganize all of the wired connections within the PCB to optimize them and minimize overlaps. I thought that this was super cool and was wondering what system Fusion uses to do this (regression, adjusting weights and biases?)

Speaker Circuit Breadboard

I now understand how the potentiometer works by getting in between ground and the regulator, and how by twisting the top one can change the amount of resistance in that pathway, therefore changing the volume.

I was confused originally about the function of the 3.3V regulator. After looking it up using Generative AI, I learned that it keeps a stable 3.3 volts of electricity to power the speaker even when the supply from the battery fluctuates.

PCB: Before and After Soldering

Shaped PCB: Light map of the United States

I worked with Lily to create a map of the United States that has LED lights at major population centers. Each set of lights/cities is divided up into time zones, each with its own switch, so you can turn different parts of the country on and off individually. I'm very happy with how the project turned out, it's exactly how I imagined!

Final Result

Goals For the Amplifier:

My biggest goal for the amplifier was to be able to create a nice speaker that is simple in terms of shape and electronics, but incorporates an element of South Asian design. I initially played around with creating a "jali" pattern using the laser cutter (a type of Indo-Islamic latticework), and it turned out really well. Really my biggest goal was to be able to seamlessly incorporate the jali design into my speaker and create an aesthatically-pleasing South Asian style speaker.

What did you make?

I made a pretty simple looking speaker, with a South Asian touch. The speaker incorporates a type of Indo-Islamic lattice work called a jali, and it acts as a mesh in front of the two speakers. There is one in the front concealing the speakers, and two on the sides.

Thinking about the work you created, what are you most satisfied with this semester?

I'm most satisfied by the fact that the jalis turned out really well. They're not perfect because the acrylic started to warp as the laser cutter finished up the job, but it is still remarkable that I was able to recreate such an intricate traditional design using the laser cutter. The jali was really the central aspect of my speaker, and all three of them turned out great. I'm also very lucky that the inner enclosure that I created fit so perfectly into the main enclosure. This was a last minute addition because I realized that I did not want the jalis on the side to look into a messy array of wires, and I lucky that I was able to cram the inner enclosure without much difficulty. The little gap between the jalis on the side and the inner enclosure also adds a cool look.

Side note: On a semester-wide basis, super happy with how my shaped PCB turned out!

If you were to start over, knowing what you know, what would you do differently?

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, the only thing I would do if I could start over would be to expand the size of the speaker so that the electronics are less jammed together. I initially had a lot of trouble fitting all of the different pieces into the main enclosure (the acrylic designs, the circuits, the speakers, and the 2nd enclosure to conceal the electronics), and had a short circuit + fire the first time I turned it on. So a larger speaker would help me avoid some of that difficulty. If I had more time, I would try to add some designs to the top and back, I was hoping to use acrylic to create an inlay-work pattern!

What did you learn this semester that will likely still be with you 2 years from now?

One of the most interesting parts of this semester for me, that I think will stick with me two years into the future, is how the electronics of audio design work. I never think about it at all when I turn on my computer or phone or headphones, but there is just so much going on when it comes to using electronics to recreate sounds that were once recorded on another device, not to mention how much work major companies like Bose, Sony, and Sonos put into the sound-engineering of extremely high-quality speakers and headphones. It'll stick with me that the music coming through my speakers is being communicated through tiny electrical signals, and that errors in how wires are arranged/crossing (as I saw with the bluetooth squeaking noise presumably caused by a PCB error) can change the outcome of what ends up making it to our ears.

If you didn’t finish, what held you back?

A few things held me back; for one I was out sick for three or four classes over the course of the semester and so I was still working on finishing my breadboard while other classmates had already moved on to the speaker enclosure. Because of this, I didn't get to finish my digital project. Additionally, there was a problem with my bluetooth, and so it would always make a really high-pitched whirring sound whenever I would play music. Unfortunately, it seemed to be a problem with the PCB layout and I ended up just having to use the audio jack instead of bluetooth.

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