Avery Belenson

Hello Post

A design/engineering strength and area for growth:

I am good at working through problems and not giving up. An area of growth for me is time management - staying on schedule and not making my projects too complex.

At least three things I want to commit to in the documentation of my learning and projects:

taking pictures of everything
sharing what didn't work
keeping my page organized

PCB Designs

Ideas

Final Design

Ved and I decided on the eclipse because it was unique yet still feasible for a two-dimensional design. We also thought it would look cool with LEDs. The dark park is the moon, and the light part is the sun. The battery and switch will go on the moon, and the LEDs will go on the sun.

Final PCB

Ved and I made an eclipse. We outlined the sun with LEDs, and put a switch on the moon. Our circuit board will be black. One thing I'll remember about PCB design is to make sure there is space for the battery to easily slide in/out.

10 Speaker Ideas

I like #9 because it deviates from my usual ideas, and I think it would be fun to create. I like how #5 has an abstract face, and I want to use LEDs to indicate volume levels. For #10, I think making a design based on a LEGO brick would be cool, but I'm not sure if the shape is copyrighted.

Post-it Feedback

Most people said that I should make design #9 because it is abstract and feasible for that amount of time we have. Design #9 is my favorite as well, so I am definitely going to choose it. My classmates also suggested that I experiment with different colors, textures, and dimensions when I design the layers of abstract shapes. I agree with them, as I want it to be look original and interesting, without feeling too chaotic or overwhelming.

Phase 2 Design Drawing

This design will be good for my time management goal. It isn't so complex that I will not have enough time to finish, but it will still require a decent amount of work. My digital project will be the most difficult. My goal is to display the song that is currently playing on the screen and have buttons to choose different playlists. This will challenge my coding skills.

3d Model

The front of my design is made from different pieces of acrylic, which will be glued together. The rest is made of wood. The screen (my digital project) will go on the top, along with an LED strip, dial, and switch. My design ended up being almost identical to my drawing.

Cardboard Prototype

I am making a wooden box with an abstract acrylic design on the front. A screen, on/off switch, dial to control volume, and LED strip will all go on the top. From making my prototype, I learned that there will not be a lot of space to fit all the various components inside the enclosure. I also realized that gluing all the pieces of acrylic together will be difficult, as there is not a lot of room for error. My design does not need any modifications.

Amp Circuit Breadboard

Something I understand really well is how the LED works. (Power flows into the switch, which connects to the resistor, and then into the LED.) One part I don't known the purpose of is the ferrite beads. According to ChatGPT, "A ferrite bead is a small component used in electronic circuits to reduce electrical noise. In simple terms, it acts like a filter: it lets useful signals pass through while blocking or dampening unwanted noise or interference. This helps improve the performance and stability of electronic devices.

Amp PCB

I worked with Gaby. I learned that it's important to work systematically and slowly because there are a lot of connections on this circuit board, and messing up one can result in the entire board not working properly.

Amp Before/After Soldering

before

after

Collaborative PCB - Soldered

I worked with Ved. Our original idea was to make a partial solar eclipse. Though I think it might be a little hard to tell what our circuit board is supposed to be, I am overall proud of our work.

Enclosure Progress

I am not on track to finish within the allotted class time, but I think I will finish before break if I work on it outside of class (tutorial, lunch, and after school). I want to prioritize assembling my enclosure. To finish, I also still need to solder my light strip and button as well as attach my speakers, lights, buttons, potentiometer, and digital project.

Final Amplifier

I made a box with an abstract flower design. My goal was to make an amplifier that sounded and looked good, without being too difficult/complex. I am most satisfied with the digital project, since I spent a lot of time trying to make it work. (Thank you to Dr. Treviño for helping me!) I also think the acrylic looks pretty good. If I were to start over, I would known that I need more time to build everything. I don't regret spending so long on the digital project, but I wish I had started working on my enclosure during tutorial/lunch earlier. In 2 years from now, I think I will still remember how to laser cut. I also think my coding skills have gotten better. My main challenge was the fact that the digital project took so long. I also had dance tech the 2nd to last week of school, so I wasn't able to work after school that week.

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