Talia Bryant

A design/engineering strength: I work hard to make my design the best that I can make it.

Area for growth: Often when something goes wrong or a problem with my design surfaces, I can get easily discouraged.

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

I want to commit to make sure all my photos are clear and illustrate the object well, in addition to having detailed descriptions that show my process clearly. I also want to ensure that the order of my documentation entries are logical and easy to follow.

PCB Ideation

We chose the circled design because we thought it was unique and creative, and it would be interesting to make. We're planning to put the lights as the eyes and mouth, and possibly in others areas as well.

Collaborative PCB Design

Parker and I collaborated on this project, during which we made a printed circuit board resembling a body builder. We designed a parallel circuit with six LEDs that are on the eyes and arms. We also incorporated a switch to turn the lights on and off. One thing I will remember about PCB design from this project is how to create and read schematics, as well as how schematics transfer over to actual circuits.

10 Speaker Ideation Sketches

I circled these three ideation sketches because I think that they would be really interesting to make and they relate to music. One of them is a combination of different symbols from Pearl Jam album covers, which pertains to music that I really enjoy. The two other ones have speakers in a pair of headphones and in a radio, both of which music comes out of, and I like the idea of making a design that resembles an object that produces sound in real life.

Post-It Feedback

Something I would like to remember from the feedback is that the most people like the penguin idea, but I might also consider the radio design. I think I am the most excited about the penguin with headphones, but I do need to think about how the head would be shaped. I also hadn't thought about the sound aspect, as I don't know if the speakers being on the side for both the penguin and the radio design will impact the sound quality.

Phase Two Design Drawing

I think this is a good design to meet my growth goals, as I've never made anything remotely like it and will experiment with a lot of new things. I also don't want to make a design that's too aggressive as I want to make sure I have time to make it clean. This project will challenge my current skill set, as I will learn how to use materials in new ways and learn how to work with speakers. I don't have a lot of previous experience with circuits and electronics in general, so it will be really interesting to learn about it in the process of making this design.

Modeled Enclosure Design

These are images of my current Rhino design of my amplifier enclosure. On the right is the two sheets of MDF that I will use, and all the shapes laid out, except for the acrylic. I still need to add the face of the penguin to the 3D model and adjust the size slightly, however I think it depicts the core components of my enclosure accurately.

Cardboard Prototype

My cardboard prototype is a little rough, however it captures the main idea and shape of my design. My amplifier enclosure is essentially a penguin face with the speakers as headphones. I learned a lot from my prototype, especially regarding the size of my design. I got the bends wrong a couple times and how much the face should be curved. As a result, there is a gap around the sides, as I accidentally made the face more bent than it should be. This was really useful to know, as the shape I was basing it off in Rhino was incorrect and I adjusted it. In addition, I learned that the height was slightly too short, as the speakers overlapped with the curves. There aren't any major modifications my design needs, I just need to adjust the size slightly to accommodate the speakers.

Breadboard Amp Circuit

Something I understand better about the circuit now is how everything connects together, as well as the importance of resistors and capacitors to evenly distribute the energy.

One part I didn't understand is the role the potentiometer plays. I looked it up and learned that the function of a potentiometer is to control the audio level and is essentially a variable resistor.

Amp PCB Design and Schematic

I worked with Gloria during this project, and my ten actions were the wiring at the beginning. I learned more about how everything is connected through the wires, and how the power flows through it.

Soldered Amp Circuit

Original unsoldered amp cicuit.

Finished soldered amp circuit with bluetooth.

Finished Shaped PCB

I worked with Parker on this project, and our original idea was a PCB the shape of a body builder with LED lights on the eyes and arms. I'm happy with the product, as although it is a little messy, it works well and consistently.

Enclosure Progress

This is a photo of my amp enclosure a little later in with the face glued on but I still had to add the headphones.

I am on track to finish my project, as we still have class and tutorial tomorrow to work on the amplifier enclosure, and I can always stay after school or work next week to finish it if I need to. I completed the digital project, however for the amplifier I still need to attach the acrylic face to the board and then attach that board to the rest of the enclosure. I also need to attach the headphones to the enclosure.

Final Amp Documentation

I made a enclosure with the face of a penguin and speakers in the shape of headphones. I'm most satisfied with how the enclosure came together, because I worked really hard on it and I like how the final product looks. Specifically, I'm happy about the scoring and MDF press fit, because I had problems with it and had to do some trial and error before I got it to work. If I had to start over, knowing what I do now, I would be more careful when gluing everything together. I rushed a little when supergluing the face and headphones on, and it looks a little messy. I learned from this semester how to plan everything out when I'm rushed and set achievable goals. I had a lot to complete in the last two weeks, but I did it all with this class to spare because I planned my time well.

My goals for my amplifier was to create a amp enclosure that was unique and creative, as well as have good sound quality so I could actually use the speakers. I think I achieved these goals because I really like how the final enclosure looks and I think the penguin face is cute and makes it more unique. The speakers also have pretty good sound quality.

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