Cerys Cherny

Welcome Post

Design/Engineering Strength & Weakness:

The ideation process is one of my design/engineering strengths. I enjoy brainstorming and sketching design ideas and am usually happy with what I choose for my final design.
One of my weaknesses in design/engineering is making the actual circuits. I was never the best at this in D&T and the skills I had then have mostly left me, so I'll have to work hard to improve on this skill.

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

I aspire to always post things on time, and more specifically, as soon as possible so that whatever it is I'm reflecting on remains fresh in my memory so my posts can be as detailed and accurate as possible.
I will do my best to reflect on the entire process, including the more challenging and frustrating aspects but also on the parts that I'm proud of.
I will be clear and concise in my writing so that what I'm saying makes sense and isn't just rambling.
I plan to take many pictures of my work with the goal of posting high-quality photos that fully show my process and what I came up with.

Shaped PCB Ideation

Our group decided to do the pineapple design. We all agreed fairly quickly that we thought it would be a fun and unique shape to create. The main reason we chose it was because we thought it would be fun to use two different-colored LEDs that are realistic for the object we are creating. Our plan is to use green LEDs on the stem of the pineapple and yellow LEDs on the fruit of the pineapple.

Completed Shaped PCB Design

Fusion Schematic File

As we had planned, we ended up making a pineapple-shaped PCB. We added green LEDs to the leaves of the pineapple and yellow LEDs to the fruit of the pineapple in addition to a silkscreen design on the fruit of the pineapple.
In order to break up the work, Leena and I made the outline of our pineapple and the silkscreen design on Rhino. Colin created the schematic on Fusion. Leena and I then sent our design to Colin who incorporated it with the schematic.
I will definitely remember the importance of attention to detail and persistence in creating a closed shape without any tiny imperfections/loops on Rhino. I struggled with this when creating the pineapple design on Rhino, but Mr. Kleindolph was able to help us figure out the issue and we were finally able to make it work with Fusion.

Fusion Board Layout

10 Speaker Designs

Here are my 10 speaker designs. My favorite three are the initial one, the music note, and the cat.

Post-It Feedback

I think my favorite piece of feedback was Ilana's suggestion to modify my cat idea slightly and instead make two cats with interlocking tails and a speaker in each of them. A lot of people said to think about how the music note design would stand up and how I would fit in the battery and circuit board.

Phase 2 Design Drawing

I don't really have experience with 3d printing, so this design will force me to grow in regard to that skill.
In addition, it will challenge me to work on modeling in Rhino , specifically creating unique and organic shapes. I unfortunately forgot many of the Rhino skills I learned in freshman year so will have to rebuild those.

Modeled Enclosure Design

My enclosure design is mostly done and I'm happy with how it's looking. I'm still deciding whether or not to add a few more features to the cats (maybe some stripes on the face or tail). I also still need to add the holes on the back for the charging and decide whether or not I want to incorporate my digital project into the speaker.

Cardboard Prototype

What is your idea?

My idea is to have two cats with interlocking tails with one speaker in each cat's body. I was able to model it using cardboard, but left out the facial features and other similar elements.

What did you learn from your prototype?

It was very difficult to make my prototype because of the organic shape of the cats. It was hard to get the cardboard to go around the edge of them. I don't anticipate this being an issue for the real design though since I'll be using different materials. I did learn that I need to make sure that the tail of the cat with the tail in two pieces lines up nicely so it looks like a smooth full tail.

Does your design need modifications?

I don't think so!

Amp Circuit on Breadboard

Is there something about the circuit you understand now that you've spent time prototyping it?

I understand more about the connections between positive and negative that each part needs to have and how to make those connections on the breadboard.

Name one part that is a complete mystery to you. Look it up on Google or generative AI. What does it say the function of that part is?

One part of the circuit that was a complete mystery to me was the ferrite beads. Upon reading about them online, I learned that they are used to suppress unwanted high-frequency noises and sound interference in electronic circuits.

Amp PCB & Schematic

For this project, I worked with Angie. This process helped solidify my understanding of the circuit and how each part connects. Specifically, I learned about how the main power source connects to positive and ground as the foundation for the entire PCB board.

Unsoldered Circuit Board

Completed Soldered Shaped PCB

What was the original idea?

My group wanted to create a pineapple design and highlight the leaves with green LEDs and the fruit of the pineapple with yellow LEDs.

Who did you work with?

For this project, I worked with Leena and Colin.

Are you happy with the product?

Yes! I'm happy with how we designed our board and the final product. With it all soldered together, it turned out very well.

Completed Soldered Amp Circuit

Enclosure Build Process

1) Where am I with the building of my project?

All of my parts are laser-cutted and my speakers have been mounted.

2) What do I still need to do?

I still need to extend the switch from my battery, make the whole for the switch larger so the switch fits through on my acrylic piece, and put all the parts together.

Final Amplifier Documentation

1) I made a speaker that is the shape of two cats, each one representing one of my own two cats.

2) This semester, I am very satisfied with my completed projects. Specifically, I value the skills I learned for coding the digital project and am happy that I was able to get more confident and independent with using both the 3d printers and the laser cutter.

3) If I were to start over, I would put more thought into measuring during the designing phase of the project to make sure that everything is going to fit. Getting things to fit was the main challenge I faced when building.

4) Two years from now, I know I will remember the setbacks that are bound to come up throughout the design and creation processes and the persistence that is required to move through these challenges and frustrations. I faced a lot of unexpected design challenges while making my speaker that were very frustrating. Yet, I had to persist in working through these challenges and, although there were parts that didn't come out exactly as I had planned, the speaker did come together in a way that I'm happy with.

5) I was able to finish!

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