Final Project Journal

Project Ideation

1- Tell us about the idea of your project. Why do you care about this? What were you inspired by? Include images and videos of similar projects

The new trend in the world of architecture which is now called Kinetic Architecture and the Dynamic Façade is included.

a dynamic façade consists of vertical louvers where each one can rotate around its axis to shade the interior spaces according to the intensity of sunlight or the time of day. and at the same time it's considered a perforated façade too that's inspired from the "mashrabiya" in the Arabian culture.

I think I care about this project cause it's related to the environmental analysis in buildings and the revolution of green architecture to consume less energy and accomplish sustainability especially after the problem of climate change in the world.
I was inspired by the new LEED projects in Egypt which are buildings that stick to environmental effects in the country especially to solve the problem of over consuming air conditioners. that's already built and being constructed everyday to help make a healthy environment and a better future.

City Centre Almaza project in Egypt with a golden LEED certificate

Using climate consultant software for weather analysis in Cairo city in Egypt, I found out that sun shading for windows might achieve more thermal comfort for the users inside the building by 24% and therefore use less air conditioners inside the building and that's why the dynamic façade comes as a major solution.

The design strategies required to make a building at it's most best "100%"

Selecting "sun shading for windows" strategy only to find out it's percentage is "24%"

3ds max rendered exterior shots to show how the façade works according to sun direction.

a simple one floor building (3m height)

During mild sunlight exposure (e.g. 5 pm)

During direct sunlight exposure (e.g. 12 pm)

Project Construction

2- Explain the CAD process of your project. How did you use the software to design your project? (List the softwares/tools/materials...etc that you used)

Software:

Design Purpose:

Fusion 360
AutoCad
Ultimaker Cura
LaserWork
3ds max-vray
Climate Consultant

Electronic purpose:

TinkerCad
Arduino

Machines:

Laser Cutting machine "Malki".
3d printer "Prusa".

Materials:

MDF sheets 4mm thickness.
PLA black filament.
Metallic bearing.

Electronic Components:

LDR modules "2"
Servo Motor Standard (120) 6 kg.cm
Arduino
Breadboard
jumpers
5v adaptor

CAD process : Fusion 360, LaserCad, Ultimaker Cura

Plan B - using the u - channel design

Plan B

Using a servo motor beneath each louver to rotate separately due to the weakness of the 3d printed gear worm part.

3- Explain the fabrication process of your project. How did you use the machine to fabricate your project? (List the softwares/tools/materials...etc that you used)

Working on the 3d printing machine to produce the components required for the movement of the louvers and fixing of the motor.
Parameters :
infill : 30%infill pattern : linesquality : 0.2filament color : blacktime : 3h33min + 2h39minweight : 25+22 gm

Working on the laser cutting machine to produce the wooden parts for the enclosure of the model.
The machine at the lab was being fixed so we had to laser cut somewhere else, at this place the power and speed was reduced so it took a long time "90 minutes" and the pattern took the longest time because of the detailed perforations.

632931018778144824vid20220927180201.mp4

IMG_1641.MOV

Project Electronics & Power Management

4- Describe your electronic circuit. What are the input and action components? What is the function of each? How do the components integrate together to form your smart system? (List the softwares/tools/components...etc that you used)

Input : 2 LDR modules "detecting light as if the sun movement affects the louvers".

Action : Black servo motor rotation according to calculated angles.

Integration : Through the big breadboard all the components are connected.

The connection was made between 2 LDR modules to sense light intensity difference between 2 places " the sides of the model" so I had to use male female jumpers to elongate the connections.

An LDR module was broken and it made the Arduino not working so I had to use one from my peers.

The connection of the servo motor was used as following

Signal : connected to pin 10 in Arduino
Power : connected to positive in the 5v adaptor
Ground : connected to ground in arduino " through breadboard"

5- What is your power source? How did you select the suitable power source for your project? (List the softwares/tools/components...etc that you used)

The power source for the model is through arduino connected to the laptop plus using a 5v adaptor for the black servo motor.

I used the 5v adaptor because the servo takes a big amount of current unlike the Arduino so there is a difference in current between the two components and to make sure none of them gets broken we have to use a 5v adaptor for this kind of servo motors.

Project Programming

6- Describe the code of your project. How did you program each function of the project?

The code is made to make the black servo motor rotate from 0 to 90 according to the subtraction calculation between the two LDR modules connected to analog pin A0 and A1 and accordingly the louvers will change position to be in front of the higher value to achieve the shading process.

There is no LDR module in TinkerCad so I inserted a pir sensor to act as one.

The manual mode:

connecting the servo motors to a potentiometer to let the user control it manually.

Project Integration & Testing

7- Demonstrate with text and visuals how did you integrate the project’s modules together? What are the testing results? (Include a Demo video separately, showing a proof of functionality)

IMG_1642.MOV

Making sure that the metallic bearing is working and allowing the rotation of the wooden parts without being rigid

IMG_1668.MOV

The motor works on detecting the difference in light intensity between the two LDR modules and rotate accordingly

using a gold color spray for the louvers.

1.mp4

9.mp4

Sharing & Collaboration

8- Did you ask for feedback? What are the ideas that others have contributed or suggested? What was someone else’s idea that you built upon? How did you help your peers? How did your peers help you?

I was changing the model on fusion everyday when you discover a problem with your instructor so it was a daily update for the 2 models .many of my peers helped me actually especially Ahmed Atef and Abd ElRahman Samir in the coding process, without them I would've been lost.
and Samir who helped me in the enclosure.
all of my peers Mariam, Yosr, Alaa ,Ahmed Osama, Khodry and everyone actually helped me in the process I couldn't thank them enough.

Overcoming Challenges

9- When you got stuck, what/who did you turn to? At what point did you have to pause to research or learn more before moving on? What are some mistakes, pitfalls, or challenges that others can avoid if they were doing this project?

I turned to the instructors and not only who are with us at the maker diploma but also the fab lab specialists too.

Mistakes others should avoid:

1- Make sure of the MDF sheet dimensions to ensure that the tabs have the right size for the final enclosure as I worked on fusion with bearing in mind that the mdf sheet thickness would be 3.2 mm thickness but I had to work with 4 mm thickness so I made quick adjustments to the dxf files there at the laser cutting place.

2- Working on different mechanisms to apply the movement of your model and working on them thoroughly before the 3d printing process.

3-Debugging or troubleshooting problems would probably be forgetting some keywords in the code lines.

Future Work

10- If you had more time, what is one thing you would change/ Do next in your project?

Complete the integrated prototype by fabricating the other model "garage entrance gate" and applying the microwave sensor and the sliding motion mechanism to it.

Final Project Design Files

Coding files

TinkerCad

STL file

DXF files

Fusion models