Tag Archives: breadboard

Continuing the Prototyping Process

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Coming into this week’s class, our team finally has a good grasp of the project in regards to the hardware and the software portion. As stated in last week’s reflection we were able to complete almost all the coding besides some minor adjustments and ensured that the hardware is able to work. During this week’s class we worked on the housing component and started some testing in regards to the sensor.

The first half of the class we worked on the housing unit, we had started off by using Fusion 360 last week and were having some issues especially with creating the correct holes into the housing unit. Thus, Vishal had suggested that we use Tinkercad to create the holes, as it was much easier to do through their website. We downloaded our already created dimensions from Fusion 360 and uploaded it onto Tinkercad. Tinkercad was much more efficient, we were able to edit at the same time. Immediately we had figured out all the hole dimensions for the lid, the sensor and the power cable. We also decided to add on our team name to the product. When we decided to print it we realized the time of the print was incredibly long and we were figuring out methods to shorten the time of printing. Finally, we were able to start the printing of the housing and will be done for us to pick up the next day.

After we had started printing out housing we decided to start working on some of the testing of our product. We were coming up with different inquiries on our product. First, we realized that we wanted to input location when the text sends to the user but that would require us to include some type of tracker and we realized that would be easiest done through an actual application, which would be the next step after creating the actual product. Some other issues we thought about were related to starting up the product, to leave a 30 second to 1 minute leeway before it started up and started sending texts of an intruder entering the home. Finally, we decided to test the sensor because we wanted to make sure it was reliable and we wouldn’t need to order a different type of sensor, as Vishal had suggested other sensor types like the laser sensor. We realized that our sensor went 120 degrees and was like a dome shape in sensing, we were thinking about purchasing a different sensor because a laser one might be more simple or 3D printing two walls around the sensor. However, we thought more about it and realized that it wouldn’t matter if it did sense all 120 degrees because if there were any movement it would be able to sense it. Thus, we decided to continue using the same sensor but reducing the distance it reached so it wasn’t as sensitive.

This is our housing model we created through Fusion 360 and Tinkercad.

Vishal and Brian were getting the printer started.

We began our testing plan, first testing our sensor.

Process of our housing.

Trying to change the sensor range.

Team BCC Creations Designing and Prototyping Reflection

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This week we mainly focused on our final project in regards to designing and prototyping. Prior to having group time Vishal had given us resources on the process of prototyping, and reminding us that this would not be the first prototype we would be creating but instead we would keep learning, rebuilding and growing form our prototypes that we create.

My group is Team BCC Creations; we are trying to provide college students with a peace of mind through a cheaper security alternative for their apartments. We have come to a conclusion that many students leave campus during breaks and during those times there are higher chances of trespassing. Thus, we have come up with a “cheap” alarm for a college student, as we don’t have the funds to be purchasing nice alarm systems that some of us may have at our parents’ homes. The alarm can be placed by any door and the alarm will detect whether the door is opened or not. If the door were to open the individual that enters has 5-10 seconds to shut off the alarm before it begins to ring and text the roommates of the apartment. Therefore, unsolicited entry will immediately cause the alarm to ring as well as notify the roommates of the apartment through text messages.

In order to create our alarm we will need a raspberry pi, Twilio, jumper wire, piezo, breadboard, ultrasonic sensor, battery pack, 3D printed housing and Velcro. During our group time we had created a poster that had a diagram of how the components would be connected to each other as well as a sizing guide so we could have a better understanding on how big the housing had to be as well as the alarm system itself. While drawing the diagram we had some concerns on how the parts would fit in but the breadboard gave us more leverage. Because we didn’t have the parts physically in front of us, we still need to approximate some of the components such as the piezo, because we may using a different alternative for the sound system. During class one of our group member had gone to the FabLab to check if they had any Bluetooth modules available for our use, but after speaking with a FabLab assistant we came to an understanding that we could use Twilio as cloud communication platform to send our texts instead of the Bluetooth module which we would need to have Vishal order. The raspberry pi has the capacity to use Wi-Fi and connect with Twilio, so we will still need to test it out but I believe that it could be a very suitable alternative.

After this weeks session we definitely have a better grasp as to how our product will look like, what it will be made of and where to get our components from. I can’t wait to see what we will be able to do in our next class once we have gathered all our components and have them physically laid out in front of us.

The diagram we had drawn in class.

Our ultrasonic sensor and breadboard.

 

Week 7: Arduino and Lights

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This week, I got back my laser cut box and I was so excited on how my design came out.
The design that was laser cut.

Furthermore, this week the white group was assigned to the main lab in order to learn how to program an Arduino board. This was my first time actually seeing a computer board up close and I was definitely quite surprised by how it looked. Personally, I thought that it seemed quite fragile and easily breakable. However, it was quite sturdy and it could hold quite a bit of force. Along with the Arduino board, the following things were included: The Arduino packet FabLab provided.

Using the package, we connected power and ground to the board by connecting pins. By doing so it helps “power” and enables the user to correctly use the Arduino board. For example, we connected the pins and linked power and ground together so that later on we could “power” and enable the LED lights to blink and turn on. One of the steps to put together the blinking LED lights.

After assembling all the parts of the hardware, we had to “assemble” the software together and make the LED light blink by coding on the Arduino software. Here is one of the activities that we did:

The Arduino code in which sends a SOS through Morse Code.

This example was coded so that the LED lights would emit a Morse Code for
“SOS.” After coding for the LED lights, we had to add sensors. Personally, the sensor was the hardest part of building the hardware. Because the breadboard was so tiny, it was hard to find empty rows and columns to use for the sensor. However, with some help, I was successfully able to make the LED lights blink when I waved my hand over it. After completing and successfully doing so I felt such a sense of pride because, through my first attempt, I was able to successfully complete such a feat.The completed assembly for the workshop.

This week will be very applicable for our group project. Our group project is going to be a feedback droid in which there will be sensors, so learning how to connect the breadboard to the Arduino board through the pins. The coding as well using the Arduino software was very informative and will help us in the coding for our droid. I am excited to be using such new skills in my future group project. Next week, the white team will be soldering so that the LED lights will fit into the box well.