Category: Sun A’s Status Reports

What did you personally accomplish this week on the project? Give files or
photos that demonstrate your progress. Prove to the reader that you put sufficient effort into the project over the course of the week (12+ hours).

I am currently working with Katie and Lance to integrate our parts. With Katie, we are working on making sure that we correct the mistake we made in our initial fabrication attempt — one of the sides was a bit long and had to be cut down to be balanced. With Lance, I am helping him to make sure that his ardunio output is not generating random notes in the first few seconds (have not addressed this issue 100%).

Is your progress on schedule or behind? If you are behind, what actions will be taken to catch up to the project schedule?

The integration is definitely taking longer than expected but we are in a good place — working MVP.

What deliverables do you hope to complete in the next week?

finalizing the fabrication + integration.

What did you personally accomplish this week on the project? Give files or
photos that demonstrate your progress. Prove to the reader that you put sufficient effort into the project over the course of the week (12+ hours).

I was able to finish the full-octave hardware component to be ready for the interim demo this week. I worked with Katie to build the mounting system. This week, I wanted to work on building the two-octave system or at least prepare the components for it; but, all of our new solenoids are gone because my team left the toolbox with all of the components in Tech Spark.

Is your progress on schedule or behind? If you are behind, what actions will be
taken to catch up to the project schedule?

No — I am on schedule!

What deliverables do you hope to complete in the next week?

Hopefully, I can finish soldering and heat-shrink the components. So, I can start assembling everything onto the board.

Now that you are entering into the verification and validation phase of your project, provide a comprehensive update on what tests you have you run or are planning to run. In particular, how will you analyze the anticipated measured results to verify your contribution to the project meets the engineering design requirements or the use case requirements?

For my hw component, I use a very simple arduino code to test if all 7 solenoids can be turned on or not. From there, I tested a random pair of 7 solenoids and group of 4 solenoids at a time. As for meeting the engineering design requirements and the use case requirements, I try to make all of the solenoids solder to a longer wire and heat shrink as much as possible to make the circuit as compact as possible so it’s easy to install.

 

 

What did you personally accomplish this week on the project? Give files or
photos that demonstrate your progress. Prove to the reader that you put sufficient effort into the project over the course of the week (12+ hours).

I finished implementing a full octave actuator system. I tested them randomly and up to 4 solenoids can be powered at the same time.

Is your progress on schedule or behind? If you are behind, what actions will be
taken to catch up to the project schedule?

No

What deliverables do you hope to complete in the next week?

Finish building the frame to hold all of the solenoids + start building two-octave system

I need to order more solenoids because I burned some of them 🙁

What did you personally accomplish this week on the project? Give files or
photos that demonstrate your progress. Prove to the reader that you put sufficient effort into the project over the course of the week (12+ hours).

This week, I spent most of my time trying to figure out how I was going to build the hardware system for the upcoming demo. I am planning on building a full octave system with the possibility of playing 4 actuators simultaneously. As of now, I CAN play 4 actuators but I can’t seem to control them individually. Also, in the process of implementing this, I burned out 4 of the actuators so will have to order more for future use… (I will be going back to Tech Spark to figure out the individual control tomorrow though).

 

Is your progress on schedule or behind? If you are behind, what actions will be taken to catch up to the project schedule?

So far, it’s going fine. I think I might be on a time crunch if I can’t figure out why my actuators are controlled by one signal by tomorrow though.

 

What deliverables do you hope to complete in the next week?

First, I would like to finish building the full octave system by Wednesday. And, then I can focus on building a mounting system.

 

What did you personally accomplish this week on the project? Give files or
photos that demonstrate your progress. Prove to the reader that you put sufficient effort into the project over the course of the week (12+ hours).

This week, I worked on replicating my test circuit to have 3 solenoids (all powered at the same time). During this process, I noticed that the solenoids were getting heated but that may be due to having them on for a few minutes constantly. However, in reality, these solenoids will not be powered on for 3+ minutes straight so hopefully, we do not have to find a solution for having too hot of parts. I also tried to solder some cables onto the solenoids because the solenoids’ cables are flimsy.

Is your progress on schedule or behind? If you are behind, what actions will be taken to catch up to the project schedule?

I am on track!

What deliverables do you hope to complete in the next week?

I am hoping to finish creating (and soldering) the 7 solenoid circuit onto the protoboard by next week

What did you personally accomplish this week on the project? Give files or
photos that demonstrate your progress. Prove to the reader that you put sufficient effort into the project over the course of the week (12+ hours).

The week before spring break, I met my personal goal of testing and ordering solenoids. A few weeks ago, I bought a solenoid with a 12DC power rating and was not sure if 1) this would fit on every key on the keyboard; 2) would actually draw 12 Watts to play the keys; and 3) if this would even play the keys (like do I need to get a push-kind or pull-kind or even a “bigger” solenoid”). Throughout the testing, I encountered some issues like not finding a power supply to handle the 12DC solenoid and such. But, after talking to different professors and Quinn, I figured out that there were “heavier” power supplies in Tech Spark, so I spent most of my time there testing the solenoid. Anyway, by the end of that week, I ordered 14 more solenoids to start building a one-octave system starting next week.

“ Is your progress on schedule or behind? If you are behind, what actions will be taken to catch up to the project schedule?

Nope, I am on track!

“ What deliverables do you hope to complete in the next week?

I hope to design a functioning one-octave system — but not completely build it since I will be building it using a protoboard rather than a breadboard. This requires more time to design the circuit.

I am including pictures from the week before spring break:

 

What did you personally accomplish this week on the project? Give files or
photos that demonstrate your progress. Prove to the reader that you put sufficient effort into the project over the course of the week (12+ hours).

I was the one who presented for the design review presentation so most of my week was consumed in making the presentation and preparring for it. I also received my orders from Adafruit and DigiKey so I was building the sample this week but I did not get to test it… I will do the testing on Monday when the receiving is open (the keyboard is with the receiving because it’s hard to store a full sized keyboard).

 

Is your progress on schedule or behind? If you are behind, what actions will be taken to catch up to the project schedule?

So far, I am not behind the schedule.

 

What deliverables do you hope to complete in the next week?

I hope to finish testing next week and figure out if I should get a new keyboard (less weight on the key) or if I should get a new type of solenoid. This will be the biggest task for me next week!