The design packet (V1) is now attached to this post (a few days later)! Integration is continuing. We should be wrapping up integration in the next few days and then do testing and then we will be all done. We had the final presentation this past week which we think went well. designPacket
Ella’s Status Report for 4/18
This week I made more fabrication progress. I installed foam to the focus motor and got the base of the light laser cut. I fit the pan mechanism and the arms into the box and got them working. I soldered all of the motor drivers and their associated circuits (capacitors, etc) and fit them into the box with long leads so that we can connect each circuit’s data wires to the microcontroller. I screwed the microcontroller in place and tried to screw the power supply in, but realized that I cut the holes in the box to fit M3 bolts but the power supply takes M4 bolts, so I’ll need to drill the holes out a bit more or fix the power supply to the base in a different way. Chloe and I fed the wires from the head of the light through the cable harnessing, and the head of the light is ready to mount. The next step (mounting the head of the light and testing the tilt mechanism) has been stressing me out SO MUCH for SO LONG and I am very worried about it but I will do it soon (in the next few days). We are slightly behind where we wanted to be but we will work this week to catch up and also we have next week to really pull things together if needed. I really wish we had more of the project complete for the final presentation, but it is ok and we will present what we have so far.
Ella’s Status Report for 4/4
This week I made a lot of fabrication progress. The pan mechanism is working and I got the arms spinning around, and also the head of the fixture is almost fully assembled. There are some things in the head that still need to happen, like angle grinding the lead screw down to length, adding some final fasteners, and figuring out a way to keep the gobo holder stagnant while the fixture moves. We also had our interim demo this week and we got some good feedback from all of our critiquers. Something that we definitely want to look into more that was a piece of feedback from Daniel our TA is adding thin padding around the focus motor to dampen the physical vibrations and hopefully reduce the noise. We are roughly on schedule, and as part of our interim demo we made an updated Gantt chart for the remainder of the semester. In the upcoming week, I intend to get the tilt mechanism working and ideally connect the head to the tilt mechanism, and IDEALLY connect the pan and tilt mechanisms and the head all together. If I don’t get all the systems together that would still be ok on our timeline. I also want to make more progress on the box for the base of the light, as this will be helpful for assembling the systems all together.
Pan video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rlitiAY5163TgosCQWV2yORz7cq7cf2m/view?usp=sharing
Ella’s Status Report for 3/28
This week I did a lot of 3D printing and also a lot of Solidworks drawings. It’s been exciting to see various parts of the project come together, and I’m excited to continue seeing those integrations in the coming week. We tested out the focus mechanism this week with the LED, and it works! This isn’t really a surprise but is a nice milestone. Attached is my (very rough) first draft of the integration packet for the barrel assembly. I am thus far on track for the parts of the project that I am working on I believe, and this upcoming week will be mainly dedicated to the interim demo and making sure that the demo goes smoothly. After that we will just continue fabricating and integrating the different aspects of the project until it’s all put together. Exciting times! BARREL_ASSEMBLY.pdf
Ella’s Status Report for 3/21
This week I got a lot of fabrication and test-fitting done. I got the focus mechanism fully assembled and working and decided to add a microswitch for homing. I am on schedule as of right now and am excited to see things coming together. In the next few days I will hopefully have all the major assemblies put together and then can start doing a full integration. I’m hoping to make nice fabrication drawings from my solidworks models, but we will see if I have time; at the end of the day I know how to fabricate the assemblies and don’t need the drawings, I kind of just want to have them because I think it would be cool and nice. I’m a little worried about the interim demo just because it is a lot of stuff to get done soon, but also we are on schedule and it should all work out. Included are some rough model images from various parts of the project in various stages.
Ella’s Status Report for 3/14
This week I worked a lot more on the CAD and I got the first batch of parts printed, and I also laser cut some other parts. I have the focus mechanism mostly test-fit together which is very exciting, and I have the tilt mechanism done in CAD and I printed some parts for it. The pan mechanism will be a next week issue most likely. Tomorrow I intend to get the motors running again but this time with the mechanism parts attached. We are overall pretty on schedule, but I am feeling slightly nervous about upcoming road blocks that may arise like struggles with getting all the parts to work together as we intended. By the end of this upcoming week I hope to have all the major parts 3D printed / laser cut and the main mechanisms at least dry fit, even if the whole system isn’t all integrated physically together yet.
Ella’s Status Report for 3/7
This week I got the motors working and did a lot of CAD for the physical design of the system. I have all of the major mechanisms roughly in the CAD and am working on how to hook everything up. I also received a lot of stuff and also placed the final order (hopefully) for items for my parts of the light as well as the controller. We are thus far on schedule! In the next week I intend to do more CAD and start 3D printing and fabricating so we can make sure all our mechanisms work as we intend.
Team Status Report for 3/7
This week we worked on writing our design report and ordering more parts needed for our light. Currently, the biggest risks we have are parts taking longer than expected to arrive. To manage these risks, we have placed an order request for almost all the critical parts needed for our light. There haven’t been any particular changes to our design since last week, but more justification was provided in our design report for why we made those decisions. Our schedule has changed a bit, since we have just finished ordering parts, we will have to spend some time after break working on the individual components before integrating them together. This will not jeopardize the success of our project because we built in a few weeks of buffer time.
Below are some considerations of how our product will meet a specific need. A was written by Chloe, B was written by Ella, and C was written by Kira.
Our miniature moving light is designed with consideration of global factors, by providing a cheap and easy to learn alternative to industry standard moving lights. Not only can our lights be used in an academic environment, but even those out of school who have an interest in learning lighting can use our lights. Also, this light can be used even by those who are experienced but want a cheaper solution, such as using them at dance parties or performances. This light removes the barrier for entry into learning about lighting for anyone interested.
Our miniature moving light is designed with cultural factors in mind by supporting the wide range of communities that use lighting as part of creative expression. Lighting is an important part of many cultural activities, including theater productions, concerts, dance performances, and community events. However, the professional lighting equipment used in these environments can be expensive and difficult for beginners to access or learn. By creating a smaller and more affordable moving light that still operates using the standard DMX control protocol, our design allows students, hobbyists, and community groups to experiment with the same lighting concepts used in professional productions. Additionally, because the system uses the same control methods that are common in the entertainment lighting industry, users who learn with our device can apply those skills in more advanced or professional settings. This helps make lighting technology more approachable to people from different backgrounds and experience levels while still maintaining compatibility with existing lighting practices used in performances and events.
Our miniature moving light is designed with environmental factors in mind by prioritizing low power consumption and minimizing material use compared to full-scale professional fixtures. Commercial moving lights are large, power-intensive devices that are designed for high-output stage environments and can require significant electrical power and large amounts of hardware. In contrast, our system uses small motors, low-power LEDs, and compact microcontrollers, which reduces the overall energy required to operate the device and makes it more practical for small spaces such as classrooms or personal workspaces. Additionally, the device is built from widely available electronic components, allowing individual parts to be replaced if needed rather than discarding the entire system, which helps reduce unnecessary material waste.
Ella’s Status Report for 2/21
This week I received items for the motor/mechanism parts of the project and started investigating how they will go together physically to create the system. I started writing code and hooking up the motors and motor drivers. We are thus far on time with our project and hopefully will continue to be on time as we get closer to the break. In the upcoming week, I will continue to get the motors working with their drivers and code and continue to develop the CAD for the system.
Ella’s Status Report for 2/14
This week I designed, spec’ed, and 3D modeled (Solidworks) our pan and tilt movement mechanisms. Putting things in Solidworks was mainly for my own peace of mind and ensuring that everything will fit as I anticipated (as much as I can tell from online models and dimensions) so that I could have more confidence ordering. I also designed and spec’ed the focus mechanism, but I’m waiting to see what lens etc we choose to use before I figure out how much travel distance we need to get the focus that we want. We are thus far on schedule which is great, and I’m excited for parts to come in so we can start really getting into it. I also helped make the slides for our upcoming Design Presentation this week. This upcoming week, I’m hoping that the motors and other stuff that we ordered will arrive (hopefully they were ordered on Thursday). If they do come in, I intend to get all 3 of our steppers working. I also intend to model the focus mechanism (at least loosely / with stand-in parts). Either this week or the week after, I intend to start trying to fit our mechanisms together and designing and prototyping the 3D printed elements to make sure that we have a smooth process later on and don’t run into a time crunch down the line.