Week 2

Due Date: 8/30/2019

Total hours: 8 hours

Description of design efforts: Got 2-axis machine from old team (chessboard team from last year) to use as the base of our piece mover. Hooked up motors to DRV8825 stepper motor controllers via breadboard, and were able to control movement using PWM waveforms from the oscilloscope wave generator.

Purchased an old computer monitor from the surplus store to use as the display for the center segment. Tore it down as much as we could to reduce its size

Week 3

Due Date: 9/6/2019

Total hours: 5 hours

Description of design efforts: Started building 3D model of enclosure, preliminary measurements indicate that monitor may be too big for frame, will conduct further measurements to confirm. Investigating 3D printing materials for frame

Week 4

Due Date: 9/13/2019

Total hours: 8 hours

Description of design efforts: attempted to wire both DRV8825 motor controllers onto one breadboard/regulator, but somehow managed to damage the old chip. More DRV8825 chips are arriving in the mail on Saturday.

Our initial plan for how the monitor would fit into the frame turned out to be unworkable. We brainstormed many options ranging from a differently shaped monitor to a completely new movement mechanism, but settled on a simple method of raising the frame/plotter above the screen, and sacrificing about 5cm of screen space on each side

Further progress has been made on the enclosure model, and the first draft of the base has been sent out for 3D printing. It should be done by Wednesday 9/18

Week 5

Due Date: 9/20

Total hours: 5 hours

Description of design efforts: 3D printed frame parts arrived. Measurements on the leg distances were off by ~2mm and will have to be adjusted manually. After installing the backing, we realized that there is not enough clearance for the plotter motors so a second revision of the model will be needed.

Finalized the placement of the display, which will be incorporated into the next revision of the model.

Drafted the PCB footprints which will also be included in the next model revision

Week 6

Due Date: 9/27/2019

Total hours: 5 hours

Description of design efforts: Revised 3D model with PCB footprint and display supports. This added ~5cm to the height of the overall design. Added mounting points to all brackets so that they wont move around on the base. Sent all parts off for printing. Found/purchased wood and bolts for mounting.

Mounting of main PCB still has to be determined, but since we dont have a finalized PCB yet the best I could do was to build in a sufficient amount of room in the frame

All parts will be mounted and assembled using 4mm bolts for convenience

There will be a 3.5 cm clearance from the top of the monitor to the actual acrylic gameboard on top, to allow for the magnetic head to move around

Week 7

Due Date: 10/4/2019

Total hours: 5 hours

Description of design efforts: 3D printed parts arrived. All signs point to them being a good fit, with only a few minor issues. The large side pieces were not printed to save material, and will probably be made of wood or acrylic. I forgot to account for the thickness of the screw head the holds the CNC machine together. The options are to cut the part down, reprint with adjusted measurements, or move the entire system up by one row of mounting holes. The the third option is easiest, but will add ~8mm of extra headroom over the monitor which we may want to avoid

Began putting together code to interface with IMU sensor. Some code was taken from STM's github page. I have not compiled or run it yet, as the instructions provided are still not totally clear to me. I am hoping one of my team members who understands embedded design a bit better than me can understand whats going on

Week 8

Due Date: 10/18

Total hours: 4

Description of design efforts: Got hardboard cut to proper size at Lowes. Merged each corner mount into one piece, and got 1st one from the printer. 3D printer is out of commission for a bit because a sensor broke however, but the parts are not in a huge rush so its okay. The new corner mount should be more stable, and less prone to coming apart under vibration

Week 9

Due Date: 10/25/2019

Total hours: 2

Description of design efforts: Dice PCB's came in. Spent time making measurements to adjust the 3D model. 3D printer is still out of commission but should be back online soon

Week 10

Due Date: 11/01/2019

Total hours: 5

Description of design efforts: finalized 3d model of dice, and had them printed. First revision did not fit together, so had to send off another revision. This one is a bit too jiggly (tolerances too high) but we plan on gluing the entire contraption shut once we are done anyways so ti wont be an issue. The PCB fits inside perfectly, which is awesome

Continued working on putting the PCB together

Week 12

Due Date: 11/8/2019

Total hours: 8

Description of design efforts:

Got rest of corner pieces printed, and draft of encoder mounts printed. 2nd draft of encoder mounts sent off for printing. Resized wood panels for sides to avoid collision. Purchased and cut acrylic sheet for top of game. Removed bottom wood sheet because holes were in the wrong place, but realized I’ll have to add it back later for the monitor mount. Will have to buy a new wood sheet and re cut holes for this

Week 13

Due Date: 11/15/2019

Total hours: 10

Description of design efforts:

Managed to break the 3D printed corner mounts, so I replaced them with wood and L brackets. The side walls were made to stand on their own and reinforced with L brackets as well. Acrylic covering was fitted to the entire enclosure and is waiting to be secured when all is finalized

Made encoder mounts, and attached encoder wheels to frame. Still debating the necessity of the rotary encoders, tests will be conducted soon

Week 13

Due Date: 11/15/2019

Total hours: 10

Description of design efforts:

Managed to break the 3D printed corner mounts, so I replaced them with wood and L brackets. The side walls were made to stand on their own and reinforced with L brackets as well. Acrylic covering was fitted to the entire enclosure and is waiting to be secured when all is finalized

Made encoder mounts, and attached encoder wheels to frame. Still debating the necessity of the rotary encoders, tests will be conducted soon