Currently, EYE is working on the final
preparations for the December 6th “Engineering Athletics” Saturday
Program as the date quickly approaches.
We are finalizing student and teacher volunteers as well as getting
excited for the program. We are also in
the later stages of planning the December 13th “All about
Engineering” program with Ballard School in South Glens Falls. We are working with Shen to continue planning
their “All about Engineering” event in January.
We have been developing our Sponsor a Young Engineer program,...
Friday, December 5, 2014
Over the course of our last several classes, we have continued to reach out to Nitinol professionals
seeking any useful advice they may have. We also researched other types of shape memory
alloys, including Flexinol. These different SMAs (Shape Memory Alloys) are composed of various
metal mixtures. One model of heat engine we are looking into consists of two different sized gears and a chain made partly of Nitinol that connects them. The linear deformation of the Nitinol
causes the gears to spin. This is known as the VT1 engine. Another...
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Our EDD class split into
two groups. One group has worked on a
Nitinol engine, and my group has worked on several other several other
ideas. Group 2, consisting of Chris
Engborg, Shibo Jiang, Jordan Klapp and Rob Spzak initially focused on the concept
of building an RFID card. The two main
thoughts were to either make the card store general information such as name,
address, phone number, medical info ect.
The other option, would have been to build a card for use in schools
that preform a variety of different...
In the past few weeks, EYE has effectively launched the first sessions of the second year of Dorothy Nolan’s LEGO Club and has continued to support Division Street’s STEM Club. As the December 6th Saturday “Engineering Athletics” Program approaches, we have continued to plan and finalize arrangements with the local community. With the event already full, we expect to have a successful outcome. The students are very excited to participate and the parents and teachers are eager to make this event a special one. Shenendehowa currently is being aided...
We are
in the process of brainstorming specific applications for the engine.
Some ideas include using the engine in a car to capture waste heat from the car’s
engine, and capturing waste heat from industrial ovens. We have been modeling different engines on
Autodesk Inventor and picked one to prototype. We dimensioned the pieces
to fit size and functionality parameters. We started building the prototype
from various materials, including plastic, wood and metal. The pieces were cut using the laser cutter, ensuring ...
The year is
off to a great start in EDD, the class has gone through a series of steps
necessary in bringing about the beginnings of a successful project. Students have voted, electing their
classmates to reside over certain responsibilities for the class. Among these positions are treasurer, project
manager, blog coordinator, and fundraising coordinator. Nick Abate has been elected project manager,
Emily Verhag will be our treasurer and Eric Von Alman will be overseeing
fundraising. After conducting elections,
we presented...
Thursday, June 12, 2014
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There is only one class remaining until our final showcase. Stress levels are high and nearly palpable for everyone in the room as we make the finishing touches on our presentation and on Charlie. A few different part on the printer had to be switched out a few days ago to make the Z-Table assembly as a whole stronger. One thing we ordered is a more powerful, stronger, stepper motor. Hopefully this resolves all issues and we will be able to print...
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Now that the end of the year is rapidly approaching, the Educating Young Engineers team is working to finish strong and tie everything together. We are hosting another Saturday Engineering Program at the high school on June 14, titled “Engineering Athletics” that will demonstrate the parallels between problem solving and sports. We have been given great support for this program from the Engineering Design and Development class and will share the...
Wednesday, June 4, 2014
With our new printer design almost completed, the electronics team is working hard at installing all our components into the machine. This includes soldering wires together, hooking parts up, and screwing in our electronics to the wall. We centralized most of our voltage supply wires onto one circuit board, which can fit right onto our Arduino. In addition, we discovered a way to control our power supply unit directly with our on-button, which...
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
As the year in EDD (and highschool) comes to a bittersweet close and we prepare for our final presentation on June 17th, a small group looks to continue the Charlie project post-graduation. A small group, mostly consisting of build team members looks to continue the project, building a business plan, a go to market plan, promotional materials, as well as finishing and optimizing what we already have in the way of a product. We aim to launch a Kickstarter/crowd-funding...
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Congratulations to the InvenTeams of Natick High School and Newton North High School on their achievements this year and their invitation to the White House Science Fair. It's always exciting to see other InvenTeams making the news, and we wish them the best of luck!
(Sections from the press release)
"Students from Natick High School and Newton North High School, both in Massachusetts, will travel to the fourth White House Science Fair to showcase their Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam projects to President Obama on Tuesday, May 27. The students will join...
Thursday, May 22, 2014
As our senior year is coming to a close, our final printer is beginning to take shape. All of the acrylic has been laser cut and dry-fitted together, almost ready for completion. On electronics team, we have been hard at work finalizing all of the wiring for the printer. Using the wiring diagram we drafted earlier in the year, we have begun to connect all of the wires to the arduino shield and power supply. After the completion...
Monday, May 19, 2014
Now that our base incorporates a puzzle piece design instead of using angle bars and bolts, we had to figure out the right glue to use to strengthen the structure. We started off by using acrylic glue. We had trouble with the consistency from the start. The glue was very thin and hard to control, and even pouring the glue into the application bottle was difficult. But after some practice we perfected our skill of acrylic gluing. We found that...
Saturday, May 17, 2014
Recently, EYE has been making amazing progress! Check out these two videos below for what they have been up to, and stay tuned for more information on the upcoming EYES program on June 14th.
Progress report: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgHDwHY_1lI
April 5th EYES Program: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLw-owwj...
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
As our project comes to its conclusion, it's time for all the teams to coordinate and build the
final machine. The build team and electronics team are currently figuring out how everything will be placed inside the printer, so all the parts and devices will run smoothly. The power button has been soldered to wires, and we have successfully integrated a MOSFET (a type of transistor) into our power supply circuit, since multiple voltages will be used.As the school year starts coming to an end, we hope our project will be ready to print and present...
Thursday, May 8, 2014
The Software Team has been hard at work these past few weeks. Recently we were able to complete a settings editor page where the user can change printer features such as the printer name, user name, printer resolution and the layer depth. This page can allow the user to have further control over printing. Another task that we have been working on is the ability to have multiple templates and recent templates that the user can access. This can allow...
Friday, May 2, 2014
A little over a week after making the decision to go with the new design, the final Inventor drawings have been finished. The final prototype has a few major differences from its predecessor. First off, the projector is now pointed downward with the image bouncing off of two mirrors. To fix the issues with the last prototype the Z-table design has been overhauled, now being attached to a square rod that spans the length of the resin pool and slides...
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Come on down to the Saratoga Cycling Studio to help support your favorite engineers! On Thursday, May 8, there will be a donation spin to help benefit our class! If you click on the link below, scroll over to May 8, and click the donation spin button for 3:30 pm, you can sign up for our class. When you do this, please note that we are collecting donations on the day of the event, and would appreciate $15, but more would be such a great help...
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
The Electronics Team has been hard at work finishing up the design for the basic circuit. While we are waiting for the Build team to finish the frame, we are making a setup of all electrical components that will be inside the printer. The piece we have found most recently is the PNP MOSFET, which will allow the circuits to be run at varying voltages. This device (shown above) allows us to power the gate pin, which will in turn allow current...
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Our first print was a great accomplishment, we learned a lot and showed that we were capable of printing a three dimensional part, but we know we can make our printer even better. We completely re-designed the printer to be stronger, more accurate, and more compact. The most drastic change in the design will be size. By orienting the projector vertically instead of horizontally, we can eliminate much of the wasted space our old "box" design....
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
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Our first print, as many readers know, was relatively successful. However it did reveal problems with the z-table. To print, we improvised on the spot to hold up the heavy z-table structure, but since the z-table was not stable, the design needed to be changed yet again. Over the past week or so we have developed a new design for our printer that works around the issue of our z-table. Our new design has three support points and a more secure locking...
Friday, April 11, 2014
The build team is beginning work on the fourth prototype. Handles
have already been heat formed from acrylic, and AutoCad designs are being
created for the rest of the fourth prototype. The fourth prototype will use a
second mirror in order to conserve space. Other improvements to be seen in the
fourth prototype include a sturdier door and lift supports. The Z table and Z tower
will also be redesigned in the new prototype to resolve balance issues...
Thursday, April 3, 2014
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Our print deadline today, and as everyone scrambled to tie up loose ends, the group thought the outlook on printing today was rather grim. During class, everyone went into overdrive and made more progress than anyone could have imagined. A new Z table got milled out that would have more structural integrity than the one before which was warped. The new acylic base and top were almost finished and hopefully will done for tomorrow...
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Right now the programming team is working on a settings page interface where the user can change certain aspects of the printer, such as the color, and the layer depth. We are also working with the build team to finalize the stepper motor code, for example when it is given an amount of steps it will move that far. Finally, we are also working on code to implement limit switches so the motor does not go out of range, and code for a rotary encoder...
Saturday, March 29, 2014
The resin pool is obviously a very important part of the 3D printer, seeing that it has to contain the resin that a part is printed from. Recently advancements have been made in its functionality and its aesthetics. The aluminum "exoskeleton" for the pool is now made from an aluminum sheet that is 1/8th of an inch think instead of 1/16th thick. Also, the C-Channels that support the glass walls have been switched out for...
Thursday, March 27, 2014
With the final stretch to our end of the year deadline quickly approaching, the marketing team is looking for opportunities to get our product on the market. We have recently contacted an artist to finish our logo, and we should have samples in the next few days.
There is still time to continue fundraising, and it is necessary that we continue to have an income of funds, through fundraisers, grant applications and local company donations. There...
Monday, March 24, 2014
With the machine's core components being assembled and integrated, the electronics team is now focusing on safety mechanisms. This includes limit switches for the Z-table arm, laser indicators in our resin pool, and smoke detectors to be installed inside the machine. Similar to the devices you might find in your ceiling, these smoke sensors will shut off the machine if something inside starts burning (which might be a sign of trouble!).However,...
Friday, March 21, 2014
Yesterday the class made tons of progress with our printing process. We tested curing a new type of resin (MakerJuice brand, cool indigo color) and it cured within seconds, much faster than the stuff we had been using before. Also, the smell on this resin is a lot less severe than the Solarez. When the resin was done, a 5-10 minute butanol bath finished up the job removing any excess oily resin. As soon as the resin was tested, the projector began...
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
For the Z-table, arm and tower our goal has been to even further lighten up the design and improve the overall sturdiness. We have moved away from our wooden design to a more professional looking aluminum one. The whole Z-tower has been redesigned to work with aluminium. This has improved helped improve the stiffness of the tower so when the actual z-table is attached it will not wobble at all. The Z- tower arm has also...
Thursday, March 13, 2014
The past two weeks have been great for the EYE team! We have been working to plan for the April as well as the June program by ordering the necessary supplies and gathering volunteers. We launched registration for our April Program and have already filled all 150 available slots! We also have a growing waiting list (60 kids and counting!). In addition to implementing additional elementary engineering programs, we are working on evaluating...
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Today in class was a fairly productive day for the build and electrical teams. We (as the electronics team) wanted to test the accuracy of the infrared distance sensor that will be used to find the remaining amount of resin. We have been doing some tests using water instead of resin, and they showed that our sensor may not be accurate enough. Just to verify, we brought the current prototype into a darkroom, and tested the machine...
Monday, March 3, 2014
Currently, the Marketing Team is researching how to successfully market a 3D printer. The market is very competitive and our product has great features that will offer new opportunities to current printer users. We have been studying our biggest competitor, and leading 3D printer developers, 3D Systems, and how they are so successful with each of their products. We are also researching our other main competitors and learning what their consumers...
Friday, February 28, 2014
In the electronics world, we have been testing our infrared distance sensor (pictured above), which will be used to test how much resin is in the pool. We have confirmed it does perform as expected with translucent liquid, but questions remain about its accuracy. Too much or too little resin could cause problems (anywhere from mild to serious), and it is uncertain if our current devices could measure it precisely enough.In addition, we have make...
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
The software team has been up to a lot lately. From adding new features to the GUI to controlling the stepper motor the software team has been working on many essential features for Charlie. From the Graphical user interface standpoint a new print viewer has been constructed so that the user can see a nice organized print progress and data screen showing helpful info such as the resin levels and time until completion. After testing a few other styles we found that dynamic sizers work best for laying out all of the spacers and widgets found in the...
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Recently,
the CAD team had been trying to come up with a fresh and sleek design to set
out printer apart from those that already exist in the market. After a few
sketches and weeks of CAD design we finally settled on what we believe combines
all of the best ideas we came up with. However, with the completion of this
challenge, a new one arose. The design calls for essentially a rectangular
prism, with two of the sides joining in a sloping curve instead...
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
February has only just begun, but the Educating Young Engineers team has already accomplished so much! We started out the month with our primere Saturday Engineering Program on February 1! The event went amazingly well! We were extremely impressed with all of the young engineers solutions to our challenges. We are also extremely appreciative of all of the volunteers who made the day possible, together we raised $2,400 to excite many more young engineers! We have decided that we will be putting on a very similar program in April, for the children...
Thursday, February 6, 2014
The electronics team has been working closely with Mike and Isaac from the programming team, and we hope to get the stepper motor fully working with their driver class soon. This whole process has hit a few delays, but it should be done within the next few days. We have also been working to integrate the stepper motor with the z-table, which will ultimately move the part. We attached on the motor to the z-table system today, and next class we will be able to calibrate the distances for the steps and fine tune the program and microstepping. We...
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
While the high school was out of classes for Regents and midterm testing, a group of Project Lead the Way students re-visited the middle school to talk about the technology courses the high school has to offer to our upcoming freshman class. Eight students and two high school tech teachers explained what each class entailed and described some of the activities that went on in the classroom. Our high school students were even able to show some of...
Friday, January 31, 2014
This past Thursday, General Electric Research and Development was kind enough to offer the InvenTeam the opportunity to tour their buildings. We mainly toured their rapid prototyping, and 3D manufacturing facilities. The class first met with two mechanical engineers, working with medium sized resin and polymer-based printers, much bigger than machines like the MakerBot, yet still manageable. These engineers allowed us to ask questions, and showed...
Monday, January 27, 2014
This January was a very busy month for the Educating Young Engineers group! Our most amazing accomplishment was filling up all ONE- HUNDRED slots for our premier Saturday Engineering Program! A major priority of the EYE group has been organizing all aspects for our Engineering Day. We have been working to plan out all of the modules that the participants will go through. We have decided on a Wind Tunnel, a Marshmallow Catapult, a Toothbrush...
Thursday, January 23, 2014
As part of our marketing strategy, we want each printer to be unique. We want individuals to build a personal connection with their machines, as exemplified by our use of names such as "Charlie". To accompany the various names and personalities of our printers, we have designed our software to have different color schemes, some of which are pictured above. These color schemes will match the paint job on the robot.
In addition to changing colors,...
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
For the z-table we have been working to improve our initial z-table design which consisted of a removable U-shaped z-table surrounding a box that was permanently connected to the printer. Our goal was to lighten up this design, decrease the build space to fit the aspect ratio of the projector, create a sturdy set-up that will allow for precise printing, and have an easier way to detach the z-table from the printer.
We have...
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Introducing... Charlie CR8, the name of the EDD class of 2014's 3D printer! Why is Charlie so special? Due to our goal of creating a personal machine, we have decided that Charlie is the best name for our final product. For every printer we sell, our consumer is going to receive a uniquely named product. To keep from confusion however, they all will end in CR8 (create), because it's the family's last name.
We wanted our 3D printer to stand...
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
A big thanks to the Bechtel engineers who came and listened to our mid-year presentations this evening. Bechtel has consistently been one of our biggest sponsors, so we were very excited to have representatives visit us and give us feedback on our projects.
For this evening's presentation, each group made a presentation detailing what they have been doing from the beginning of this year to now, our half way point. Not only did our presentation...
Friday, January 10, 2014
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Progress in the electronics field is moving steadily forward. Despite a few broken microchips, we have successfully ran the stepper motor with a simple "blinking" program, and will soon begin to test its functionality with more specific inputs. With our ultimate objective being to adjust our z-table with this stepper motor, integration into the machine prototype (along with some tough number-crunching) will be our next step after testing.
With...
Thursday, January 9, 2014
One of the crucial elements of a 3D printer's software is the process of taking a 3D model file (usually in the form of a .stl file), and figuring out how to go about printing each layer.
Since we're going to be projecting UV light onto resin to create thin layers of polymer, we need to generate cross sections of whatever we're printing. This process is known as slicing.
We've utilized some existing libraries to handle some of the heavy mathematical...
Monday, January 6, 2014
Today was a busy day for the Build Team as our deadline draws near to finish up the physical construction of our first prototype. New parts were printed using the laser cutter and team members began to piece together some of the last components of Prototype 1. Additional research was also done on the UV filter in the projector, which will be crucial for the machine to print. However, this isn't the only roadblock we have found with the projector....
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