Week 16 - Making Benches

This week in CAD we have been making benches for the outdoor learning environment. We also have been producing the A braces for the benches to support the bench, these braces are a challenge to make. The main challenge is to align the braces properly so that it is balanced.

Week 14 - Continuing To Build

This week we worked on cutting the pieces of wood to produce the tables. I used the table saw and templates to make the cuts. The templates helped us pump out the pieces fairly quickly, and a few drill bits were broken in the assembly process. Breaking a drill bit is an annoying occurrence, a broken bit can halt an entire assembly process. Progress is being made at a good rate, and the projected deadline will most likely be made.

Week 13 - Putting Parts Together

This week I have been helping with putting the table parts together for the outdoor learning environment. After the table tops are done they weigh a considerable amount. The main challenge with placing the table top on the table base is aligning them properly. A few chisel jobs needed to be done on some ends of the table top, but overall they are coming along nicely.

   

Week 12 - CNC Router

This week in Auto CAD we have been working on getting the CNC router operational. The main issue that was encountered, was the routers trouble with moving on the z axis. After some reassembling and restarts, we finally were able to get the axis operational. The driver for the computer to get the application working were also installed to make sure everything connected together.

 

Week 11 - Working the Fields

This week in Auto CAD we have been working the fields in order to remove the old fence posts in the ground. We used shovels and pix axes to remove the dirt around the post. The main challenge here was that the posts are grounded with a two foot cement shaft. This proves difficult to take out, because the cement bonds to the steel poles that we have to get out of the ground.

Week 10 - Pyramid Designs

This week in Auto CAD we have been finalizing the LED pyramid design, one idea floating around is to add custom patterns on each side of the pyramid. Everybody in the shop has been helping to clean up the work area so that when we return from spring break the shop is not a mess. Once the 3-D design is done then we will have to wait for our material to arrives. 

Week 9 - Pyramid

This week we've been working on designing a 3-D model of the pyramid project. The main premise behind this will be to develop the pyramid via the 3-D printer and model the initial item in 3ds Max. The five pyramids in the design are held up by little ledges at the base of the top pyramid.

Week 8 - 4x4x4 LED Cube

This week in Auto CAD we've been proposing ideas for a 4x4x4 LED cube, the main premise behind the cube is have pretty colors. The cube will be able to illuminate some simple shapes and colors. There will most likely be extensive wiring and circuit mapping involved. The base will be designed in Auto CAD and 3-D printed with either a triangle or box design.  

Week7 - Project Designs

Our current project name is soaring eagle, which entails the printing of a 3-D model and circuiting LED's to a board within this 3-D model. We will currently need 3-D printing material, LED lights, a circuit board, and miscellaneous wires for the lights. The things to learn in this project will be the different codes required for the different light patterns within the 3-D shape. The most difficult part will most likely be determining the right thickness of the 3-D printed model, to make shine the light can shine through it. This week I've also learned how to solder efficiently with wires and other electronics. This skill will be important to know so we can wire the LED's properly.

Week 6 - Plasma Cutter

This week in CAD we've been working on plasma cutting metal. The plasma cutter heats up metal up to 25,000 degrees Fahrenheit and cuts the metal straight through. It uses an electrical arch to heat up the metal, and the sheet of metal is grounded with a grounding clamp. Here is an example of plasma cutting a sheet of metal.

 

Week - 5 Knight Rider

This week in AutoCAD we have been working on Arduino LED lights. For the first project we've set up the lights in a lined up fashion in order to replicate the car lights of Kit from Knight Rider. The wiring and coding of the circuit was fairly straight forward, in fact we were able to reduce the number of wires in the circuit by halve. I think we should make an Iron Maiden Eddie (their mascot) that lights up.

   

Week 4 - Arduino

This week in CAD class we've been working on arduino's to get basic circuit concepts down. We have also been working on coding the device it self in order to get the board to do what we want. One item in the box that we learned how to code was the small motor. We were able to get the motor to spin at different degrees based on the code provided to the circuit board.   

Week 3 - Outdoor Leanring Environment

This week in Auto CAD we have been working in designing an outdoor learning environment. We also learned how to render in CAD and also apply different textures to objects within the design. There is an option to change the render quality of the scene which is directly proportional to render speed. With this rendering you can assign textures to it, which allow for greater realism.

  

Week 2 - 3D Furniture

This week in AutoCAD we have worked on designing 3D furniture in the program. This particular item is a new take on an armchair, the main design premise is curves. The curves allow for a comfortable design, and a modern look. Another design premise was simplicity in the chair, it is important to have a simple yet strong structure.   

Week 1 - 3D Auto CAD

This week we worked on developing 3D shapes and designs in AutoCAD. The purpose behind this is to be able to have once 2D designs become 3D. We also learned how to loop, extrude, and make basic shapes. Here is an example of some of the shapes and tools we used this week.