Tag: #design (9 posts)
Precision Sourdough: A Smart Lid for Your Starter
A few years ago, I had the idea to track my sourdough starter using computer vision. It was neat to monitor it this way, but it was fairly impractical to do for each feeding since it required setting up a camera, downloading the images, and doing some manual image cropping before running it through my analysis script. The analysis was also only done after the fact, and what I really wanted was something that could tell me when the starter was ready to be used (or fed), or, if I missed the window of opportunity, how long ago it peaked.
3D Printed Engagement Ring
Professional photos from Justine Russo Photography.
For readers of my blog, you’ll notice that I haven’t had any new content in the past year. For good reason though, as I got married in June! Aside from planning the proposal and wedding, I also had the lofty goal of designing and making my wife’s engagement ring.
With this post, I’d like to share my quest in designing and 3D printing the ring, along with some *minor* mistakes I made.
Overhead Robotic Gantry for Tethered VR Headsets
Project Overview
Objective: Create an autonomous gantry to follow the HTC Vive headset around, keeping its cable behind the user at all times.
Motivation: An extravagant party prop for an evening at CES 2017, hosted by MistyWest.
Features:
- CoreXY planar gantry design
- System built with 8020 aluminum extrusions and laser cut acrylic components
- Stepper motor control through Teensy 3.2
- HTC Vive pose tracking through C++
- Patent pending
Skills:
MECH 458: Capstone 3D Optical Well Imager
Introduction
Objective: Develop an optical scanning system to be used for generating 3D models of well liners and casings with sub-millimeter accuracy.
How: As a team of five mechatronic and mechanical engineering students, we designed and constructed an alpha prototype of the optical 3D well imager.
Project Details
Requirements and Specifications
Optical
- Device must have a tolerance on distance measurement of 1 mm
- Device must have a camera circumferential resolution of 1.42°
- Device must have a 3D scan circumferential resolution of 1.42°
- Device must have an axial resolution of 1 mm
Mechanical
- Device must be submersible
- Device must fit in a 3.5” ID pipe
- Device must have a minimum operating velocity of 10 mm/s
- Device must be operable using the existing test apparatus
Design Overview
The final design of the prototype includes a camera module, laser module, and two conical mirrors. The basic functionality of the device is shown in the figure below. A red laser ring is generated by the laser module which is reflected by 90° on to the surface of the well casing. The camera’s vision is then reflected by 150° to capture the projected laser ring.
MECH 423: Mechatronics Product Design
Background: When a hard boiled egg is spun on a table, it rotates freely since the inside is completely solid. With a raw egg, the liquid yolk sloshes around and resists rotation. By using math and physics, we can analyze the rotational oscillation of an egg and determine the yolk consistency.
“If it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing.” - Jaime Hyneman
Objective: Design and build a device to determine how cooked a boiled egg is using non-invasive techniques.
MECH 328: TrailRider Design Project
Background: The TrailRider™ is a specialized device to provide accessibility to the wilderness for those with limited mobility. It is intended for a seated rider propelled and balanced by assistants.
Objective: Expand the range of both riders and assistants who can ride safely use the Black Diamond TrailRider™.
How: As a team of seven mechanical engineering undergrads, we explored a range of areas for improvement and developed a new design to incorporate these features.
Bowling With car2go
Objective: Design a roof-mounted bowling rig for a car2go marketing event.
Constraints: Use a non-permanent method to securely attach the apparatus to the roof.
Venue: 2014 Vancouver Fringe Festival
Bowling rig set up and ready to roll.
Car2go bowling in action.
Award Winning Bamboo Bike
Objective: Exceed the Vancourite-hipster threshold by building a fixed-gear bicycle using bamboo and carbon fibre.
Challenges:
- Constructing a frame jig to allow freedom around joints for carbon-fibre layup
- Accounting for the non-uniformity of bamboo poles at the frame lugs
- Maintaining compatibility with standard bicycle components
- Ensuring the frame is treated for typical"Wet" Coast weather
Awards:
- First Prize - Hand Tools Only Instructables Contest
- First Prize - Teach It! Instructables Contest, Sponsored by Dremel
Track bicycle custom geometry.
LEGO Headphones
Background: I decided to combine the two things that I love most: music and LEGO. This whole project took me about a month and a half, very on and off. I’m quite pleased with how the headphones turned out in the end, as they are sturdy enough to be tossed around in a bag. My favourite part is that I can take it apart any time to make repairs that may be needed on the go. No tools necessary!