User:Engsihn/my work

Write problem/project Goal
Use the Kinect to capture a 3D image and print it using the Maker Bot

My First Task
Research 3D object file types.

Summary of actual work over first weekend
MakerBot Cupcake CNC can use various materials to print out 3-D images. Majorly, ABS thermoplastics and common polymer depositions, such as cornstarch or tapioca, are eligible materials for 3-D printing.

Week1 Narrative
Researched on materials team members can easily access.

My Second Task
Will come to see the demonstration by a student who have knowledge on how to control MakerBot Cupcake CNC. Discuss over the materials and then focus on working with file databases and MakerBot for 3-D printing.

Summary of actual work over second weekend
How is what you did different than what you planned?

Week2 Narrative
Tell a detailed story describing what you did for your team over the weekend.

My Third task
Lazy Susan needs to be prepared for stability and proper lighting when performing 3D-Scanning with XBox 360 Kinect.

Summary of actual work over third weekend
How is what you did different than what you planned?

Week3 Narrative
Tell a detailed story describing what you did for your team over the weekend.

My Fourth task
''Record what you are planning on doing for the team during the final weekend of project work. ''

Summary of actual work over fourth weekend
In order to prepare the spinning mechanism for Lazy Susan, stepper motor and Motor Shield are controlled by computer software Arduino 1.0. In the process, stepper wiring and USB connection to computer have been examined. Then, disign of Lazy Susan will be discussed.

Week4 Narrative
First of all, the "working" pairs should be identified among 5 wires of the stepper motor. There are majorly two methods; by using a ohm meter or by turning wires to indirectly test resistance of each pair of wires. More detailed procedures using hands can be found in RepRap link. With help of an ohm meter, coil-ended pairs are identified as, in order of left to right, blue, yellow, brown, orange, and common-wire as white one in the middle. Picture of 5-wire stepper motor and detailed description of stepper motors are available in folloing tutorial link.

Next step is to connect to Motor Shield. The right panel of the Motor Shield has 5 holes for stepper wiring. The section is as following from top to bottom: M4, Gnd, M3. The middle part Gnd suits for white one. M4 and M3 are varied from the 4 colors. One of the stable combinations that work best above 10rpm of spinning top of the motor is orange, yellow, white, blue, and brown in order from up to downward. Trial and error method has been performed under certain environment with Arduino commands. Speed is fixed with 10 rpm, only single coil steps and double coil steps are used as independent variable while other commands are set to 0 to remove any complexity. Each coil step has sub-section "FORWARD" and "BACKWARD" which spins motor clockwise and counter-clockwise, relatively.

While the change in directional commands has carried out, reducing speed under 10rpm resulted in drastical unstability. Each spin step was different each time. Under 3 rpm, the stepper motor did not even spin with noise inside. Re-configuring of stepper wiring has been performed, but the ideal combination of the colored wires has not been identified yet.

In the meantime, the setting of Lazy Susan begins with how to put object on top of the stepper motor. Simple demonstration of the structure was made as seen in the picture on the right. A free fruit box was obtained from the Costco and cut for flat cardboards. a cardboard then was cut into a 3 cm x 3 cm square pentrated by 3 toothpicks. Then the toothpicks were firmly held by rubber bands, one on bottom side and another on top side of the cardboard.

Final touch of the experiment continues with preparing 0.8 m x 0.8 m white box for lighting effect on object for efficient 3D scanning.

Complete Team Page
Fill out the Team Form (should have already copied the form, created the team page, linked to it and started filling it out).