User:Jake Gallagher/enes100/projectthree/weeklynarrative

Project Preference
-Continue Beatbearing

-Sharkertable

-Wireless

Problem Statement
My group will be working on the implementation phase of the beat bearing project. We will try to put the different pieces together to make the beat bearing board make sounds.

Project Plan
My plan for the next four weeks will be to connect the wires to the arduinos with the help of other group memebers. Also to make sure each beat bearing is working accordingly.

Week 1 Narrative
This week my task was to wire and glue the positive side of the board and then check for continuity. The positive side still took a lot of time, but it was easier because John and I found many solutions to the same problems by working on the negative side in previous weeks. One of the main challenges for the positive side of the board was making sure the wires were long enough. It seemed like almost half the wires I stripped would break off making the wire very short. To fix this the best thing to do was use other wire that was not going to get used and strip it to make the short wire longer. This was a frustrating task because many times it would not stay together when connecting the two wires and wrapping it around the washer. Even though this was a very annoying/time consuming problem it was overcome, and did not affect the performance of the board. The other problem was trying to decide on whether to use two different wire cables or use one complete one wire cable and only a couple wires out of the other cable. The final decision was to use two different cables equally, because this would be a better fit for the arduino program. Although using the two cables meant that we had to be perfect or else we would have to trash the cable. Due to being careful we did not waste any cables, and used only the two that are currently connected to the board. We were able to test the positive side as well through a trial and error. It was a relief to see that all of the positive side made connection and that we were finally to the point where we could connect the board to the arduino.

Below is a video of the positive side being tested for continuity.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhsPi8bygSE

Week 2 Narrative
This week my task was to glue all the washers onto the board and combine the negative wires into the ribbon cable. We accomplished both tasks and ended up adding a few more as the week went on. The first step was to glue the washers onto the board. The first glue that John and I used was Zap-A-Gap. This glue is very runny so it took a long time before the glue would dry. The second glue that we tried was loctite superglue. This glue worked much better because it was less runny. It made the washers stick to the board faster. It was still taking about five minutes for each washer half to be glued down to the board, so we wanted to keep trying other glues out. The third glue we tried was hot glue. This glue worked most effective out of the three glues because of the amount of time it took to dry. As soon as the glue touched the plexiglass it was almost impossible to arrange the washer in any other way. This was a positive and a negative at the same time. The other negative about the hot glue was the mess it made when picking it up and glueing it to setting it back down. It was almost as if I was working in a spiderweb. Once all the washers were glued down the next step was to connect the four wire of ribbon cable into one. This was a simple step, all it took was a wire tie and twisting them together. After we accomplished getting the washers glued down and the negative wires all connected together we realized we had a bigger problem. We started to test the board by placing a metal ball on the washers. Sometimes we would get current flowing through the wires, washer, and ball, but other times we did not get any results. We concluded that our problem was that the ball was not being placed very well on the washer, meaning there were parts of the ball that were barely touching the washer so current would not flow through. The reason for this problem was how the wires were wrapped around the washer which created spaces where the ball was not touching the washer. The next step was to re-engineer the design so that every time the ball is placed on the washer it would be certain to make a complete circuit. Soldering seemed like it would make the best and strongest connection between the wire and the washer and it would let the top of the washers surface be clean unlike having the wires wrapped around the washer. We tried soldering the wires to the washer but the solder would not stick to the washers surface. It was not sticking to the surface because it was to slick, so we ran the washer against the grinder which helped a lot! It was such a strong bond that even a chisel wouldn't take it off. We then drilled two big holes in the sample piece of plexiglass. We sat the plexiglass on top of the washer with the hole placed in the middle of the washer and stuck the wire down through the hole and soldered the two pieces together. We tested the washer to see if it made a complete circuit and it did! We tested to see how strong the bond was between the washer and wires and they came apart. We think that if we glue the washer down and solder this will not happen. We will work on this problem more next week along with creating a sample row of washers to see how reliable this system works.

 File:Washer template.JPG|We used the template to set up the outside washers. File:First row of washers.JPG|This is the first row of washers completed. File:The white marks from the glue.JPG|Zap-A-Gap glue leaves behind a white residue on the board. File:Completed board.JPG|All washers are glued down. File:Testing the washers.JPG|Testing the washers. Where we started to find our real problem. File:Soldering iron on table.JPG|This is the soldering iron John and I used. File:Washer soldered onto the board.JPG|Washer is soldered and wired onto the board. File:The washer.JPG|The washer after being used on the grinder. File:Up close view of solder.JPG|The washer can break off of the solder when the washers surface is slick. 

Below is a video of me applying the washers to the board.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYL9llShv70

Below is a video of grinding the washer down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej3arbujMm0

Below is a video to show the difference between the Zap-A-Gap Glue and the hot glue

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDgOl6WGbSw

Week 3 Narrative
My task this week was to make one row of washers that would be soldered together to see if the new design worked. I completed the negative side of the row but not the positive side. To start the week we used the sample template and the plexiglass runners to mark the width of the the plexiglass board we would need to cut. To cut the board we used a utility knife and ran it down the marked line until it was about halfway through the plexiglass. As soon as it was halfway through the plexiglass we put the cut line on the edge of a table and pushed on both side and the plexiglass split in two halves. We found out from gluing down the washers that the hot glue was an excellent glue to use for plexiglass, so we used it to glue the runners to the sample board. The thing we had to be very careful about when doing this was to make sure we put enough on the plexiglass runners and quickly put it on the plexiglass board. If we took too long it would cool and not stick to the board. After the runners were glued to the board we had to drill holes. This was where our first real set back came in. After I marked the board using the sample template I drilled the board, but when I started drilling it put a huge crack in the board. We concluded that it was because the drill was set in "2" instead of "1" and the torque was set very high. The other problem was that I had the board facing up instead of facing down. Since the board was facing up it created space between the board and table I was drilling into and the space made the plexiglass bend and contributed to the cracking of the board. After the board cracked we had to restart the process all over again. Once we reached where we were before I made the mistake I quickly made the adjustments so that the board would not crack again. Once all the holes were drilled it was time to solder. John had a good idea to tape the washers down to the otherside of the board so they would not move around while we soldered them with the wires. The soldering was not very hard, it was just time consuming. After all the washers were connected together we turned the board over to take the tape off. As soon as we took the first piece of tape off we knew we had an even bigger problem than before, the washers fell off. The solder was not bonding the washer to the solder like it did in the test sample we made the week before. The fix in last weeks test was to grind the washer down so that it made a rougher surface. This unfortunately did not help us with our problem this week. Our fix to keep the washers from falling off was to drill two holes on either side of the solder and put Zap-A-Gap glue in them. We did not go further and wire the positive side because our technique for the negative side was not working. Although when the washers were taped down they were all showing continuity flowing between them. This last week we will try to find a final fix to solve hopefully the last of the problems to the board assembly.  File:Marking the board.JPG|Marked the board with a marker using the runner and template to approximate where we would need to cut the board. File:Cutting the plexiglass.JPG|Cut the plexiglass board using a utility knife. File:The two runners.JPG|The two runners glued down using hot glue. File:Drilling the holes.JPG|Drilling the holes after being marked with the template. File:The tape and washer.JPG|The tape was used to hold the washers in place. File:The washer being taped.JPG|The washer taped down so it will not go anywhere. File:Soldering the washers.JPG|Soldering the wire and washer together. File:Wiring the washers.JPG|The washers connected together after being wired. File:The row of washers.JPG|The row of washers after being wired together. File:The solder without the washer.JPG|This is the result of taking the tape off the washer. File:Gluing the holes.JPG|Gluing the holes in attempt to keep washers down. 

Week 4 Narrative
This week my task was to find a redesigned way of gluing the washers on the board. With the help of Mr. Edelen, John and I figured out that if we glue the washer down in place, we can then go and drill through the glue into the washer and then solder. This worked best because it saved time and also worked the best out of any design that we had previously had. John and I finished the positive side by wiring and soldering the washers done with the new method.

 File:Preparing the positive side.jpeg| Preparing the ribbon wire to be soldered File:Overall Layout of the wiring.jpeg| The ribbon wire is cut be two inches longer than the board File:Tape washers so they don't move while soldering.jpeg| We taped the washes down so they wouldn't move while soldering File:Soldering the positive side.jpeg| An example of how the ribbon wire is connected to the washer by solder File:Close up of the solder joint.jpeg| Close up of the solder joint 

The video below is soldering the wire and washer together

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te6q0imlcIw