User:Kszostak2139/ENES 100/Project 1: Bicycle Turn Signal

Week1 Narrative
My first project for ENES-100 is being tasked with finding out how to make a bicycle turn signal.

What we first discussed was what we all wanted to see come out of our finished project being we agreed we wanted something the didn't have to look nice but had to be functional. Since we were starting off with a prototype we knew it would be ruff but some other things we wanted to include once we got a working model was that it would be able to work on any bike.

We decided we needed a power source that was a single 9v battery running one( possibly two) Arduinos, LED board that would be able to light up in the form of a left and right arrow all housed inside some water proof case or make something from the 3D printer. We also addressed the fact that not all bikes are the same so will need some kind of push button control that can be mounted on the handle bars of almost any bike and not get in the way of riding. Also, whichever housing option we used needed to be very durable in case the bike it dropped and waterproof if possible within our time constraint.

Week2 Narrative
During week two I found out that the company called "otter" makes small waterproof cases that will fit an Arduino and power sourcee (i.e. 9v Battery). The dimensions of the one that seemed to be able to hold the LEDs and breadboard, power source and Arduino would be the one we either buy or try to replicate. The box would need to have the dimensions of about 3.6in x 5in x 1.8in.

The next part we needed to look at was durability which we know the otter box would fulfill but were not as sure about the 3D printing. I have gauged the plastic for the "otter box" to be about 1/8in, which I have determined from this information that the 3D printer will do the same and can make a box with the minimum measurements that the housing will need.

Resources:http:

http://www.adafruit.com/products/340

Week3 Narrative
During this week of the project we finally had all the research we needed to draw up how we wanted our prototype to look. We looked online at what types of boxes were already made with the 3D printer that fit our dimensions so that it could be used as housing for the battery, Arduino and LEDs/bread board. We then measured how well it would fit to the bike and determined we would need about 2-3ft of wire to get from wire to get from where the housing, then the wire would follow the frame and end at the handle bars where our two push buttons and devices to hold them with would be. File:OEM cover.JPG|OEM cover modification File:OEM cover (side).JPG|OEM side view modification

All together what seemed pretty straight forward, building turn signals, turned into a great deal of work. We decided not to use Sketchup or CAD to draw up our project because each bike is different and what were making has no moving parts just light bulbs that have electricity passed through them. Next week we will try and finish our prototype by printing our housing on the 3D printer, since this week it was having problems keeping itself at the right melting temperature. If it is not working by next week we will have to come up with another option for housing the Arduino, LEDs/bread board and power source.