BBQ EQUIPMENT
For Christmas 2023 I decided to shop for all my presents in retail stores only. I found this to be a difficult challenge when looking for BBQ equipment for my father (a gift I knew he wanted). I, therefore, decided that I would use the machines available at Labman to produce some personalised tools. I created 2 spatulas (large and small), a serated spatula and tongs. They were designed in Solidworks, cut on the laser cutter and bent on the press brake. See the photo on the right.
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BOMB DISPOSAL EXPERT ELECTRONIC GAME
I was inspired by the popular videogame "Keep talking and nobody explodes" to create a real world puzzle solving game using electronics with the theme around bomb disposal. The "bomb" that the player must defuse uses an arduino with a multitude of peripherals to measure user input and changes that are made to the "bomb". An acompanying guide was created to correlate the LED lights, display outputs and wire positions with specific steps that must be taken to stop the "bomb" from exploding (indicated by a speaker making an explosion sound). It is two (or more) player game and requires clear communication between players. The "bomb" disposal technician must convey the current state and setup of the "bomb" to the other player with the user guide who must figure out what to do and convey the necessary steps back to the disposal technician. All of this is, of course, done under time pressure. Its a lot of fun!
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ELECTRONICS FLIGHT CASE
This project was created as a matter of need to move all my electronics equipment and tools between University and home every holiday. To accomplish this, I found a large flight case on freecycle and picked it up. I then planned my design using CAD. The inside of the case is packed using a special foam specifically made for organising tools. It is quite flexible and ‘squidgy’ but has structural integrity so can be shaped. I bought 8 organisation boxes and 3 Tupperware boxes to put my electrical components inside. The foam was then cut to hold the tools, which required me to trace them with a scalpel and use a special technique to cut horizontally to the surface of the foam to make the channels to hold the tools.
Overall, I am pleased with how it turned out. It is very heavy (especially with my power supply inside) but allows me to carry everything in a single box. |
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I posted a photo of my tool box on the r/electronics subreddit on Reddit. It ended up recieving over 2.1k upvotes and was picked up by Arduino who posted photos of the box on both their Facebook and Instagram. The Facebook post recieved over 600 likes and the Instagram post got over 11k likes.
PC FOR MY MUM
My mum was in dire need of a new computer. She was using a 9-year-old laptop that ran outdated specs and was extremely slow (it would take several minutes to boot up). She used it for work and to write emails and I suggested that I could build her a suitably balanced, compact and most importantly upgradable desktop computer that would not break the bank. I used PC part picker to ensure that the parts I ordered were compatible and researched what parts were recommended by various reputable publications.
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The parts I chose were:
- Ryzen 3 3200G
- Not overly powerful but adequate for my mum's use case. Has integrated graphics; no graphics card required.
- 8GB 3200MHz RAM
- I used 3200MHz ram so that the CPU could reach its max speed (AMDs CPUs are very dependent on RAM clock speed)
- ASRock Fatal1ty B450 Gaming-ITX/ac Mini ITX Motherboard
- This is a small motherboard that includes Wi-Fi. This is needed as her desk does not have an ethernet connection.
- 256GB M.2 SSD
- Very fast storage that the OS could boot off of.
- 1TB Harddrive
- Large volume, slower storage to store her files and photos.
- Corsair CX 450M semi-modular power supply
- Inexpensive power supply from a reputable company.
- Thermaltake Core V1
- Cheap and most importantly small case that has expansion for a graphics card (should the computer need to be upgraded)
- Windows 10
LOGISIM PROJECTSLogisim is a logical circuit simulator software that allows you to combine logic gates to form logical circuits. Over the summer of 2019, I used the software to create a simple micro-processor that is capable of executing machine code. The processor is ‘non-standard’ as I have designed most of the components myself, without researching the industry standard methods. I did this because I found it more fun to find solutions to problems myself than simply googling the answers. The machine code that it runs was designed by me too.The CPU is able to add and subtract 2 binary unsigned integers, compare (=≠<>) 2 unsigned integers, perform ‘if’ statements. To the right is the first version of the CPU (which is still largely unfinished but can run basic code) and an image with the format of the machine code:
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LIGHT UP TRAFFIC CONE
I obtained this traffic cone from a dumpster and at the beginning of the summer I decided I would turn it into a light for my room at university.
This was a brief project, so not much planning was required. I bought a plug, wire, an in-line switch, bulb socket and an LED lamp from B&Q and constructed it in an afternoon. The bulb socket was mounted on two wooden dowels which are glued into the side of the traffic cone. The wire from the socket was fed through a hole drilled into the side of the traffic cone. |
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