Week 16 assignment  - Working on final project

Plan and document a final project that integrates the range of units covered:

Final Project Plan

What is my Final Project?

Kleebo is  an engineered arts project for learning about electronics, programming and fabrication.   I have taken inspiration from a portrait by Paul Klee to create an interactive face with moving parts that demonstrates inputs and outputs.

What will it do?

The audience can interact with Kleebo via a switch board. The 4 switches provide 15 different combinations of actions moving the eyes, eyebrows and mouth and lighting up LEDs .  I intend to add sound and a more interesting touchpad at stage 2. The Kleebo face sits on a desk top supported by a press-fit structure.

 

Who's done what beforehand?

I have researched a variety of robotic projects, portraits and puppetry to understand facial expression and provide engaging interaction.

What materials and components will be required?

Where will they come from?

What do I need to order?

How much will it cost?

 

Number of parts to make	Part or system of final Project	Material / components required/ what needs to be ordered	Cost
1	Face and press-fit support structure Eyebrows and mouth	3mm ply 600x300mm x2	none available in FABLAB
2	cheeks	Embedded LED’s in epoxy resin 2 RGB LED’s epoxy resin preparation of mold using 2 blocks of wax 50x50x50mm using all supplies from Fab Inventory	none FABLAB inventory
3	1 RGB LED board 5 x servo boards	Using all supplies from FAB inventory	FAB inventory
4	5x 180degree servos	To order £2.90 each from 4tronix tower pro sg90 Micro servo To order	£14.50
5	Switch board	All parts from Fablab inventory
6	Brain board to replace computer at later date	All parts from FAB inventory
			Total Cost  £14.50

 

 

What parts and systems will be made?

 

Fabrication

 

Parts to be made	Process used and decisions to be made
Face	Lasercut with final changes to design adding flexure to move mouth, cutout areas for cheeks to be embedded Pivot points for servos, cut grove for arch of servo for eyebrow
Pressfit structure to hold face so able to sit on the table	Lasercut and decide on final design and size, position of servos and pressfit connectors
Pressfit connectors to hold servos	Lasercut – finalise size and position on face Test press fit connectors to check it will hold servos
eyes	3d print in white with pupil – improvements to existing shape – check size
eyebrows	Lasercut, decide on movement, pivot point, and how to connect them to the face, how to connect eyebrows to servos and arc of movement
cheeks	Draw up in Rhino – cutout mold on shopbot – use epoxy resin to embed LED on mini board to allow for connecting
mouth with flexure	Laser cut mouth and think how to attach Flexure and servo to move mouth, where to place servo? Consider pivot point

 

Mechanical Design

Moving parts of the face using servos, flexures and linkages to transfer rotary motion to linear motion.

Mechanical issues that need to be resolved are; 

• How to attach all servos? To move eyes, mouth and eyebrows
• How to align servo with eyebrow?
• Workout pivot point plus radius of movement?
• Grove for eyebrow needs to align with path described by rota arm on servo
• Cut exact groove for arch of servo into face
• Eyebrows need to sit proud and not embedded in face so don’t engrave underneath
• Work out support structure using press-fit system

Electronics

The Network

A complex system with simple individual nodes. I have chosen this system to be scalable allowing the addition of other nodes creating a modular system easier to debug allowing each part to be made independently. Hopefully this will make the network easier to manufacture, change and mend.

Steps I am taking towards creating the final network - I am creating and testing the Network in stages

Boards I am designing and making  

Boards	function
B1	Switches board with 4 buttons to be interface
B2 x 5	Servo board x 5 to move parts of face –  eyes, mouth, eyebrows
B3x 2	RGB LED board to light up cheeks
B4 x 2	Mini board for embedded LEDs
B5	Brain ATtiny 44 to replace computer and make project stand alone
B6	FTDI connector with 2x3 header as bridge

 

 

Programming

I will use Arduino to programme my boards and processing to communicate on my computer. Switch functions below showing

15 options from 4 switches

Switch functions providing 15 different combination of actions
Switch1 1000	Switch2 0100	Switch3 0010	Switch4 0001	Number function	actions	Combined actions	combined sound MP3 files on MP3 shield for Arduino
0	0	0	0	1	Nothing
0	0	0	1	2	eyes_move left/right
0	0	1	0	3	eye_brows Up/down
0	0	1	1	4		Eyebrows eyes
0	1	0	0	5	mouth moves  down/up
0	1	0	1	6		mouth eyes
0	1	1	0	7		Mouth eyebrows
0	1	1	1	8		Mouth eyebrows  eyes
1	0	0	0	9	Cheeks light up		Sound
1	0	0	1	10		Cheeks eyes	sound
1	0	1	0	11		cheeks  eyebrows	sound
1	0	1	1	12		Cheeks  eyes eyebrows	sound
1	1	0	0	13		Cheeks mouth	sound
1	1	0	1	14		Cheeks  eyes mouth	sound
1	1	1	1	15		Cheeks Mouth Eyes eyebrows	sound

 

 

 

What processes will be used?

 

Processes involved in Final Project	Where the process is used in the Final Project
CAD	Rhino for 3D and Inkscape for 2D
Machine Cutting	Lasercutter for main structure and Shopbot for 3D mold of cheeks
Electronic Design	Using Eagle to design all boards
Programming	Arduino
Molding and casting	Cheeks will be molded with embedded LED’s
Inputs	Switches
Outputs	Servos and LED’s
Networks	Building  a network
Mechanical Design	movement of parts of face using linkages via servos changing rotary motion to linear and using flexures to move mouth
3D printing	eyes
Applications	Processing

 

 

 What tasks need to be completed and in what order?

        1.     Position of moving parts, and servos to be added to final CAD files

2.     Work out pivot point of eyebrow, servo position and grove in face

3.     Final CAD files for the structure, size, moving parts and pressfit positions

4.     Lasercut final face, parts and structure and test stability

5.     CAD drawings for mold of cheeks, make using Shopbot, prepare mold ready for epoxy resin and embedding LED’s on mini board

6.     Connect all parts to face

7.     Design and make all boards

8.     Programme boards

9.     Test, debug, improvements

10.  Final making testing and debugging

What questions need to be resolved?

How to attach servos?

How to work out the pivot points of the eyebrows?

How to attach the eyebrows?

The schedule

How will it be evaluated?

To evaluate the final project I will take it in to school and get feedback from a group of children and fellow teachers.

Criteria for evaluation

If the children enjoy playing with Kleebo and want to get involved in reprogramming and making changes to the original design.

 

Further developments

• Replace the computer with a brain board so it becomes a stand alone project
• Add other sensors and make the face more interactive and user friendly
• Replace switches with more interesting touchpad or use kinnect  for interaction or game