Week 17 - Applications and Implications

What will it do?

DA Lamp is a documentation assistant robotic lamp.

By the side of desks or work tables, it is able to move automatically and help people record every details of your projects while they are focusing on their work. Connecting to project-based version control system (VCS), it could take every snapshots in the process of building hardware and software such as commits in Git.

Who's done what beforehand?

Robotic lamp

• Robotic Desk Lamp by Guy Hoffman in MIT media lab

• Luxo Jr. Lamp by Disney's Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Florida

• Pinokio by Adam Ben-Dror, Shanshan Zhou

• leapLamp by Xavier Seignard

• OiO by riachi

• Luci by Jochen Alt

• Luxo Jr. Robot by Timvdv

Documentation assistant

• Documentation Rig (cancelled) by Kenzo Abiko in FabAcademy 2015

Both

• Desktop Documentation Device by Koichi Shiraishi in FabAcademy 2015

What materials and components will be required?

• PLA for printing
• 6mm, 9mm plywood
• Epoxy
• screws and nuts (M3, M4)
• standard servo motors
• Attiny44A
• several electronic components and cables

Where will they come from?

For electronic components, I can get most of them from local stores in Guang Hua Digital Plaza in Taipei but Attiny44A from DigiKey. For plywood, screws and nuts, they could also be found in Taipei. But I have to buy servo motors from internet.

How much will it cost?

• PLA
  • $20
• 6mm, 9mm plywood
  • $30
• Epoxy
  • $5
• screws and nuts (M3, M4)
  • $5
• standard servo motors
  • $50

• Attiny44A, several electronic components and cables

  • $15

• ~ $125 in total

What parts and systems will be made?

Hardware

• Lamp frame

  In this part, the lamp frame combining with servo motors, base, and arms should be designed to be robust and workable.

• Gear

  I am going to use gears to drive motors and let each joint be drived by gear motors in 2:1 gear ratio. And the gears will be servo motor horns directly.

Software and Firmware

• Servo driver module

  Each servo will connect to a module which could communicate with each servo driver and Arduino-like control board on I2C protocol and send PWM signal to servo motor.

• Tracking system and camera module

  It could be implemented with Android phone which have built-in camera module in first version and send commands to Arduino-like board to control servo motors for tracking items.

What processes will be used?

• Laser cut the plywood frame
• Mill modules with MDX-20 and complete electronic components
• 3D print components
• Mold and cast gears

What tasks need to be completed?

• Design 3D model of lamp frame on Fusion 360 and be sure each joint workable
• Program interface and firmware of each module

What questions need to be answered?

• Are there any interference mechanisms existing in design?
• Could the servo motors I buy drive the lamp?
• Could I reduce the friction as much as I can in every joints?

What is the schedule?

I am going to design and make hardware in two weeks, and then program and test software and firmware in two weeks.

How will it be evaluated?

For every Fab Labs or makerspaces, people who would love to share their knowledge could use DA Lamp to easily record and make the documentation of their projects. They could even cooperate with people from local space to the world.

DA Lamp would make the hareware development more progressive.