Our first task this week began with machining the first vertical connection panel. Due to the size of the part, it proved to be challenging to mill. However, once the first prototype of the vertical panel proves to be functional, the rest of them should be easier to machine as we can do them all at once.
The next task at hand was testing out the LEDs we purchased with the 3D printed joint to see if it would be bright enough and what colour would work best for our application.
As a group, we decided the blue and yellow LEDs looked the best. However, we ultimately decided the yellow colour was preferable as these LEDs are most likely to be one of the first things the user sees in the morning as they wake up and at night, when putting away their clothes. The blue light would be too harsh and may disrupt their circadian rhythm. The yellow light would make this furniture piece look more cozy which is our desired aesthetic. We decided to also purchase white LEDs next week to test out.
Moving onto the more electrical side of things, Deji has been working hard to learn EagleCAD and create our first PCB prototype (see bellow) for the Smart Joints. We also looked at different options for pogo pins and their mating target disks as we initially feared the ones we purchased would be too small for our application. Unfortunately we were unable to find large enough ones that met our criteria and decided to test out these pogo pins that we currently have once the PCB is printed. We also will be printing a much smaller and simpler PCB for the vertical connection panels where they connect to the Smart Joints. This may be preferable to target disks as we can make the contact area larger, allowing for larger tolerances.
