📄️ 3D printing
Today, I had the opportunity to test the 3D printing of a model I designed. This model should ideally be challenging or nearly impossible to mill conventionally. My choice was a tower with a hollow top portion. You can find the Fusion 360 model here or if you just want the .stl.
📄️ Laser cutting
This week we have learned about another very useful fabrication technique: laser cutting. Essentially, it’s a subtractive manufacturing technology (as opposed to the additive nature of 3D printing) that uses a high-power laser beam to cut flat-sheet materials.
📄️ CNC milling
Another week, another exploration of a fabrication technique. This time, we delve into subtractive manufacturing, specifically CNC milling. CNC stands for Computer Numerical Control, utilizing computer-controlled machines to remove layers from a material or workpiece.
📄️ Embedded Programming
Today, we delved into the realm of microcontrollers, specifically focusing on embedded programming. Our tool of choice was TinkerCAD, where we virtually programmed an Arduino to perform various tasks.
📄️ Input/Output devices
This week we learned more about programming microcontrollers, or rather Input/Output Devices in particular. There are digital and analog input devices. Most microcontrollers have a built-in Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) that converts analog signals into digital signals.
📄️ Electronics production
Our journey across different digital fabrication techniques continues with electronics production. Specifically, we focused on milling a PCB from a copper sheet. We were provided with schematics for an FT230X-based board that serves a dual purpose: it functions as a UPDI 3-pin programmer and, when used in USB to serial converter mode, it offers similar functionality to an FTDI cable. In UPDI mode, it can be used to program a UPDI target using serial communication.
📄️ Electronics design
The last fabrication technique we learned in this course involved designing PCBs. The heart of the PCB we designed was an ATtiny1614 microcontroller. The board was intended to have functionality ideally related to our final project.