Maker Projects
For my Maker project I attempted to build an LED cube that I could use to create 3D representations of electron orbitals. My first step was to choose a size that would make this possible, but still remain small enough to be built in within a semester.I decided to go with a 5x5x5 cube due because that would give me the best symmetry for the shapes I wanted. This Instructables tutorial helped me a lot along the way.
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While I waited for all of the necessary parts to come in I made a base for my cube. I made the design using the Google app called Gravit Designer and then I laser cut it out of acrylic at Ann Richards with the help of my mentor Oren Connell.
I wasn't sure what the spacing would be for the LEDs so instead of adding the holes in my box design I drilled them in after the pieces had been cut out. I had used drills before, but this was my first time using one on acrylic. The drill bit I used was very small, but the holes were still too big for the wire I was using to give my cube structure. I decided to add some hot glue to hold them in place while I soldered on some the lights. This is where things started to get a bit more challenging.
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My first challenge was finding a way to test all of my LEDs prior to soldering them. The most experience I had with circuit building was a physics 2 lab and the LEDs used by the Instructable were unfamiliar to me. Using an Arduino UNO kit and the internet I was able to find out for to put together a circuit that let me test the lights. There were some casualties along the way when I accidentally put in an LED in the reverse direction, but in the end I learned a lot of new things about how these LEDs worked.
Due to restrictions on the files allowed on this Wix I had to convert the design from SVG to PDF. For the original file please contact me at mirnagonzalez@utexas.edu
Now, that I had 125 functional LEDs it was time to begin building! This is where I had to make some modifications to the way I was attaching LEDs to the wires. Thanks to my amateur soldering skills I was spending a lot of time holding the soldering iron to the LED and the wire. The most obvious effect this had at first was melting that it melted the hot glue I was using to hold my wires in place. This quickly became a mess and nearly impossible to hold the wires at the correct height. Another issue I ran into was that holding too so much heat to my LEDs caused them to not work anymore. At this point I was pretty frustrated and beginning to get overwhelmed, but instead of quitting I reached out to Oren and asked for help. After some practice, and some different solder, my skills actually improved!
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At this point my cube is still a work in progress. As a novice solderer it will definitely take me a while to incorporate all 125 LEDs and once that is complete I will have to tackle adding all of the wiring that will help power my cube. This project was certainly harder that I originally anticipated, but it taught me a lot of new skills and I plan on continuing my work once I have time again during winter break.
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My biggest take away from this experience was realizing that failure isn't bad as long as you learn something from it. This has always been something difficult for me because I tend to get overwhelmed quickly but having the opportunity to "fail" while doing something I was interested in really made it easier. As a teacher I hope to give my students a safe environment where "failure" isn't really failure and is only a learning experience.
Uploading my design to be laser cut
Laser cutter at Ann Richards
Beginning my box
Uploading my design to be laser cut
Check out some of the other projects I have been working on throughout the semester!