BTU Lab Engineering Is Beautiful

Time 2020-10-22 17:03:00

Web Name: BTU Lab Engineering Is Beautiful

WebSite: http://btulab.com.s200635.gridserver.com

ID:90776

Keywords:

Lab,BTU,Engineering,

Description:

Thank you for taking the time to respond to the BTU Fall 2020 Survey! We miss seeing all of you in the lab but will keep our community going through an online presence this semester!The top requested virtual events are workshops, unstructured hangouts, idea sharing, skill shares, lectures, and movie nights! There is a strong interest in having things like hardware kits and cookies available for pick up for virtual workshops and hang-outs. 81% said they would like lectures and workshops to be pre-recorded so they can be viewed asynchronously. Stay tuned for upcoming BTU happenings and please be in touch if you have any questions or are interested in hosting a workshop and did not already indicate that on the survey! The BTU Lab will be virtual-only Fall semester.The BTU will still host the workshops you know and love as well as host mentoring hours. Workshops will be open to everyone rather than members only and because of that there will be no new lab memberships or orientations this coming semester.The BTU Lab itself will function as a distancing classroom this semester in efforts to help the University host in person classes. Therefore, door access will not be granted to members this semester. Tools have been moved and cannot be accessed by general members. Some classes have relocated tools and are able to use them in their coursework with limited participation. Please respect our procedures and rules during COVID-19.Don t worry the BTU will resume to a normal layout and access when we no longer need this as classroom space. We hope to see everyone s smiling faces once the University resumes back to Full Participation! The following post was written by Isabelle Eichhorst, the 2019 BTU summer intern, who is going into her final year of high school in the UK this year. We wish her the best of luck she was incredible to work with!Meet the new tour guide! Newcomers to the BTU lab now have a friendly robot that will show them the way from the lobby to the lab. The robot follows the wall down the corridor and stops at the destination, announcing its arrival with a victory jingle.  All the BTU-seeker needs to do is flip the big switch and watch “BT-U-GO” guide you. I designed the system comprised of an Arduino main board, a motor driver shield, two Sparkfun Qwiic VL53L1X distance sensors and a sparkfun Qwiic MUX board.The robot navigates its way using distance sensors. With one of the Infrared sensors on the side of the robot, it has a clear view of wall. Depending on the distance to the wall the BT-U-GO can choose one of three actions.If it is too close to the wall; turns away from the wall (or in this case to the right)If it is too far; turn towards the wall (or to the left)If BT-U-GO is within the designated range; continue at the angle it is now. Simple right? Well, yes, except for three sharp 90 degree corners along the wall and with the sensor on the side, BT-U-GO didn’t know when there was a wall directly in front of it. As a result, it used to continuously ram head-on into the walls (poor BT-U-GO!) . To solve this problem I connected a second sensor on the front of the robot. When it senses a nearby object it backs up slightly and then turns sharply to avoid bumping into the object ahead. A good solution except now I had two identical sensors connected in a Qwiic daisy chain. With both sensors having the same address I could not give them separate instructions in my code. Fortunately, I soon discovered the handy Mux breakout board which was designed as a solution for that exact problem.The robot was now successfully moving down the corridor, but it still needed to know how to stop at the lab. I attached an Infrared-emitting Sparkfun “line follower” to the bottom of the chassis which can detect a change of colour of the surface beneath it based on how much light is reflected back. That way it could tell if the floor has changed from white to black or in this case dark blue to reflective copper tape. I placed a streak of copper tape placed down outside the lab so that when the BT-U-GO goes over the finish line, the motors stop. There was a slight issue, however, because there are some shiny silver specks in the flooring on the way to the BTU. To overcome this, I added two line-followers and adjusted the code so that the motors will only stop if all three sense a change in the surface. An individual sensor may hover over a speck but this will not cause BT-U-GO to accidentally stop. The body of the robot is essentially three futuristic-yet-gentle-looking white mesh shapes stuck together like marshmallows on a stick. The design was aimed to be a bridge from the simplistic lobby (represented by the simple white) and the vibrant BTU lab (represented by the watchful googley eyes).Here are 2 videos of BT-U-GO in action. The first shows a fully completed BT-U-GO overcoming some of the challenges along the path. The second one is from when the robot was still in its testing stages but it shows the guide completing the whole journey. Below is the code:BT-U-GO code Happy new year, BTU-ites! There s a lot going on in the lab this semester, and some highlights include robot fish, sneakernet, autonomous vehicles, interactive music, and Meow Wolf.EventsFirst off, there s been an update to our Calendar page! We now use a Google calendar instead of a WordPress-managed one. Now you can see information about the events without even clicking on them, and it s much easier to add them to your own calendar if you want to attend.We re continuing our Weekly Workshop series, events that happen every Friday afternoon. A few of the workshops this semester feature Raspberry Pis, 3D Printing, and Ria s Robot Fish series. You can check the calendar for more information on individual workshops!Libi s back with the monthly Privacy Checkups, 2-3PM on every first Wednesday of the month. She s also running three more events: a Take-It-A-Party on March 7th 6-7:50PM; Alternative Networks on April 3rd 3-5PM; and Deconvencience on April 17th 3-5PM.The lab is also hosting Jiffer Hariman, who ll be teaching two workshops on Interactive Design for Music. Those will be March 6th and 13th, from 5-7PM. Learn more about them here, and make sure to RSVP!ImagineCU, a campus organization for women and nonbinary folks in STEM, will also be having an event here on March 20th from 6:30-8PM! Stay tuned for more details.And, as always, Open Hack Night is happening every first Tuesday of the month, from 6-10PM (sometimes longer). This is one night of the month that the BTU s doors are for sure open to the public, and there s always someone working on something cool! Come join us!CLUBS + GROUPSElectric Vehicle Club is back this semester, they meet Thursdays from 3-5PM. Currently, they re working on a small autonomous vehicle that can travel around a room. If you re interested, email cawr2975@gmail.com or just show up!Some of our members are also organizing two projects in preparation for Meow Wolf Denver! One is a tank of robot fish, so if you ve been attending Ria s Robot Fish workshops, then you re already a step ahead of the game! The other project is an unsettling space where things aren t quite as they seem, including bookshelves that talk and electronics that don t work as you d expect. We re still in the planning stage, but if you re interested in participating in either, please contact cicada.scott@colorado.edu to get involved.PROJECTSWe used to have a lot more member projects on this blog, but the last few years has been a lull period. We want to fix that. If you have a project you re proud of and want to get it out there, please contact Cicada (cicada.scott@colorado.edu) or Alicia (amgibb@gmail.com) and we ll work with you to put it up! It s a great way to show things off and to be a part of the community, and it doesn t take more than a photo and a quick paragraph or two about what it is.And stay tuned, because we ll be cracking open that silence with an egg-citing project post in the near future Hey all, and I hope the semester is treating you well! As always we re working hard to make the BTU Lab even more fun and helpful, and this year is looking to be the best yet. Here s a rundown of everything new you should be aware of:EventsMaybe the most important, we ve started a series of Weekly Workshops, every friday except for the last friday of the month (that s reserved for the monthly BTU Hackathon). We ve got all sorts of instructional workshops, everything from laser cutting to sticker making to the Raspberry Pi. You can check the calendar for more details on which workshops are happening when. There s something going on every friday, so we hope to see you around!We also have the new SeWed Lab, which is every wednesday from 1-3PM. You can come to learn how to sew, get help with a project, or just set aside some time to work on that wearables project you ve been putting off. There s an extra special Halloween edition on October 24th bring your costumes!Open Hack Nights are back as always the first one is tonight, October 2nd, starting at 6PM. Whether you re a member, a guest, a hacker, an artist, or someone else, come join us and hack the night away! Our next two hack nights are November 6th and December 4th, same time.Take It Apart-ies have returned, the second Thursday of every month. Libi has also started a monthly Privacy Check-Up on the first Wednesday of every month, from 2-3PM, so you can browse the internet safe and sound. Its sister event, Don t Get Hacked, is once a month at variable times, all on the calendar.General Lab InfoAlicia (amgibb@gmail.com) will be in early in the day on Monday and Wednesday, and Cicada (cicada.scott@colorado.edu) will be in on the afternoons on Wednesday, Thursday, and most Tuesdays. If you have questions or concerns, please email us!We have two new resident grad students here at the lab please welcome the marvelous Ria Khan and Mel Plett! We re excited to have them around and we hope you are too. Because all of them are filled this semester, we ask that you please do not sit at the grad desks! If there s a class going on, sit at the sewing table or in room 105.Which brings us to our next exciting development the BTU Lab has expanded! We now share half of room 105 (the old VR Lab) with the Whaaat!? Lab. Our half of the room is where you ll find our 3D printer, vinyl cutter, and lab-managed/facewall computer. Access our new half-room by heading straight on through the tool room. There are signs to tell you where the lab continues and ends, please be courteous of the half that isn t ours!Our 3D printer, as always, is free for all lab members to use, and we have some in-house filament for you to use if you don t have your own reels. Even better, we now have a roll of green glow-in-the-dark filament for your projects! Because we want everyone to get a chance to use it, it won t be by the 3D printer. You can ask Cicada to use it, and when you re done please give it back so that it doesn t get used up for a long print that could have been done in another color.Facewall has been updated to version 1.3.0! We moved a lot of people to the alumni wall because we were pretty sure they graduated or we hadn t seen them for a long time. If we made a mistake, feel free to move yourself back to the main wall. We ve also changed the layout to be a little friendlier: the top left section is all people who work, play, or practically sleep in the lab, so that you can reach out if you re confused about something.We also used to have Hackaday stickers to indicate people who have projects up on Hackaday, and we re bringing that back! If you want a sticker, email Cicada and they ll get you set up. Hackaday s a great opportunity to get your projects out there, and we want to show off all our awesome member s achievements.That s all for now, happy hacking!-Cicada Inflated Curiosity: Designing Shape-Changing Materials With Pneuduino! The workshop runs from 10AM 6PM (lunch included), and space is limited; please RSVP now!Workshop Description:Pneuduino is a modular, open source hardware system developed by Felix Heibeck and Jifei Ou of MIT Media Lab’s Tangible Media Group. The platform enables the control of air flow and pressure, which opens endless possibilities for makers, artists, designers and researchers who want to add unique shape-shifting features to their projects. This workshop introduces concepts of air as an actuator and sensor, as well as various fabrication methods to create transforming artifacts. “Air is one the most abundant resources on Earth. By adding computation ability to air, we can create new types of materials that enable us to design robots that are soft, furniture that is adaptive, clothing that is intelligent and art pieces that are breathing,” Heibeck and Ou explain. In fact, you can even turn dough into an inflating, shape-shifting interface. Interested? Head over to the toolkit’s page here:http://pneuduino.orgGuest Instructor:Jifei Ou (欧冀飞) is a designer, researcher and PhD candidate at the MIT Media Lab, where he focuses on designing and fabricating transformable materials across scales (from μm to m). Physical materials are usually considered as static, passive, and permanent. Jifei is interested in finding ways to redesign physical materials with the characteristics of digital information, such as the ability to change shape and and to be programmable. Such new materials could be used to construct a responsive living environment, accelerate the process of design and manufacturing, and enhance our existing interaction with products. As much as his work is informed by digital technology, he is inspired in equal measure by the natural world around him. He has been leading projects that study bio-mimicry and bio-derived materials to design shape-changing packaging, garments and furniture.http://oujifei.com Mark Gibson presented a Pinball Engineering workshop on Mar 9, 2018http://funwithpinball.comFacebook photo albumWorkshop started with some time for students to play the pinball machine and familiarize themselves with its features and objectives which should provide some context for explanations later in the class. Then with everything turned off, we went through a short summary of electric current, switches and magnetic fields to explain basic Boolean logic and how relays and solenoids work. Using those principles we explored working examples (flipper, pop bumper, etc.). Then we opened up the pinball machine and explored how various parts of the game work using the ideas we ve covered. You may have noticed some changes to the work room since you ve come back from winter break, and I wanted to run over all of them so you know where things have gone, and why.Item 1:The large material shelf that was used for laser cutter materials has been replaced with a rolling flat stock cart: This cart was designed to hold materials primarily for the laser cutter- plywood, acrylic, and maybe some cardboard. Primary rule here- if it doesn t fit in the cart, don t store it in the work room. Our space is small, so we need to be efficient and considerate of others who might need the space while working. Also, take note of the WOOD trash can next to the cart:We are going to compost wood scrap waste from the shop into a special trash can on the loading dock, so please put all wood waste into that bin.Item 2: The drill bits, saw blades, rules and painting supplies have been moved into the former material storage drawers, which are now located under the work table:The idea here was to clear up space on the peg board and tool shelves below to make tools more organized and accessible. The drawers should be labeled with everything that goes inside, but you may need to add/modify labels as things get moved around in the lab.  Rules, levels, geometric guides and calipers are stored in these drawers now, along with paintbrushes and rollers.Item 3:New dust collection is installed below the bandsaw/sander table.This was a very hacked together solution, but on the upside it cost the lab zero dollars, and it mostly works to pull excess dust away from the belt sander and band saw. Please use the power strip to turn on the tools and vacuum, and turn them off when you are finished.Item 4:The dust collector is now mounted to the wall above the belt sander. This saves space, and hopefully concentrates the effort of the filter system over the some of the tools that generate the most fine dust particles. Make sure to turn this on with the remote, found on the wall above the sander.Item 5:Non-combustible paints, solvents and glues are stored on a shelf in the window near the work table:This clears space near/around the flammables cabinet, which is still located underneath the bandsaw. I might try and make some doors for this shelf to keep dust out.Item 6:Clamps now live below the tool shelf.I took some threaded rod we had laying around the lab, bent it to shape, and fitted it into the power tool shelf- hopefully this accommodates clamps a bit better than the previous wall solution, which has since been removed.Item 7:Fastener storage has been relabeled and reorganized:Our screws, bolts, nuts and other hardware were basically in total chaos, so in the ultimate moment of masochistic glee, I reorganized them. We ll see how that goes.Alright, back to Blowing Things Up!-Danny Happy new year, and welcome back to the BTU Lab! The Spring 2018 semester is in progress, and we hope it s been treating you well so far. Alicia s returned from her side project (he s a really cute baby), which means Wayne is no longer filling in for her. Welcome back!Speaking of Wayne, he s running a Practical Electronics workshop every friday from 12:30AM to 2:20PM, starting on February 9th. You can find more details on that here. We also have two student groups already meeting: Drone Racing Club is meeting during their usual time at 6PM on Thursdays. Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality Club is meeting every other Wednesday, also at 6PM. Check the calendar for exact dates.Coming up soon, we have an Open Hack Night on February 13th, starting at 6PM and continuing into the night. Bring a project, bring a friend, eat some snacks! Open Hack Nights are open to anyone, member or not, to come hang out for as long as they d like, whether they have a goal in mind or not. No technical experience needed! We have a few more coming up on March 6th and April 3rd as well.Libi is running Take It Apart-ies this semester, where you can come fix your broken electronics or just tear them up to see how they tick. Bring your own if you can, but we ll have things to take apart at the lab too! Those will run from 6-8 on the third tuesday of each month, starting on February 20th.Meanwhile, Alec has started BTU Monthly Hackathons in the lab! The first one is going to be next week, on February 16th from 6-10. The goal is to create something anything, from an Arduino project to a painting in four hours. There will be prizes and food!We ve also partnered with the Colorado Sewing Rebellion to run a few sewing workshops, starting with making winter hats on February 21st. Check the calendar for more!Finally, a few things that are new from last semester, and a few things to keep in mind:Danny, Slaton, and Libi built a giant, four-player connect 4 in the window. This is the most important news of all.The Facewall now has a new member section. Give them all a warm welcome!The materials shelf and tool room have been revamped. Can t find it on the tool wall? It s probably in the drawers underneath the table!If your material isn t labeled with your name and a date, it s free for anyone to use. If it s been here for more than two weeks, it s also free for anyone to use.There s now a sticker wall next to the calendar. Add lots of stickers. Engulf the walls in stickers.We have a BTU Advice Twitter now! Follow it at your own risk.That s all for now. Happy hacking everyone!

TAGS:Lab BTU Engineering 

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