Week 1 — Laser & Vinyl

Group assignment:

Machine and Worflow Drew parts in Rhino → exported .dxf → opened in CorelDRAW. Set all vectors to Hairline and grouped by color (black/red/blue/green) for different cut/engrave settings. Turned on the shop vacuum; focused with the stick (top surface for thin stock, mid-thickness for thicker). In the ULS UI: set power/speed/frequency per color, positioned the job, and used the red pointer to check placement.

Characterization(notes) Material: corrugated cardboard (~1/8″). Dialed settings until edges were clean with minimal burn. Fill in when measured: focus: top / mid; power: 65%; speed: 50%;

Process Notes Within a color, cut order creates interesting toolpaths. We balanced speed and power to avoid charring while maintaining full separation, then produced the final piece shown above.

Individual Assignment:

Parametric construction kit: design, lasercut, and document a press-fit kit that accounts for kerf and can assemble multiple ways.

Extra credit: include non-flat elements and combine engraving with cutting.

Week 3 — Embedded Programming

This week, I practiced and developed skills in soldering and embedded systems. The system I worked on was designed by Quentin Bolsee.

Tasks Completed:

• Soldered all components onto the QPAD.
Debugged the initial soldering attempt and resolved connectivity issues. Tested core functionalities of the QPAD, including button input, serial buffer, and LED blinking.

Hardware and Features

Back:

• Micro USB connector — supplies 5V and ground for programming/debugging
• 3.3V regulator — converts 5V to 3.3V required by the microcontroller
• Capacitors (x2) — store charge and smooth voltage ripples
• Resistor — limits current flow
• LED — indicates power/activity
• 10-pin header — connects to external devices for programming
• ATSAMD21E microcontroller (ARM Cortex-M0+) — more memory, faster clock, more peripherals, and a more complex toolchain than AVR

Front

• OLED screen
• Capacitive “buttons”

Soldering and Assembly

Components soldered:

• USB Micro-B connector (power + data)
• 3.3V regulator and capacitors
• 10-pin SWD header
• Resistors and LED
• OLED screen

Tools / materials: soldering iron, flux, tweezers, hot air, solder gel

Verification:

• Checked continuity with a multimeter
• Confirmed the 3.3V regulator output when USB was connected

Week 4 — 3D Scanning & Printing

Testing the Design Rules

Printer: Bambu Lab P1S 3D PrinterSlicer: Bambu Studio

Individual: Object Not Possible Subtractively

Goal: This week, I set out to 3D print an early version of the haptic bracelet I am designing. The design required two different materials: a rigid PLA housing for the motors, and flexible TPU bands that could stretch for donning and doffing.

Sketch / Inspiration

Modeling

Using the parametric model I created in Week 2, I completed the 3D models in Rhino. Because of its size and overhangs, this design could not have been fabricated subtractively, making additive manufacturing essential.

Reflections

I went through multiple iterations to refine the design:

• The TPU print settings needed adjustment to achieve the right stretch and flexibility.
• The small connections between components required reprints to improve durability.
• Getting a snug fit while leaving enough room for both the vibration motor and controller took several tries.

Overall, this process gave me a clearer understanding of material constraints and tolerance requirements for future versions of the bracelet.

3D Scanning

Scanner/App: Reality Scan Object: Clay object casted in dirt

• Capture: phone walkaround

Week 5 — PCB Design in KiCAD

Project Description

This week I jumped into KiCAD. I picked it because, out of all the PCB design tools, it felt like the one with the most tutorials and documentation floating around online. It seemed like the best choice for me as a beginner.

PCB Board in KiCAD

For my final project I’ll eventually need to control five separate 3V vibration motors, each individually. At first, I tried hunting down ready-made footprint and schematic files online but couldn’t find what I needed. So instead of wasting more time, I decided to just keep it simple and use this week as practice.

The idea was to make a breakout board where I could plug things in more easily and test them out. I followed the hardware overview from lecture, added in pin sockets, and labeled SDA and SCL on pins 4 and 5. The naming conventions were a little confusing at first since they didn’t always match up, but I worked through it.

Steps

• Step 1: Dropped in all the components into the schematic.

  

  

• Step 2: Connected and labeled everything, then moved into the PCB editor.

  

  

• Step 3: Ran into a mess of overlapping tracks, so I rotated and mirrored parts multiple times until it looked cleaner.

  

  

• Final: Optimized the routing so there wouldn’t be issues later.

Troubleshooting

I did run into a few design rule check (DRC) warnings while routing. I used them as a checklist—fix a spacing issue, re-run DRC, repeat—until I cleared the critical ones.

3D View

Seeing the board in 3D really helped sanity-check footprints, connector clearances, and general orientation before sending anything out.

Final Design

Download Board File (.cmp)

Reflection

Overall, this week was more about getting my hands dirty in KiCAD than making something polished. I wanted to learn the basics: how to place components, wire things up, and troubleshoot when the layout got messy. It took a few retries, but I can already see how much smoother the workflow feels compared to when I started. Now I’ve got a simple breakout board under my belt and feel more ready to take on the complex designs I’ll need for the final project.