Optics Museum Project Construction Day 6

Today was the last day to work on our projects. We taped the instructions to the back of the large box. The instructions were written to the target audience of sixth through eighth graders. The general idea of our instructions related to the law of reflection, and the difference between concave and convex mirrors.

Exhibit instructions

We also decided to include ray diagrams over each section of the exhibit, explaining the physics behind it. Because there was no official diagram explaining the plane mirror illusion, one of my partners created her own. 

Final project

The 3D pieces we printed were originally white in color. We decided we would paint each of them using nail polish to make the exhibit a little more exciting. 

Painted 3D printed pieces

Overall, this project was not a bad experience. I have had previous experience in 3D modeling, so creating the 3D printed pieces was quite enjoyable for me. One of the things I disliked about this project was the amount of time it took to get everyone and everything situated. We had to wait a while before all materials were shipped to the school. If I were to do this project again, I would probably try to come up with a more creative and complex concept. I felt that the final product was relatively simple in comparison to what we could have done. 

Optics Museum Project Construction Day 5

Today we were able to glue in the main pieces to our Optics Museum Project. We included the small plane mirror illusion box, and two mirrors. Originally, we wanted to create a concave mirror illusion, where the mirrors' reflections would seemingly project an image above; however, because the delivered concave mirrors were not deep enough, this was not an option. When we ordered the mirrors, we were not expecting for them to be reflective on both sides. This meant that we now had both concave and convex mirrors. We decided to use the surprise to our benefit. We mounted two mirrors on the sides of the box walls. The concave side facing outwards for one of the mirrors, and the convex side facing outwards for the other mirror. This new exhibit will demonstrate the difference between the two. 

Exhibit progress for today

Because of multiple changes in our original project plan, we were required to redesign our orthographic and isometric sketches. Sketches of the new design will be featured in our Purchase List document in place of the old designs. 

Top view of Optics Museum Project

Our next class will be the last day to work on our projects before they are due. We have printed all of our 3D pieces, so it is likely that our next day will be mainly organizing all our material. 

Optics Museum Project Construction Day 4

Today I was able to print the first four small plastic pieces we planned on using in our exhibit. The first few days of trying to print the pieces were relatively difficult. The printer would not warm up to the correct temperature in order to create the pieces. It took over two classes to get to printer to cooperate. 

3D printer in GBS makerspace

When we finally were able to fix the printer, we began by printing two of the four sample pieces to see if everything was on scale. 

3D printer in action

Below are the final four pieces. They are all less than 2 cm in length. For the next class, we plan on printing multiples of these pieces in case they are lost during the exhibit. 

Final pieces

Optics Museum Project Construction Day 3

Today was a day for updating measurements and dimensions. The plane mirror we received in the mail was slightly different than we had expected. Originally, I planned on creating the plane mirror box so that it would be 10 x 10 x 10 centimeters. However, because of the unexpected change of events, these measurements needed to be adjusted. The box seen in the pictures is 7.6 x 7.6 x 14 centimeters. (3 x 3 x 5.5 inches). Here is a link to our project documentation. It includes estimated/predicted measurements to each part of our display. Note that all entrees are subject to change.

Plane mirror box illusion front view

Plane mirror box illusion top view

It turns out that completing this box before we printed the 3D objects was for the better. Now that I have the box's precise dimensions, I know how much space I have to work with. Hopefully our next class will provide enough time for 3D printing. 

Optics Museum Project Construction Day 2

Today was the second day of our Optics Museum construction. For our project, my partners and I decided we would include a smaller wooden box within the large one (see "Optics Museum Project Construction Day 1"). This smaller box will serve as both a container and as an optical illusion. I plan on painting the wood using black acrylic paint, and diagonally inserting a plane mirror. After the plane mirror is secure, I will store small 3D-printed pieces in the box. The combination of the black paint and mirror will give the illusion that the box is empty.

The box's dimensions were based off of the plane mirror we ordered. My partner helped use the table saw to cut the wood pieces into the desired size. Because the walls of this box were only about 10cm x 10cm, wood glue was used rather than nails.

Box for plane mirror (approximately 10cm x 10cm)

I spent majority of the period modeling the small pieces for the plane mirror illusion. I have done 3D-modeling in the past, so designing using AutoDesk Inventor again today was quite enjoyable. Because these pieces will need to fit into the small box, they are each no larger than 3 centimeters.

"Puzzle piece" for plane mirror box created in Inventor

I began with setting the program so that dimensions were marked with metric units. This time, specifically for the purpose of size, I used millimeters. I used the "line" tool to sketch the general shape of the pieces. I corrected the scale by manually entering in dimensions after the basic shapes were determined. Then I used the "extrude" tool to convert the 2-dimensional sketch into the 3-dimensional model, soon to be used in the actual printing of the object. 

"Puzzle piece" for plane mirror box created in Inventor

For the next class, I plan on printing the pieces I modeled. If all goes well, we will be able to complete this portion of the project.  

Optics Museum Project Construction Day 1

Today was our first Optics Museum Project Construction Day. The main objective was to determine the measurements for the exhibit's container, and to cut the board based on these measurements. While most groups decided to use a closed exhibit with four wooden faces, my group and I decided to use an open exhibit with three wooden faces. Our project will not involve lasers, so this design will work well and easily.

The wood boards given to us were approximately 16in x 16in.  It was our job to trim the boards so that they would fit together evenly in a perfect cube. We decided the first board (labeled 1) would be 15.5in x 16in, the second board (labeled 2) would be 16in x 16in, and the third board (labeled 3) would be 15.5in x 15.5in.

We used the table saw to cut out these measurements. We made sure to consider the width of the blade, which could potentially cause a smaller measurement than we expected.

Athanacia measuring up board on table saw

After the boards were all cut, we placed the boards together to see if they fit. Fortunately, our measurements and cutting were both accurate. Next time in class, we plan on gluing these boards together. 

Michelle and me aligning and checking board measurements

Optics Museum Demonstration

Today was the introduction to our Optics Museum Project. We started with a board that would be used for the walls of each of our projects. The Makerspace does not have a panel saw, so we brought the board to the wood shop room. With the panel saw, Mr. Sinde cut the board into three long strips. These three strips were brought back to the Makerspace where I used the table saw to cut them into 16in x 16in squares. Throughout the process, we had to keep the width of the blade in mind. During the penny hockey project, some students made the error of marking all measurements, then cutting the pieces all at once. This would eventually cause one piece to be smaller than the rest. Because of this, it is better to mark one measurement, then cut, mark the next measurement, cut, so on and so forth.

Mr. Sinde cutting board

Here is a time-lapse video of Mr. Sinde cutting the large board into smaller sections.

Finally, here's a video of me using the table saw to cut the sections into 16in x 16in squares.