Alyssa Phillips - Capstone

When I first set out to create my Capstone project, I wanted to create a set of solar-powered toys, but then realized that that was way too ambitious, so I settled on creating one. I wanted to create something that incorporated everything I am interested in: self-sufficient systems, 3D modeling, digital fabrication, and toys. I wanted to make a toy for kids of today, who are carrying around cellphones and other devices at the age of 8. My toy is not only a flashlight, but also a phone charger. For the model, I drew inspiration from some of my oddball friends, Adventure Time, and from all of the collectible vinyl toys I have acquired over the years. This is how Lux was born. 

Modeling her took a lot of time, as I continued to add to her and refine her. I also decided to slice her body in half and create 2 separate pieces, so that I could place all of her electrical components inside without any trouble. For the electrical parts, I had to do some research...

                                  

After looking at other things that did what I was trying to do, I understood that I needed 2 simple circuits going through Lux. These would be connected to a photovoltaic cell (solar panel) generating a current that would feed into 2 rechargeable AA batteries. The first simple circuit, connected via a switch on her back, would power the 2 LED lights that are her eyes. Each of these LEDs would be connected to a resistor and looped individually from the switch (feeding the positive current) and connected back to the batteries on the negative end. The second circuit would be feeding a USB charging circuit board, with the positive wire feeding current into the board, which returns, completing the circuit at the negative end. 

Once my model was done in Maya, I threw it into Rhino in order to scale her appropriately and cut out holes for the electronic components that were a specific size. Then, she was ready to be printed. The printing process took about 52 hours, not including bath time. 

 

                                            

After sanding her down (some of the pieces did not fit perfectly when she came out), I proceeded to paint her with acrylic paint, and then put a top coat of acrylic finish on her. After that, I began the soldering process inside, connecting all of the parts.

  

       

Once the inside was done, I glued her together with Loctite and popped her legs in their sockets. Et Voila.

There were definitely issues that arose during the whole process that I had to work around. For example, getting the model just right for the components to fit and assuming that she would be smoothed out when printed. You can still see the polygonal shapes that make her up and her legs will not rotate for her to sit down because the sockets came out as hexagons instead of rounded out holes. Her hands also fell off because they were barely attached to the body piece. I simply glued these back on. Also, I did not realize until putting it all together, that each LED needed it's own resistor attached in order for the circuit to work. I also did not make a big enough hole for the USB port, so I attached a double-sided USB cord that went up into her body connecting to the port on the circuit board. Finally, the solar panel is only a 4V and there are only 2 batteries keeping everything going for 2 different circuits, so I am not sure how long she can charge a phone for a prolonged period. I would still like to create more toys that have the same functions, and maybe create molds of Lux to make more of her and refine the toy based on how the prototype turned out. Overall, I think she turned out really well!