edutech simon fraser university, burnaby, bc …whitmore/courses/ensc305/projects/2008/...edutech...

EduTech Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC [email protected]

School of Engineering Science Simon Fraser University

Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6

[email protected]

April 17, 2008

Dr. Patrick Leung

School of Engineering Science

Simon Fraser University

Burnaby, British Columbia

Re: ENSC 440 Post-Mortem for a 3D-LED Plotter

Dear Dr. Leung,

The attached document, Post-Mortem for a 3D-LED Plotter, contains information

regarding the implementation of our ENSC 440 project. The 3D-LED Plotter will be used

to create 3D visualizations using a matrix of LEDs. Plotting equations and creating 3D

drawings are a few of the applications.

This document details the current state of the device, deviation from our original plans, as

well as potential future modifications that could add more value to the device. In

addition, we will also provide a discussion of the project’s timeline and budget. Finally,

we conclude this document with a brief reflection by each member of the team over the

experiences lived and the knowledge acquired during the completion of this project.

EduTech was founded by four motivated and talented senior engineering students: Leah

Finkel, Anna Seung, Julio Perez and Iman Shahsavani. If you have any comments or

queries, please feel free to contact me by phone at (604) 671-3070 or by e-mail at the

above address.

Sincerely,

Leah Finkel

President and CEO

EduTech

Enclosed: Post-Mortem for a 3D-LED Plotter

EduTech

Post-Mortem for a

3D Plotting Device

Project Team: Leah Finkel

Julio Perez

Anna Seung

Iman Shahsavani

Contact Person: Leah Finkel

[email protected]

Submitted to: Dr. Patrick Leung – ENSC 440

Steve Whitmore – ENSC 305

School of Engineering Science

Simon Fraser University

Issued date: April 17, 2008

Revision: 1.0

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Table Of Contents

1. Introduction ________________________________________________________ 1

2. Current State of the Device ____________________________________________ 1

3. Deviation from Expected ______________________________________________ 3

4. Future Plans________________________________________________________ 3

5. Budget and Schedule _________________________________________________ 4

a. Budget:_______________________________________________________________ 4

b. Schedule: _____________________________________________________________ 5

6. Personal Experiences_________________________________________________ 6

7. Conclusion _________________________________________________________ 9

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1. Introduction

For the past thirteen weeks the EduTech team has been working diligently to accomplish

the goal of creating a prototype for a 3D-Plotting Device. This document describes the

current state of the device, and summarizes other considerations, such as budgetary and

schedule constraints, that the team had to deal with to accomplish the goal. In addition,

this document also includes a short personal reflection, were each member of the team

attempts to describe his/her personal thoughts about the project, as well as any other

memorable experience lived during the completion of this project.

2. Current State of the Device

As specified in the project proposal, Edutech’s 3D-Plotter aims to create a device that

would enable people to visualize true three-dimensional objects, in a more vivid and

intuitive manner than those allowed by existing products. The following figure illustrates

the main components of the device and how they interact with each other.

Figure 1. 3D-Plotter System Components

In order to show the capabilities and the potential of the device, EduTech had aimed to

provide three different modes of operation. Currently, the prototype contains examples

for each of the modes originally proposed (Math, Model and Draw modes), and a fourth

mode (Animations Mode), which provides added value to the prototype.

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The following is a summary of the current capabilities of the device on each of the modes:

Math:

- An example is included that draws the equation z=x+y. In addition to plotting the

equation, the device also provides three axial references for dimensional

information.

Model:

- Three examples of crystal lattice structures are provided: Perovskite, NaCl and

CsCl. The device uses different LED-colors to differentiate different types of

atoms in the Lattice.

Animation:

- Two examples are included: Two blue rotating cubes, and the letters E.T. for

EduTech.

Draw:

- The user is able to move in any direction (x, y, z) and is able to individually lit

each one of the 512 LED in one of seven available colors (Blue, Red, Green, BR,

BG, RG, RGB, OFF).

Figure 2. (A) User Interface, LCD and navigational buttons. (B) Current LED matrix.

A B

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In terms of user-interaction, the user interface currently consists of a set of seven buttons that fulfill the actions specified in the Functional Specifications document, in addition,

EduTech added an LCD display that provides feedback to the user with respect to the

available modes of operation, the current state of the device, as well as other available

options specific to each mode. Figure 2 above, shows the current state of the device,

including the current user interface.

3. Deviation from Expected

Overall, the current prototype meets most of the specification requirements set up by

EduTech. Nevertheless, EduTech has identified the following deviations from the

expected end product.

- The current prototype is not as portable as it was originally intended. Great care is

required to keep the wiring in place and to maintain the structural integrity of the

LED matrix.

- Casing is not included in the current prototype due to budgetary constraints.

- A fourth mode, Animations, has been included to provide extra functionality for

the device.

- Even though the original design didn't specify memory requirements, the current

implementation utilizes only 60% of the available memory in the microcontroller.

This means that there is plenty of space for more models and extra features in the

current implementation.

4. Future Plans

Possible improvements for the current prototype include:

- Improved wiring and casing: It is possible to manufacture a custom PCB board as

well as proper casing to improve the transportation and portability of the device.

- Due to the available memory on the microcontroller, more material and extra

functions could be created in software, to better showcase the potential of this

device. Possible improvements include:

o Improved rotation routines for more interesting animation sequences.

o Addition of more complex animation sequences.

o Addition of more Math-Examples with more complex equations that test

the limitation on the resolution of the device.

o Facilitate the creation of user-made animation, by allowing the user to

save and reload still-drawings as animation frames.

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Possible improvements for future versions of the device include: - Increase the resolution and size of the device to provide images with better

quality.

- Provide an interface for the device to interact with existing 3D modeling software

such as SolidWorks or AutoCAD, as well as Math packages such as Maple and

Matlab.

- Develop an interface for the user to create models and maybe even program the

microcontroller directly to facilitate the addition of custom-made models.

5. Budget and Schedule

a. Budget:

The following table includes the estimated and actual costs for the project as of April 12th

2008.

Item Estimated

Cost Actual Cost

Revenues

600 R-G-B LEDs $200 $365.55 $350.00 (ESSEF)

PCB manufacturing $150 -- $310.65 (EduTech)

PIC & Programmer $50 $106.40

User interface $10 $24.00

Housing $20 --

Miscellaneous $20 $115.70

Contingency $50 $50.00

Total $500 $661.65 $661.65

As it can be seen, more than half of our actual costs can be attributed to the LEDs bought

for the project. In addition, this was one of the items that was originally underestimated

thus creating the discrepancy between our actual and estimated costs. It should be noted

that although PCB manufacturing and Housing were considered in our original costs, the

money originally allocated for these categories, was actually distributed between the

Miscellaneous and PIC & Programmer categories, to cover more essential components

such as ICs and other microcontroller-related items.

Two important elements of our budget are:

- The monetary help received from the Engineering Science Student Endowment

Fund (ESSEF), which facilitated the acquisition of the LEDs, the main component

of our device.

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- Donation of free PIC microcontrollers from Microchip’s Sample.Microchip, which greatly reduced the cost of the PIC & Programmer category, and allowed

us to focus the remainder of our money on other ICs.

b. Schedule:

The following figure shows the Projected and the Actual timelines for the completion of

this project. As it can be noted, most of the items were delayed by approximately four

days, which can be attributed to a series of factors such as:

- Unexpected interruptions in the development and research stages caused by

unforeseen commitments of the team members

- Unexpected complications during the hardware construction process. More

specifically, wiring problems and underestimated construction times.

Regardless of the complications encountered, EduTech was still able to complete the task

at hand within 3 days of its projected end date. In addition, the implementation of the

Animation mode, can in part justify the delay.

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6. Personal Experiences

Leah Finkel

As a member of one of the few 440 groups who did not start out as friends, I must say

that the experience of working on this project was far better than I could have ever

imagined. Many group projects over the course of my Engineering degree have left me

frustrated and discouraged due to unhealthy group dynamics, but I found my colleagues

in EduTec to be patient, committed, intelligent and understanding.

While there have been times during the past three months when it appeared as though our

project would reach completion on pure luck alone, with hardware designs and code

serendipitously working at first trial, we also had our fair share of hurdles. For instance,

due to the complex nature of our system (ie. nearly 200 logic signals that had to be

completely isolated from each other but within in a small area), and our decision to keep

our circuitry in the breadboard (as opposed to PCB), hardware debugging became

increasingly difficult since a wire could come loose and we might not be able to find

which one. Solving problems like this one was stressful and time-consuming, but it was

during these moments that our team really began to gel.

I had to learn that it’s nearly impossible for everyone to be working on the same thing at

the same time, but I was relieved to see that in our group, this did not result in an

imbalance in participation. Instead, two or three of us would focus on solving a particular

problem, using each other to sound off on ideas, while the other(s) took care of other

business such as documentation. We would then rotate tasks as we got tired.

This kind of co-operation and co-ordination also worked well for us in terms of managing

work outside 440. Whenever one of us had a big assignment or an exam in another class,

pressure was eased on that individual so that they could complete their work with a clear

head. Our willingness to be flexible and allow the workload to shift around the group as

necessary saved us a lot of time and energy that could have been wasted arguing over

who was or wasn’t doing enough work. I was equally impressed with my own newly

acquired ability to manage stress and workload, though I feel this is also largely due to

the supportive attitude of my team members towards one another.

Being a part of EduTec provided me with the opportunity to learn from a peer group of

diverse talent and skill. Since each of my team members is relatively specialized in a

different technical discipline, I was able to further my knowledge of both hardware and

software considerations for microcontroller-based systems, while teaching myself about

structural design through research and experimentation. As a result of this process, I am

now confident in my ability to single-handedly complete such a project, should I ever

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wish to do so. When I compare this statement with my initial feelings of trepidation and disbelief that we would ever be able to pull this off, it’s clear how much I’ve learned.

Up until taking Ensc 440, the significance of everything I’ve been studying all this time

hadn’t really sunk in, but now my perspective seems vast. It has been, without a doubt,

the most interesting and inspiring class I have taken as an Engineering student. If it were

up to me, there would be a similar class in each year of the program.

Iman Shahsavani

Starting this semester, I knew that I was signing up for a course that is going to be very

challenging and time consuming. Therefore, I managed to form a group early before the

semester begins and through several meetings we agreed on a project idea that was later

on approved by the professors.

During the course of this project, I strengthened many of my skills. Software design and

debugging, hardware debugging, research and development, and time management were

a few of the skills that I managed to expand. Most importantly, a very healthy group

dynamic helped us focus solely on the project and take on the challenge of delivering a

solid product.

Software was a huge part of this project, and through the help of other members, I learned

a lot of new concepts and strategies to undertake the task in hand. Since we used C

language, which I was not formerly exposed to very much, I was familiarized with the

language and feel much more comfortable choosing this language in the future for my

projects. Since we used a PIC micro-controller, I was familiarized with the programming

techniques required for obtaining the expected behavior.

Finally efficient decision making and sharing work load was another important process in

accomplishing all the goals set out for this project. I was very comfortable with the other

group members, and through working together we shared all of our engineering skills and

experience to achieve the final desired objective. I would be more than delighted to work

with the same team on a future project.

Anna Seung

When EduTech was first formed in December 2007, we discussed about various project

idea, and found the LED display cube the most interesting. However, designing the

circuitry of LED matrix was the most difficult tasks all members faced during the

semester. We looked at and studied similar product outside such as hypnocube. But we

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have not found any reference of how to connect each LEDs. We tried hard and Julio came up with really brilliant idea. But we had no idea whether that design will work or

not.

We first started with building scaled down prototype (i.e. 3*3*3*). It did not work nicely

as we planned just like any other projects. We had clock signal and data bit receiving

problem along with software. However, we managed to fix it and moved onto 8*8*8

LED matrix building. I was mainly responsible for assembly of the hardware, but was

also involved in a circuit design as a team member. Soldering of each wire with LEDs

took so much time and often some LEDs felt apart. Also the wires connected to the flip-

flops often came out which caused our project to be unstable.

What I learned from this project is that healthy group dynamics and efficiency of circuit

design are the most important factors. I believe we could manage to complete and fix all

problems because our group dynamics was very healthy, and very well incorporated.

Our project was very efficient in a way that each LED can be controlled individually,

which enabled us to perform all the projected functions with different colors, and the

colors of LEDs are different from others.

This project has given me experiencing in every angle of engineering process in terms of

manufacturing, circuit design and integration of both software and hardware. Not only

that it was very valuable experience even though we struggled somewhat to make it

work.

Julio Perez

It has been just about four months since I first started to seriously think about

Engeineering-440. Four mounts since we first dreamed up the idea of a three dimensional

display. Four months since four talented and young engineering students decided that

lighting up a large number of LEDs would be a fun, interesting and useful project to

which to dedicate four months of our life. And now, looking back I can seriously say that

I couldn't have asked for a better project or a better group.

Unlike other courses in university were we are usually told what to do and how to do it,

this course gave us the opportunity to create something from the ground up. It gave us the

chance to experience the life of an inventor, a designer, a writer, a layer, and engineer.

This course has been the only point of my studies were I have finally been able to feel

that I have learned something and that I am able to create useful things. Things like C-

programming, PIC microcontrollers, digital circuit design and plain old LED-resistors

networks, are just some of the tasks that we had to deal on this project, which I’ve gotten

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good at –or at least knowledgeable on-. Everything from project design to implementation and product evaluation was a challenge, but, thanks to my team

members, everything seemed and at the end was doable.

Looking back at the semester, I can definitely note how much my writing and

communication abilities in general have improved. In addition, I have found a new

interest in management tasks, to take responsibility and ownership of projects, and to

guide and inspire people, which are things I would have never considered before. I have

also realized the important of a good group. This doesn't mean a group were all members

are friends, they also need to be comrades. This means a group were everyone knows its

place, when to tell a joke, when to get thinking, and went to put the LED down and go for

a walk. Fortunately, my group was exactly like that.

At the end, I can see myself working on more things like this, I am very interested in

microcontrollers, FPGAs and digital circuits so, after all, the time spent on ENSC440 was

a very fruitful -even with all of the troubles, long nights and frustrating times.

7. Conclusion

EduTech was created by a group of 4 motivated engineering students, wanting to work on

a project that would be fun and interesting as well as educational and useful. Throughout

all this time, the surprise looks of curious people, and the words of encouragement and

the interest that they showed to us, have helped to keep pushing to accomplish this goal.

At the end of four months of planning and development, we all, are proud of our

accomplishments and believe that our prototype model can be of inspiration and starting

point for future studies on true three-dimensional displays.

edutech simon fraser university, burnaby, bc …whitmore/courses/ensc305/projects/2008/...edutech...

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