Unfortunately this week I have been bogged down with another studio project and had limited time to work on my Pearl Street design. I have made some progress though in designing the buildings via Sketchup and preparing them to be 3D printed. I have decided on using translucent filament for my 3D buildings and believe the LED lights will shine through the buildings in a pleasing and interesting manner. This filament is free to me at the ENVD 3D printer I will be using. I am slowly gaining supplies virtually for free through my adviser and looking through the BTU lab.
I have an electrical engineering friend that is going to help me obtain the buttons, batteries, and LED’s and solder them together. He will help me and teach me how to create the needed lights for my project sometime this upcoming week. I plan on finishing the bulk of this project over spring break, lessening my load for when I return.
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Seems like you have made good progress even though you have other projects happening at the same time too! Good idea to try and get some work done before spring break, and that you have already enlisted a help from a friend to do the electrical engineering stuff. I like that you are pushing yourself with this project to acquire new skills withe the electrical component.
I’m impressed by your progress Elyse! I learned about a plastic called T-Glase that is super translucent and has an incredibly cool finish that would look amazing with the lights illuminating the map if you decide to change filaments. I’m envious that you have managed to find so many free materials.
Looks like your well on your way, I would highly recommend modeling in pockets for the leds within the buildings giving you a sturdy holder for each of the lights and less chance of developing a loose connection with the wiring. I think it would also be interesting to build the buttons to look like iconic statues or landmarks from pearl st.