Stirling Engine Update

Nicholas Flood
2016, Student Work
3 Comments
After having some troubles with the 3D printer, I’ve finally gotten some critical parts tweaked and finished. I had to make some updates to the fly wheels so account for the screws that I had.   The connecting rods attach much more nicely now with less play. The fly wheels now have a set screw…

Alcohol Stove Update 4/13/16

Kenzy O'neill
2016, Student Work
3 Comments
Unfortunately, I am still very sick with some sort of bacterial infection and have been in bed with a fever for the last two weeks. As a result of my sickness, I have made no progress on my project and have nothing new to show you all. Hopefully within the next couple days these antibiotics…

Wind Chime update

Jacob Mccormick
2016, Student Work
2 Comments
Since the last post I have calculated the hanging length for each pipe (length from the end to drill the hole by which the pipe will be strung up) and machined those holes in the shop. I also started, or tried to start drilling the hole pattern for the top plate but ran into trouble.…

Updates

Dennis Can
2016, Student Work
3 Comments
I haven’t had much time to work on my project this week. I spent a few hours getting the inside of the LCD portion shaped and symmetrical. I lasercutted an acrylic piece to fit inside. Once I fill in the gaps I will spray paint some primer or possibly leave it as it is to…

Radial Engine Update

Brendan Warren
2016, Student Work
7 Comments
I had some issues posting (my house internet went out) and then senior design pulled me away for two days, so I’m posting a little late. Sorry! My project is done…ish. Everything is machined and assembled, but the motor doesn’t work. The issue lies within the timing system. Basically, I tried to cut corners to…

LED Orb 4/13

Shawn Sprinkle
2016, Student Work
3 Comments
This past week  I’ve mainly worked on the circuitry and coding, nothing too exciting.  I’ve also made a few changes to the CAD which I will be 3D printing and doing final testing next week.  From here on out I just need to integrate all the working parts which will most likely require redesigning a…

Bladeless Fan update 4/13

Brandon Boiko
2016, Student Work
4 Comments
I don’t have much to update, other than I have began printing and it will take approximately 30 hours to finish. Once it is complete I can put my parts in to a bath to remove all filler material (which may take a day or two). Afterwards I can finalize the parts with some post…

Pearl Progress 4/13

Elyse Skinner
2016, Student Work
2 Comments
I made a lot of progress on my project this last weekend and am about to make even greater strides tomorrow and this weekend. This last weekend I laser cut all of my pieces out, the map and the pieces to create the 3D buildings. Then I spent time cleaning them all off in preparation…

Infinity mirror update 04/13

Yusen Ji
2016, Student Work
3 Comments
Since I have finished majority of the project for the last three weeks. For this week, I am trying to find a better aesthetics that fits my project. For right now, I would like to apply the traditional Chinese porcelain into my infinity mirror. I am trying to use some oil-based light blue paint to…

Progress Update 4-14-16 Roshan

Roshan Misra
2016, Student Work
2 Comments
I’ve been steadily making progress on my project and working towards getting the colors transitioning smoothly. I finally got around to figuring out how its all going to fit together from a structural standpoint. I put together a quick and dirty “pretotype” of the structure, and I’ve included a few pictures (that don’t really do…

Update 4/6

Shen Shu
2016, Student Work
No Comments
Got all materials ready. I got two scrap wood blocks, 1 can of clear wood finish and wood glue from Home Depot, 1 LED strap from Amazon. All drawings are done. However I haven’t got lots of updates for the overall project due to stiff neck and stiff shoulder.

Weekly Update – Wednesday, April 13th

Joseph Graff
2016, Student Work
3 Comments
Over the course of this project, I have considered time and time again doing something which I am entirely unsure of how it will be received: contacting the designer of the project which inspired my own. Jakub Pollág is a graduate of the Royal College of Art in London, and is the co-founder of Studio…

Project Update 4/13 | Peter

Peter Brunsgaard
2016, Student Work
3 Comments
I have spent the last week designing the rest of the parts for my mendocino motor. A big hurdle was that my 3D printer has been acting up and a large part of my design is dependent on printed parts. This has greatly hindered my progress this week. I have all the parts that I…

4-13-16 Coffee Brewer Update

Ben Yorkey
2016, Student Work
6 Comments
A lot of progress has been made on the build of the coffee brewer. I  bought all the materials that we’d need over the weekend and  started building early this week. Started by cutting the wood planks down to size. Then cut out slots for some L-Brackets to help support the weight of the water,…

April 13 update

Sophia Glik
2016, Student Work
3 Comments
The wood arrived and I started the building process. I glued the 7 ply layers together. (Shout out to my minion Tyler for helping me frantically glue and place the layers together evenly before the glue set). I ordered the wood normal cut, normal cut, cross cut, core cut, cross cut, normal cut, normal cut.…

Barn Door Progress 4/13

Laura Bonney
2016, Student Work
3 Comments
The barn door is coming along. The pallet boards are painted and wood for the frame has been acquired. I am still playing with ideas for the back of the door, and nothing solid yet. The weight is still a big concern so I will be looking for wheels to place on the bottom for…

Update: Mechanical Assembly

Chip Bollendonk
2016, Student Work
4 Comments
This update is pretty quick, as I’ve been swamped with all of my other classes. I’m putting the whole thing together this weekend (hopefully), and just have a few more parts to make sure will work together before I can be ready for expo. I’m certainly not going to be ready to demonstrate a functional…

Bamboo Cafe Bike 4/13 Update

Daniel Moody
2016, Student Work
4 Comments
Well I have run into some hiccups for the bamboo bicycle. I ordered some extra nice bamboo specifically selected, cured, and double butted for strength and bike building however when it came in on Monday it arrived cracked. AHHHH!!!! With the switch in materials I am in a bit of a time crunch. I quickly…

MIDI Drum Pad 4/13/16

Jakob Oreskovich
2016, Student Work
1 Comment
I spent most of week trying to figure out what was wrong with my original code.  Like I was talking about in my last post, whenever I strike one of the drum pads, the light will either stay on, or flash on and off at the rate that my void loop() takes to cycle.  What…

Weekly Update (4/13)

Katie Hortik
2016, Student Work
3 Comments
With the expo in a little over a week I have been moving beyond prototyping. I have been making my designs with cardboard to prototype. This week my head pins finally arrived and I cut my designs out of acrylic. I have also determined that I will be cutting scrapbook paper using the laser cutter…

Neo Parasol 4/13 update

Rena Yang
2016, Student Work
2 Comments
I had a very busy weekend so I did not get as much done as I had hoped. However, all of the initial sewing is done! Basically, the current status is that the eight “petals” are cut and sewn together and they are almost attached to the umbrella frame itself. The pink lace decoration is…

Swing Bike Update 4/13

Brendan Lee
2016, Student Work
2 Comments
I’ve been able to get some cutting done this week, some in the machine shop, some at home with my borrowed hacksaw and angle grinder. I just have 3 more cuts before I’m able to start prepping the tubes for welding, which should get done after my System Dynamics test tomorrow. I also sourced some…

Progress! Desk Garden Update

Ashley Zimmerer
2016, Student Work
3 Comments
I made the structure! Yay! It was super frustrating and took way too long, but I did it. Let me tell you the story with pictures and several words… I coated the mold for the base with WD-40. WD-40. Nothing seems wrong yet… Then I mixed up a batch of fast setting concrete. This stuff…

Project Update: Glass Writing Boards – April 13

Matthew Sturm
2016, Student Work
1 Comment
While I am still being affected by the big setback of waiting to have another meeting set up with facilities, my prototyping efforts have paid off! Use this link to see the details about this prototype introduced last week. To reiterate, for this prototype, I used an old about-to-be recycled metal picture frame. New Additions:…

Rankin Progress Update 3

Daniel Rankin
2016, Student Work
1 Comment
This week, I spent some time cutting and gathering branches for the wall, then weaving them together out in the yard. I only got enough branches to make a single panel because I underestimated the number of boughs I would need, but I’m thinking I might end up just making one of these pieces instead of…

Infinity Mirror Clock Update

Rachel Grosskrueger
2016, Student Work
3 Comments
So now that the majority of my project is complete, all I have left to work on is improving the visibility of the clock when the LEDs are off.  What I am currently working on is painting on a glow powder that is supposed to glow for 12+ hours after enough exposure to light.  The…

Immersion Wheel Update

Jason Mcgrath
2016, Student Work
1 Comment
Having looked at a variety of lighting options and considering that the LED really needs to be in contact with the edge of the acrylic sheet to achieve the desired brightness; I decided to purchase several small battery powered LEDs that are intended for illuminating balloons and paper lanterns. This will allow the lights to…

Cafe Racer Update April 13

Chad Alvarez
2016, Student Work
1 Comment
Unfortunately I still have some work to do but luckily I still have a week to get it done. I have been shopping around Boulder and found a few shops that sell tan grips similar to my tan seat. I also found some nice leather wraps that I can wrap the bars in myself if…

Lugged Bike Frame Update

Albert Como
2016, Student Work
4 Comments
Finally in the project’s end game. There is a very good chance this will be done on time. The last of adhesive testing is done. My blend of epoxies is good for a shear strength of over 3000 psi. Given the smallest overlap is 2 inches, the weakest compressive/tensile link in the frame is 6000…

Sami’s Update 4/13

Samantha Maierhofer
2016, Student Work
3 Comments
This week I finally saw my project start to come together with the LEDs. Unfortunately, cutting and rebuilding the LED strip ended up being a lot more tedious than I initially anticipated as the solder did not want to cooperate and there was a lot more soldering that needed to be done that I initially…

Levitation Audio Visualizer Update

Student Test
2016, Student Work
3 Comments
This past week was spent gathering the last of the loose ends before assembly. I purchased all the required fasteners, pipe clamps, fans, tubes, and the remaining electronic components. I was nervous about some components that were shipping from China, but luckily those arrived over the weekend. One of the items I was waiting on was the power…

Mechanical Clock Update – 4/12/16

Nick Ortiz
2016, Student Work
1 Comment
This past week I’ve been busy fabricating my design. The 3D printed parts take a surprisingly long time to print! This is partially because they need high infill for strength and partially since I’m using the “fine” layer setting (0.2mm) for a nicer surface finish. Yesterday finished, cutting all of the wooden parts I need…

Mechanical Buffalo – 4-13-16 Update

Sreyas Krishnan
2016, Student Work
3 Comments
Ralphie IV lives!!!!! *MIC DROP* *** Ralphie V is currently printing. In real life, the current Colorado Buffalo is Ralphie V. Therefore, this is the final design iteration :). I have made some minor adjustments to improve the toy’s ability to be assembled. As you can see, I’ve added arrows to depict the correct orientation…

4/13 Update Wind Turbine

Christopher Coffman
2016, Student Work
1 Comment
Since my post last week, I haven’t made much progress on this project.  I am planning on completing the housing for the motor and hub over the weekend, as I will have plenty of time to do so.  I am still troubleshooting the electronics portion of the turbine, but that should be completely ready and…

Wine Knife (almost there)

Ryan Yankowsky
2016, Student Work
2 Comments
Tested some more handle patterns this weekend, finally got a good method for producing a random patterning in the handle material which will allow me to avoid cutting too deep into the locations where the pinstock is keeping everything held together. Hopefully I can finish assembly by the end of the week, I had started…

Anfal’s 4/6/16 post

Anfal Abdulrahman
2016, Student Work
1 Comment
Hello, So I honestly didn’t have much time this week to progress much. However, I got some advice from teammates in regards to the battery problems, I think I will get red of the resistor (even though I wanted them for designing purposes) in order to save current and thus the batteries, given the big…

Alcohol Stove Update 4/6/16

Kenzy O'neill
2016, Student Work
4 Comments
In the last week I came down with a severe case of Strep throat and haven’t made quite as much progress as I would have liked; however, I did make another prototype stove. My most recent prototype follows my aesthetic choice a bit better by being more refined and having a cleaner look. The interior…

Ferrofluid Sculpture 4/6 update

Derek Sikora
2016, Student Work
2 Comments
So my project has take quite the turn in the past week due to the results of experimenting with electromagnets and the ferrofluid. The electromagnet I designed (below) does not create a nearly strong enough magnetic field unless a minimum of 60 volts is run through it. Even then the magnetic field is so weak…

Bladelessfan Update 4/6

Brandon Boiko
2016, Student Work
2 Comments
Recap I am building a bladeless fan, similar to the Dyson fans but on a smaller scale. The whole frame will be 3D printed. The head piece will be removable and different designs will be made. Progress I have received all components for my project, all that is needed now is to print the frame.…

Liz Update 4/6

Elizabeth Whitman
2016, Student Work
4 Comments
I am still on a good schedule to complete my project on time. I have all the materials that I need to complete the build. I have prototyped assembly, LEDs and arduino coding. I put together a small prototype that looks good and is functional. I used a small amount of pillow stuffing to create…

Electric Hourglass Update, 4/8

David Holliman
2016, Student Work
3 Comments
David Holliman: Electric Hourglass Update, 4/08   The most notable update for this week is that the scope of my project has been reduced due to physical limitations. After speaking with Tim May about the intended “electric hourglass” design, we determined that implementing plasma globes into the hourglass would prove too difficult. In order to…

Wind Chimes Progress as of 4/8/16

Jacob Mccormick
2016, Student Work
2 Comments
Since my last update, all of my material has arrived!  The raw material includes a 6 foot long aluminum pipe, a 3 foot aluminum pipe (both .625″ OD and .495″ ID), a 4″ diameter aluminum hanging plate, and a 2″ diameter plastic striking weight. I measured out the lengths of my five chimes and marked…

Update April 8th

Andre
2016, Student Work
2 Comments
I’m still sorting out supplies for my project. Getting real nervous about this coming together, what I have tried up to this point has been incompatible with the other components. At this point I’m going to continue brazing my lugs to tubes, but if I find the strength isn’t to a suitable level I will…

Project Update 4/6 | Peter

Peter Brunsgaard
2016, Student Work
2 Comments
For those of you that have not been following my project from the start, I am building a solar powered Mendocino motor. This is essentially a magnetically levitated rod that spins using a solar powered motor. Example of a Mendocino Motor The main progress that I have made this week is that I managed to…

Product Design: 365 Knitting Clock makes time more tactile by making a scarf

Jean Hertzberg
Student Work
No Comments
Siren Elise Wilhelmsen is a Norwegian product designer based between Bergen and Berlin. She produces objects that challenge the concept of traditional functionality and transform natural materials into intricate mechanical objects. Through her practice she seeks to find ‘a conceptual way to stimulate ideas and discussions around our everyday objects, rituals and culture.’ Source: Product…

Update 04/06

Yusen Ji
2016, Student Work
3 Comments
This week has been an impressive week. I finished all the soldering and programming for my infinity mirror. The coding for ardurino was much simpler than I thought, since I just needed to download the code online and apply them into the board. For next week, I am planning to do some final paint work…

Stirling Engine Update (4/6/16)

Nicholas Flood
2016, Student Work
1 Comment
I have finally made my flywheels for my stirling engine. I left holes around the edges so I can press nuts into them if the flywheels need more mass. The flywheels spin surprisingly freely on the rod that I plan on using. This means that I should be able to get away with not using…

Backlit Panorama Update 4/6/16

Roshan Misra
2016, Student Work
5 Comments
After the last few weeks of not being able to set aside time to make progress on this project, I was finally able to begin moving forward with things. I purchased some wood from Home Depot, mostly due to budget and time constraints and began laser-cutting my image. After several failed attempts at getting the…

Bar Door Progress

Laura Bonney
2016, Student Work
1 Comment
The barn door is coming along. . . Slowly. The pallet boards are painted, though I am still wrestling with frame options that will fit into the space available. I’m also trying to find a solution that will make the backside of the door reasonably attractive as well. The back won’t really be visible most…

Weekly Update (4/6)

Katie Hortik
2016, Student Work
4 Comments
This week has been a week of experimentation. I have been playing around with several designs (one is shown below). I was able to fixed the misalignment problems by adjusting the designs slightly to make sure that they turn properly. The more I play around with the gears the more desire I have to create…

Cafe Bicycle Update 4/6

Daniel Moody
2016, Student Work
2 Comments
I have finalized my modified design for straight bamboo tubing and completed the switch to bamboo as my material. After hours of research on the various ways bamboo can be used for a bike frame I felt comfortable that I could execute a design I would be satisfied with that will meet my intentions for the project.…

Meridith’s Update – 4/6/16

Meridith Richter
2016, Student Work
1 Comment
I am moving on to the next  component of my project: a buzzer that is controlled by a triple-axis accelerometer which can detect tapping and a SparkFun pro micro. As I mentioned before, the small vibration motor can cause spikes in voltage that could potentially be dangerous for the microcontroller. I did some research and…

Sand Picture Frame 4/6/2016 update.

Aly Badran
2016, Student Work
4 Comments
A quick recap: I am working on the sand picture frame. The frame houses sand, air gaps, water and alcohol. Please check my posts about this project by going to the students page and searching Aly Badran. This week has been a little slower than the last in terms of building, but I am moving…

Wine Knife update 4/6

Ryan Yankowsky
2016, Student Work
3 Comments
Not much has improved since last week, I countersunk the mount holes for the main pivots and started test sanding the handle material, I was initially planning on a complex pattern however my means of sanding the handles rely on a hand held Dremel sander which in my shaky hands would be impossible so I…

April 6 update

Sophia Glik
2016, Student Work
2 Comments
I finally tracked down the wood I need!!! Hard rock maple! It will arrive tomorrow and I can finally build my design. The wood will be 7 layers or 7 ply, with grain cuts along the width, length and diagonal for durability. The glue I have decided on on Titebond III wood glue. It is…

LED Orb Update

Shawn Sprinkle
2016, Student Work
1 Comment
With the senior design pre-expo next week I have not been able to get as much done with this project as I had hoped.  I worked a little on the code, the circuitry, and the CAD and I bought a few more parts.  Below is the CAD of the orb’s control panel. This view shows…

Neo Parasol Update 4/6

Rena Yang
2016, Student Work
No Comments
Due to a really busy week and weekend, I am behind on progress this week. I am currently at the same place as last week, except the difference is that my sewing machine is tested and ready to use! However, I am planning on doing the bulk of my project on Thursday through Sunday. I…

Desktop Radial Engine Update: 4/6/16

Brendan Warren
2016, Student Work
2 Comments
This past week all of the machining (not including the stand) was finished. I was also able to assemble and spin the engine up to what I think will be full speed for the first time using a drill (~1000rpm). However, all of this was accomplished without the pushrods installed as my project hit its first…

Swing Bike Update 4/6

Brendan Lee
2016, Student Work
3 Comments
Due to obligations outside class and a need to alter my design a bit, progress has fallen back a bit, although still well within range of the buffer time I integrated into my schedule. What I did do this week though is make that change in my design, become familiar with the tools I’ll need…

MIDI Drum Pad 4/6/16

Jakob Oreskovich
2016, Student Work
No Comments
This week my Teensy arrived.  If you’re not familiar, the Teensy is an Arduino Powered microcontroller.  It’s pretty cheap, at only $19.80, and it has quite a few perks.  It has 34 I/O pins, and they’re all interruptable!  If you’re not familiar, interrupts are a way of cutting back on the computations that your microcontroller…

Spider Toy – Update April 6th

Student Test
2016, Student Work
1 Comment
Hey Everyone, The design for the spider toy has been going well, but I have hit a few design challenges that I am trying to work through. Plus senior design has taken a little more of my life than I would have liked it to over the past few weeks. I will be doing a…

Carbon Fiber Longboard 4/6 Update

Gardner Nichols
2016, Student Work
1 Comment
To see previous updates go here After waiting a week to get some more hardener and epoxy resin, it finally came today. Last weekend, I bought a set of trucks, bearings and wheels so I only had to finish the deck for a working skateboard. I already had one side of the deck laid in carbon…

Cafe Racer Update April 6

Chad Alvarez
2016, Student Work
1 Comment
I haven’t made any building progress since the last update. Due to some weather and weekend events I have been unable to work on my bike over the last week. However, I have come up with a few ideas to improve my design in order to minimize work. I plan on reshaping my seat in…