Spring 2016 - Week 7

After waiting a few weeks for some parts to arrive, we finally received them so that we can continue with building the mechanical portions of the toy. Also, other parts were received so that it will be easier to build the electronic portions as well. The biggest improvement currently is the Pull String module. Before, we were using a lawnmower starter as a part of our toy. However, with it being bulky, changes needed to be made and we decided to use a constant force spring in order to reduce size and make the toy easier to use for the kids.

Figure 1. The apparatus used to provide a pull string toy. Changes were made because this portion of the module was very bulky. While it could fit, it had to be at the expense of other modules.

Figure 2. The new mechanism of the toy will be similar to how a tape measure works by using a constant force spring. 

Figure 3. The new module. While looks very similar to the module shown in Week 5, (albeit from the other side), the mechanism itself is very different.

Figure 4. The new mechanism does not take up as much space and is able to fit in the toy without compromising other parts.

Spring 2016 - Week 6

Team children first had a list of accomplishments this week, we have made significant progress with the 2 remaining modules ( they simon says type module and the animal sound module).
In the past the simon says module had a error ; it was registering some presses as a double press, the error has thankfully been fixed as you can see in the video and pictures below. The animal sound module has an error in which only a few buttons could produce sound and not all 5 buttons lite up when pressed. The circuit  of this module was once again striped and rebuilt, starting by building a simple LED only circuit and then moving on to an LED switch circuit then finally attempting to power all 5 LEDs via their switches. This method seemed to work using 5, 220 Ohm and 5, 10K ohm resistors. The next and final step is to add the ".wav" component which we plan on accomplishing soon.

animal sound component

simon says module 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3Y_e1B8MLQjN01HM2dfT3pJZzA

Spring 2016 - Week 5

 This week, we made more small improvements for our prototype to hit 90% completion for our first prototype.

First of all, We made corrections to the sliding doors so that they would close and open properly. Before, the doors did not close all the way. Now they have been corrected.

 For the Pull String part of the project, we have a working portion. However, the amount of force required to pull the toy may be too much for a child too handle. Therefore, while this is still a working prototype, we are working on making an easier pulley system using a constant force spring. It will be similar to how a tape measure works.

While this may seem to be a small part of the toy, we do have a battery compartment finished. It has a screw on it so that kids won't be able to easily access the batteries. There are also slight openings for the battery to dissipate any heat that it makes.

Spring 2016 - Week 4

This week, our team worked on putting together the finished components of the toy. we are still having issues with 2 components which are the simon and animal sound module, however we finished the pop up module and the battery compartment was also finished and is in the process of being printed. we are trying our best to finish the remaining 2 modules and when that is done we can start testing our project as a whole.

Spring 2016 - Week 3

This week, we worked on finishing the code and the modules that are needed to complete the toy. While parts are still being 3D printed, other portions came out well and are being  assembled.

The new frame for the toy. In addition to the French doors at the top, there is now a battery compartment at the bottom.

The sliding door module. It is able to open and close completely.

The pop-up toy module. Before being assembled, the supports needed to be broken off.